Ole Gunnar Solskjaer | W15 D2 L4

[el3mel]

"Spurs game will be his first test".

"Spurs are bottlers anyway. Arsenal will be a better test".

"Arsenal are shite, still need to see him in a bigger game".

"After drawing with Burnley his test is to prove how he can handle this".

"Still winning against easy teams. PSG will be his first test".

"He lost to PSG, how he'll react to the loss will be his test".

"We're playing average now. The subs made during the game will be his test".

"We defeated Chelsea but they're shite. Liverpool will be his test".

------

3 years later

"He has won the treble with us so far but I'm still not convinced. The next game will be his TEST".

 

[Chairman Steve]

I think this is the game that puts OGS as a serious and legitimate contender for the permanent position. This is no longer about putting smiles on faces as the old cliche goes and the honeymoon period has passed. There was certainly tactical nous afoot in this game that worked really well and he did it without Martial and Lingard.

 

[Flexdegea]

The one top quality side we've played has wiped the floor with us.

OGS has done a brilliant job but let's wait until May shall we? We can't afford to get swept up by emotion and make the wrong call.

I seriously dont get this mentality?


You either are overrating our team or have been living under a rock for last 6 years if PSG are make or break test and not winning away against spurs arsenal and chelsea.

 

[SqueakyWeasel]

"Spurs game will be his first test".

"Spurs are bottlers anyway. Arsenal will be a better test".

"Arsenal are shite, still need to see him in a bigger game".

"After drawing with Burnley his test is to prove how he can handle this".

"Still winning against easy teams. PSG will be his first test".

"He lost to PSG, how he'll react to the loss will be his test".

"We're playing average now. The subs made during the game will be his test".

"We defeated Chelsea but they're shite. Liverpool will be his test".

------

23 years later

"He has won another treble!".

 

[Hugh Jass]

Herrera and Matic are crucial. I actually thought they were our best players in the first half against PSG.

Herrera goes forward and tracks back. Matic patrols the area and gets a foot in.

You can rely on them to do a job. They wont get nervous or fazed.

 

[Dve]

We should STILL wait until the end of the season before reviewing our managerial options and yes OGS should be a serious contender.

However, to give him the job now could change the dynamics in so many untold ways so why fix something that ain't broke. He wasn't promised the job. He knows exactly what terms the role is and he happens to be excelling in it.

My money on he´s already got the job.

 

[EvilChuck]

The one top quality side we've played has wiped the floor with us.

OGS has done a brilliant job but let's wait until May shall we? We can't afford to get swept up by emotion and make the wrong call.

Not until we lost 2 of our players that were key to the set up we were going with. I daresay that if Ole had been forced into using a diamond a few games before PSG and we'd still been getting results, then as soon as the injuries happened in the game we could have transitioned from the 433 into a diamond, instead of still trying to use a 433 with players who werent going to work in the same way.

 

[JohnnyKills]

I seriously dont get this mentality?


You either are overrating our team or have been living under a rock for last 6 years if PSG are make or break test and not winning away against spurs arsenal and chelsea.

OK mate, sorry to puncture your giddiness. As you were.

 

[Hugh Jass]

The one top quality side we've played has wiped the floor with us.

OGS has done a brilliant job but let's wait until May shall we? We can't afford to get swept up by emotion and make the wrong call.

Disagree. The first half it was even enough. Two heavy weights canceling each other out. Yes PSG controlled the ball better when they had it. And it was a corner that broke us. How many corners did Chelsea have tonight and nothing came of them. We could easily have scored against PSG with a flukey corner. Yes there is calculated luck with corners but most corners do not lead to goals.

I think at this stage (and i understand your thinking) that Ole has to be near to getting it.

 

[ReddBalls]

There was certainly tactical nous afoot in this game that worked really well and he did it without Martial and Lingard.

Well, yeah. The coaching team are implementing their tactics step by step. Ole said in som interview that one thing he learned from th stint at Cardiff, was that one of the reasons that he failed there, was that he tried to implement everything at once. Bar the PSG game, the team looks more and more solid. Especially the defensive game is getting better and better.

 

[Vadim]

The match going fans will decide if he gets the job because it’s difficult for Woodward to ignore them.

And right now, he’s passing with flying colours.

It’s United football again.

