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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer | 2018/2019 Performances
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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Another great management. Perfect so far.
Woodward will be a tool if he rushes in selecting a new manager before giving Ole a chance till Feb at least. I can't see what Poch will give us more than that now to pay 40m for him.
Woodward will be a tool if he rushes in selecting a new manager before giving Ole a chance till Feb at least. I can't see what Poch will give us more than that now to pay 40m for him.
Hes not doing anything ground breaking. But hes doing all the obvious stuff, and doing it well.
Players in their positions. Giving players confidence and freedom. Playing with a press and attacking football to hide weakness of defence.
Sounds simple but so far so good. The big tests still to come (Spurs, PSG, etc) but hes putting out teams and using a style that means we are putting away the teams we should.
Players in their positions. Giving players confidence and freedom. Playing with a press and attacking football to hide weakness of defence.
Sounds simple but so far so good. The big tests still to come (Spurs, PSG, etc) but hes putting out teams and using a style that means we are putting away the teams we should.
Absolutely.
I have a long term interest in this appointment since I had been clamoring for his appointment ever since Fergie left, however I think he will make the job his own on sheer merit.
That in itself is a huge victory. Too many managers have come here over complicating management with their philosophies of football. With all due respect to Sir Alex, he kept things very simple for players to follow to express themselves. As long as Ole can do that it’s a great step forward.
But you’re right, United of old are more than just flat track bullies, need to see how he does against big teams and judge him objectively.
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I think it is more than seeing how he does against the big teams. The players are not able to hide behind JM now. From what we see and read he is allowing the team the freedom that they craved so much so it is down to them to deliver. Personally I do not reckon our defence will be up to the challenge when we face the better teams particularly as DDG seems to be having (for him) an average season between the sticks. Mind you I would love to be proved wrong.
With with OGS appointment (even if only temporary) it is more appropriate to say that perhaps we will be able to objectively judge how good our players actually are rather than how good he is.
Perhaps I should have been more clear but it's more the intent in the big games more than the result for OGS in his upcoming games, are we going to be able to react to the big teams by attacking ourselves? Or will we resort back to playing cowardly football i.e. Mourinho vs big teams, from that we can get a better picture of what kind of manager he is. Can he make changes to impact our performance?
If there are signs that we are playing well despite losing/drawing such as great attacking intent but defensive issues then that should indicate OGS is the right guy but needs some backing. Of course within that, there is another line of naivety that we have to judge objectively as well.
I think Redcafe should also have the option to vote our managers, Ole atm -- mostly based on team selections (starting and bench), pre and post match interviews, behaviors during matches, and substitutions.
8/10 for this Game #4.
Game #1 -- 10/10
Game #2 -- 10/10
Game #3 -- 10/10
8/10 for this Game #4.Game #1 -- 10/10
Game #2 -- 10/10
Game #3 -- 10/10
Hmm Marcus certainly seems to have picked up and improved quickly when given the chance to learn
Our biggest strength right now is that teams will know that we are gonna have a go at them and will be set slightly defensively. In a top-6 game, if you get the mentality right chances will eventually fall your way. I will happily take it over the mindless defensive philosophy without having a proper set of defenders. Afterall, you have to play to your strengths.
Now board should sanction a CB to ensure that we are adequately prepared in every quarter.
Both posts above are spot on.
We cant judge Ole on results as our back 4 are not up to the task of defending against City, Spurs, PSG, Liverpool, it would be unfair.
But we can judge him on how he approaches those games.
Agreed. I think newcastle was always gonna be the hardest of the 4 games, and whilst it did prove to be tricky, he got the subs correct (although throwing on strikers isnt the toughest choice to make, but huge improvement for fans to see).
The set up in big away games will be interesting (Spurs, PSG...)
Yes, I’m really excited for Spurs to see how he sets up.
I think if we’re honest, he got a few things with his lineup wrong against Newcastle but he did amend it. Mata and Valencia really held us back, neither occupied any space on the right which made our left side congested and hard for players like Martial. He’s still learning this squad and 4/4, so little complaints overall and I love OGS.
