LONDON • Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has insisted that there should be no concerns over his team's style of play, or lack thereof, according to former defender Gary Neville.

The Red Devils lost 1-0 to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday, and Neville criticised the woeful performance, saying they need "patterns of play" and to "come together as a team and define a style of play".

But Solskjaer brushed off those comments yesterday ahead of today's Champions League Group F home clash with Villarreal, to whom they lost the Europa League final in May.

"Of course you are working on your style of play, your patterns. But the Aston Villa game we broke up play really well, attacked maybe too fast. Gary knows that. Maybe we did it too fast. If you slow it down too much, it might be a low-block again," he said.

"Villarreal will defend well. We need to play quickly, Gary knows what DNA is here at the club."

Fast, attacking football is what Solskjaer is adhering to, but the Norwegian also understands that Villarreal will pose a different challenge and will not allow United to play the way they want.

"Very well organised, technically very good. They can play from the back. It is hard to press against them," the United boss added of their Spanish opponents.

"Difficult to create chances against and we have to be better to create chances."

United have lost three of their past four games in all competitions despite adding Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho to a squad already rich in attacking talent.

They dropped into the Europa League last season after crashing out at the group stage. And anything less than revenge against Villarreal would leave them in severe danger of doing the same again after losing their group opener away to Swiss side Young Boys.

Solskjaer's Champions League record of seven defeats in 11 games does not make for pretty reading.

The Norwegian has yet to find the right midfield balance to carry the defensive burden for his array of attacking talent. And he may be even more reliant on goalkeeper David de Gea today for the visit of Unai Emery's men, with Harry Maguire out and Luke Shaw a doubt due to injuries the defensive duo picked up in the loss to Villa.

Emery has declared that his team are "not afraid" of United.

"Tomorrow Manchester will be the best Manchester, they have to prove their power. What Solskjaer has done as a player and a coach, we have to respect them, they are the favourites," he said.

"We don't fear them but we have a high respect for the opponent."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

MAN UNITED V VILLARREAL

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