We tried the ‘big name’ managers in Van Gaal and Jose and it didn’t work.

Pochettino doesn’t have that same winning mentality that Ole posesses.

 

[JohnnyKills]

Disagree. The first half it was even enough. Two heavy weights canceling each other out. Yes PSG controlled the ball better when they had it. And it was a corner that broke us. How many corners did Chelsea have tonight and nothing came of them. We could easily have scored against PSG with a flukey corner. Yes there is calculated luck with corners but most corners do not lead to goals.

I think at this stage (and i understand your thinking) that Ole has to be near to getting it.

Yeah, and I'm liking the idea more and more myself. But let's take all the time we have to get this decision right, with as much evidence as we can get. We can't afford to feck up again.

 

[Canagel]

Which other managers went to Stamford bridge and won?

And he missed two of his main attackers. Time to put some respect on the manager's name.

 

[Van Piorsing]

So many things done right by The manager.

Mata - central player.

Pereira - Never a deep midfielder but a diversified attacking player.

Ole simply gets it right and 2:0 is a result of that.

 

[iluvoursolskjær]

The one top quality side we've played has wiped the floor with us.

OGS has done a brilliant job but let's wait until May shall we? We can't afford to get swept up by emotion and make the wrong call.

Oh yeah cos PSG are the only decent side we've played so far

 

[Flexdegea]

OK mate, sorry to puncture your giddiness. As you were.

Not a case of being giddiness...............but basically it seems only a close to 100% win record including a win against PSG will satisfy yourself.


Just seems realistic on a few fronts

 

[El Zoido]

Never mind the tactics, him reminding Shearer about the ‘99 cup final live on TV makes him worthy for the job.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

Never mind the tactics, him reminding Shearer about the ‘99 cup final live on TV makes him worthy for the job.

I want him to do that every week after we win to whoever is a pundit in the studio.

Remind Carragher about scoring a last minute winner against his Liverpool in 99 on Sunday.

 

[Fitchett]

At this point if he doesnt get the job on a permanent basis, serious questions need to be asked about the people running the club and what their expectations actually are. We are in the form of our lives, and yes we may have lost to PSG but at this point in time I think whoever we had as manager would have struggled against them. I feel like we cant keep changing the goalposts every time he gets a good result, or put an asterix next to the result (Spurs werent at full strength so it doesnt count, Arsenal are being Arsenal, Chelsea are in meltdown etc) to try and disqualify his achievements.

We have tried the 'up and coming manager who works on a shoestring budget and needs a big job to prove himself'

We have tried the experienced manager who has reached a World Cup final with a poor side whose tactical knowledge got them that far

We have tried the short term option who always achieves wherever he goes and guarantees success.

None of them worked.

Now we have a United Legend, who loves the club, the players love him, the fans love him, and he is getting results that 3 months ago we would never have even dreamed of achieving. And instead of saying 'thats our guy', we are still dithering, just in case the latest shiny new manager is available.

Theres a saying that I heard about United years ago, and its one of the reasons I love the club. 'We dont buy superstars, we make them'.

This

 

[Precaution]

Never mind the tactics, him reminding Shearer about the ‘99 cup final live on TV makes him worthy for the job.

Got a link to that?

 

[Handré1990]

Got a link to that?

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/ole-gunnar-solskjaer-w11-d1-l1.443699/page-176

 

[Amadaeus]

On his way to pass an Amadeus test it seems. But then again Chelsea is in a poor form so Liverpool is a proper test I guess.

Yea, it was a great display. Even though this Chelsea side just got hammered 6-0, they are still a tough team to come up against. If Pochettino is not available, Ole should definitely be heavily considered over the likes of Tuchel, Marci Rose and Zidane.

However, I am more interested in the return leg against PSG. Some may think it is done especially without our best player Pogba playing. However, I want us to at least show some fighting spirit in that game like we did today. I don’t expect, us to get through, but just put on a good display.

 

[Runner]

He's doing better than expected, players like him and he's cheap. He's getting the job.

 

[Nuts]

He’s been incredible but I’m still not totally convinced.

I like the trend of giving well chosen young managers (who are part of the team’s DNA already) chances at big clubs or national teams - it can work so well. Look at Klinsmann at Germany, Southgate last summer, Pep at Barca, Simeone, Zidane etc.