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First United manager to win his first six games.
By far his toughest test today and came out on top. Needed a big chunk of luck, but we got through it in the end.
By far his toughest test today and came out on top. Needed a big chunk of luck, but we got through it in the end.
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So pleased with him so far but can't help thinking he fluked his first real challenge a bit. We won, which is what counts, but there were times when Spurs were all over us. If we concede chances like that regularly against top 6 teams then one day we're going to get battered. Hopefully he learns from it and it we're not hanging on like that next time.
His next test comes when we lose, the momentum stops, and he has to pick us back up again.
His next test comes when we lose, the momentum stops, and he has to pick us back up again.
That first half was fantastic and played to perfection. We tired as expected, but I think we lack a few players to keep that going in big games. But with what hes been given, Ole has done superb.
Agree with @11101 - the big test comes when we are losing (hasnt happened under him yet) or actually lose a game and how he and the team reacts.
Agree with @11101 - the big test comes when we are losing (hasnt happened under him yet) or actually lose a game and how he and the team reacts.
Felt the first half plan was spot on. We were able to more or less keep Spurs at bay and looked threatening on the counter. Had we worked the counter better, we could have possibly had more goals.
We were very lucky not to concede second half, though.
We were very lucky not to concede second half, though.
Some expert somewhere said it, that Solskjær learned a potentially important lesson in the best way possible. The first half was played to perfection, but Poch changed things up at half-time and we had no real response, but we still got away with the win. In the future, he'll hopefully have a couple of alternate plans for when plan A isn't working, or gets countered like on Sunday.
That was me in the post match thread. And many other posters implied the same thing. But we don’t know if he learned that lesson though.
Think it was ballsy to basically play chicken with Poch but that decision by both made the first half. Ole just letting Trippier run free and Poch just allowing Martial to live in that space was arguably more ballsy and it’s just a shame we didn’t take more advantage of it earlier on before Poch adjusted and we tired out.
I like that Ole went for it even if near the end I was having flashbacks to Jose and us just being laid siege to.
I like that Ole went for it even if near the end I was having flashbacks to Jose and us just being laid siege to.
I think it's fair to say Ole won the first half and Pochetino the second. But tbf it was spurs home and they have been playing under Pochetino for a long time and he is obviously an excellent coach and has them playing in a very nice manner all of which contributed to them doing so much better in second half.
I think we miss a few top quality players in vital positions which is why we couldn't keep up in the 2nd half. If we have say a Kane and a top CB, we won't be too deep and inviting pressure. Our CF should win the aerial duels and hold the ball to release pressure/counter attack which we couldn't do at all with Lukaku.
Plan B was to sub off Pogba or keep him to go for the killer goal. However he went with another plan B which is to switch his wings into defensive wingers in the form of Dalot and Rashford but it was insanely ineffective because our problem was sissoko coming off and spurs turning into having 3 #10 in a hole that is occupied by a slow turning Matic and an occaisonal Herrera with no sign of Pogba.
We needed to restructure our 3 CMs but we didn’t. We chopped off our counter with taking off martial and making dalot and Rashford defensive wingers. DDG saves Ole the blushes
That is a very good observation actually. Subbing Rom on made us even more vulnerable as the Belgian lad was neither effective upfront, which allowed Spurs CBs to do whatever they wanted while building their play from the back, nor did he help at the back. And yes, DDG did indeed save Ole the blushes on Sunday.
Truth. However it started really with Pogba and Lingard not doing their job defensively as well as being very sloppy, lacking composure and cool. Whole team was panicking a bit but we did have a few possibilities to keep the ball but Lingard was involved in wasting a lot of them. Pogba went hiding. If they both could read what was happening around them they could have helped United regain some control. Not a lot Solskjaer could have done differently besides maybe keep Martial on up top instead of Lukaku and changed Lingard with Mata. Matic as CB, Rash and Young wingbacks. Pogba deeper?