It can work so well, but the structure around them HAS to be right - would we be able to give Ole the right support?

His feel good factor is masking existing problems in a problematic squad. Mourinho became (maybe willingly) excellent at choosing sides that exposed the weaknesses - lack of real quality in central defence, aging full backs, wasted youth talent, and a confused recruitment policy in attack leaving us with Lukaku as our line leading attacker.

I’d love to see Ole sort all this out but that’s gonna require millions and several seasons - can we offer that?

 

[littlepeasoup]

Sign him up, and lock down Kieran, Carrick and Mike Phelan; I get the sense they deserve to be celebrated as much as Ole.

 

[Van Piorsing]

Gunnar the Tormentor of London teams.

 

[The United]

He’s been incredible but I’m still not totally convinced.

I like the trend of giving well chosen young managers (who are part of the team’s DNA already) chances at big clubs or national teams - it can work so well. Look at Klinsmann at Germany, Southgate last summer, Pep at Barca, Simeone, Zidane etc.

It can work so well, but the structure around them HAS to be right - would we be able to give Ole the right support?

His feel good factor is masking existing problems in a problematic squad. Mourinho became (maybe willingly) excellent at choosing sides that exposed the weaknesses - lack of real quality in central defence, aging full backs, wasted youth talent, and a confused recruitment policy in attack leaving us with Lukaku as our line leading attacker.

I’d love to see Ole sort all this out but that’s gonna require millions and several seasons - can we offer that?

Wait, so you are not convinced at what then? The club and the board? or The manager who has been getting the best out of his squad which was something the world class manager couldn't for awhile?

If the board can't offer anything for Ole, who would you like to hire to make sure we still do decently?

 

[Cloud7]

The one top quality side we've played has wiped the floor with us.

OGS has done a brilliant job but let's wait until May shall we? We can't afford to get swept up by emotion and make the wrong call.

PSG are probably the 4th or 5th best team in the world right now. They have a top quality side that have played together for years and a very tactically astute manager. Games like that can go either way. There’s no shame in losing to them.

 

[The United]

PSG are probably the 4th or 5th best team in the world right now. They have a top quality side that have played together for years and a very tactically astute manager. Games like that can go either way. There’s no shame in losing to them.

Especially after we lost 2 attacking starters.

 

[crossy1686]

Please don’t take my Solskjaer away.

That’s all I have to say on the matter.

 

[crossy1686]

"Spurs game will be his first test".

"Spurs are bottlers anyway. Arsenal will be a better test".

"Arsenal are shite, still need to see him in a bigger game".

"After drawing with Burnley his test is to prove how he can handle this".

"Still winning against easy teams. PSG will be his first test".

"He lost to PSG, how he'll react to the loss will be his test".

"We're playing average now. The subs made during the game will be his test".

"We defeated Chelsea but they're shite. Liverpool will be his test".

------

3 years later

"He has won the treble with us so far but I'm still not convinced. The next game will be his TEST".

I’d have more respect for these people if they just said they wanted Pochettino no matter what Ole does, at least then they’d be being honest.

 

[FFK Norway]

The thing is Leicester won the title few years ago.
Some teams had lost the hunger. And several teams were in the middle of squad build ups.

At that time United had started the road on destroying the team. David Moyes bought some players. Van Gaal bought som players. Mourinho bought some players. But hardly any of the players actually fitted United as a team.

I actually think that Mourinho making United becoming number two in the premier league is one of his best results ever. Cos we just have to face it the owners haven't spent enough pounds. And also getting Sanchez on that kind of wage per week must have made problems in the wardrobe.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær is perfect it's back to the basic but he also knows modern football. I think he is a bit like Ferguson and Arsene Wenger they managed to buy players that wasn't the most expensive ones but still they made the team good.

If he can also fill up the rest of the squad with players from the Manchester United academy. Then get a bit of time, i think that's the only way United will get back to the top. Gambling on another manager no i just wouldn't do that.

What's important now is to get in a dof. All modern football clubs today have that. Can't give all the responsibility to the manager alone, because you risk getting players that won't suit the next manager. So you need to get a thin red line that runs through the club so that whatever manager that takes over won't have problems.

Then you choose manager after what kind of player types you have. Cos van Gaal had problems with the players that Moyes left. Mourinho had problems with the players that was left from the former two.