Ole wasn't out thought in the second half, it had more to do with us losing steam & less with change of tactics from Poch. Our team looked visibly tired in the last 25-30 minutes. Pogba and Rashford were running on fumes, and they were our most important attacking outlets in the game.
It's understandable as our fitness levels aren't up to the mark yet to keep pressing and counter-attacking for the entire length of the game. This is a completely different style of play from Jose's sit back and don't make mistakes system. It'll take a while for us and a few squad changes before we are up to City's or Liverpool's level.
Absolutely agree there. I think Pogba and Lingard gassing out didn’t really help Ole in his glimmer of possession retention hope. Mourinho would have dropped Matic in a back 3 and had our CBs mark the 2/3 of the floating #10s and leave Harry Kane on a tight leash to ride out the game. Even though that would have most likely conceded us less chances I actually would have preferred the united way of killing off the game with either silencing the crowd and momentum of spurs by taking control of the ball or actually scoring to end it. I think Ole would have had a better chance of that by subbing Lingard for Mata as Lingard was gassed and mata has a knack for slowing down won games with good ball retention + a good eye for a counter attack pass to martial/Rashford. Lukaku was a horrible decision because he doesn’t even provide target man hold up play these days anyway which also resulted in even more useless turnovers that spurs built on. Mata on Lingard off right wing, Pogba off X midfielder on (energy needed seeing as Pogba not defending at all at this point), and a time wasting sub for the end. Would have given us a better chance at holding the ball around final 1/3 avoiding DDG to go into god mode. Hindsight and a rational mind watching game replays is fun and all... Ole will come good though - he will win most games with his naive approach.
Rashford wasn't a defensive winger, he almost never followed Trippier. Dalot came on right after Llorente to make it 3 vs 2 at the back(Young as the third CB). After this moment(84'), Spur created 2 chances. One from a long ball, Llorente knocked it down to Kane, who then shift to his left and shot at the near post. Another was from a cross, Llorente bullied Young to the ground and shot it straight at De Gea.
At first, I also thought Ole should do something about our midfield because we were outnumbered there. But after I watched it again, literally all their chances came from individual mistakes(3 from Pogba). So it felt like they outplayed us in the second half but they didn't. We just made some mistakes and lost some of the 1vs1 battles in the box. The gameplan was very good.
On a side note, I can see why Mourinho doesn't like Pogba. Playing him in a big game is a huge gamble. He creates chances for us but he also does for the other. Huge rish huge reward, I guess. Just like Ole let Rashford and Martial stay high for counterattack and not mark their fullbacks.
Lingard up top and Lukaku out wide worked
Keeping players up for the counter worked again
The subs were well timed (including the lingard one)
He's never been losing as a United manager
Keeping players up for the counter worked again
The subs were well timed (including the lingard one)
He's never been losing as a United manager
The thing that makes me want him to have it is how happy the players look.
When was the last time we had a happy squad. Half the squad thought Moyes and LvG we’re clowns, and half the squad hated Jose.
It can’t be understated how valuable this is. Players need to be happy and fully buy in to what the manager is doing.
Look at Liverpool. They’ve got a pretty average midfield that Klopp gets the best out of because everyone buys in and does what he asks. It’s the same here with Ole.
When was the last time we had a happy squad. Half the squad thought Moyes and LvG we’re clowns, and half the squad hated Jose.
It can’t be understated how valuable this is. Players need to be happy and fully buy in to what the manager is doing.
Look at Liverpool. They’ve got a pretty average midfield that Klopp gets the best out of because everyone buys in and does what he asks. It’s the same here with Ole.
Reminder, 8 games in a row, we haven't gone behind a goal. Ole has never won comeback and equalized the game, he's fraud, get Jose back.
You joke but it will be interesting to see how we react to going a goal down or how we react to having to try a win a game in the dying minutes.
He will be throwing a kitchen sink at the other team like SAF used to.
Can't people see it now? I mean really. There is nothing really to wonder about it.
In theory yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean we will get the results we want.
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