So that just shows what a brilliant manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær is he have alot of players from the other managers, no backup in the winter window and still he delivers.

 

[Gandalf Greyhame]

Jotting down how I thought we've performed in the big games so far, before we take on Liverpool.

Spurs- Away
Ole's plan was to bypass their high press and counter attack with the pace of Rashford and Lukaku who were stuck out wide on either flank. I remember being disappointed by the long ball approach after the initial games in which we played with lovely one touch passing through the middle, but in retrospect, I think Ole adapted well. Our defence was shaky that day, but I think the players were still trying to figure out how to defend with an eye on counter attack as opposed to parking the bus and praying to God. Despite the dependency on DeGod, I think Ole did tactically well.

Arsenal-Away
They played the usual high line against us, and we played the usual counter attack against them. Like the good old days under Fergie. Again we didn't give them the space, and Herrera intercepted well. Romero had one DDG-esque save, but Lindelof had it covered apart from that. Sanchez had done well, and Lukaku, despite his shit first touch, had gotten a couple of assists to his name. Martial and Rashford coming on was a lovely sight to behold.

PSG- Home
The early injuries killed Ole's game plan, our defensive mistakes (Matic losing his marker/Bailly not cutting out ADM's pass to Mbappe) and the ref bottling his decisions buried any semblance of a comeback in the game. They dominated our midfield through sheer numbers and quality, and we had to resort to long balls which, in the rare event of them successfully finding a forward, were quickly cut out by their defence. Rashford was a lone figure up front - Mata was lost on the right with no pace, strength or aerial ability and Sanchez was poor down the left. We spent most of the game trying to win the ball back in our own half. Pogba was brilliantly marked out of the whole game.

Chelsea-Away
I'm prouder of the clean sheet than I am of our goals, despite the slow, ponderous, safety-first Chelsea transitions in attack. We had to stay deep, hold our lines, and kept finding Rashford on the counter. We pressed early on, kept Jorginho quiet, and gave no space to Hazard or Willian. Smalling coming back helped us aerially, and Lindelof keeps impressing with his positioning and composure. Going forward, again a counter attacking approach worked great, and again Pogba was an asset with the goal and the assist. Herrera MOTM for his complete midfield performance.

 

[crossy1686]

He’s been incredible but I’m still not totally convinced.

I like the trend of giving well chosen young managers (who are part of the team’s DNA already) chances at big clubs or national teams - it can work so well. Look at Klinsmann at Germany, Southgate last summer, Pep at Barca, Simeone, Zidane etc.

It can work so well, but the structure around them HAS to be right - would we be able to give Ole the right support?

His feel good factor is masking existing problems in a problematic squad. Mourinho became (maybe willingly) excellent at choosing sides that exposed the weaknesses - lack of real quality in central defence, aging full backs, wasted youth talent, and a confused recruitment policy in attack leaving us with Lukaku as our line leading attacker.

I’d love to see Ole sort all this out but that’s gonna require millions and several seasons - can we offer that?

I think the reason he hasn’t been announced permanent yet is because the board are currently planning on putting things in place to support him better next season.

There’s no way a feel good factor can win you games, and tough games at that, over a period of 10 weeks. It’s unheard of. The players were under achieving and now they’re playing at the level they should be due to good management.

We cannot afford to get our next appoint wrong otherwise we’re going to completely disappear for a long long time. We have to back Ole and make it work.

 

[Canagel]

Gunnar the Tormentor of London teams.

The new mayor of London

 

[Nuts]

Wait, so you are not convinced at what then? The club and the board? or The manager who has been getting the best out of his squad which was something the world class manager couldn't for awhile?

If the board can't offer anything for Ole, who would you like to hire to make sure we still do decently?

I think Ole’s a good appointment if the board are fair to him. If they want him to win the PL then they have to invest a hell of a lot.

If they don’t want to, and are happy to be in top 4 then I’d rather see Pochettino.

I just don’t think Ole, with his lack of experience, coupled with lack of investment is a good combination.

 

[The United]

I think Ole’s a good appointment if the board are fair to him. If they want him to win the PL then they have to invest a hell of a lot.

If they don’t want to, and are happy to be in top 4 then I’d rather see Pochettino.

I just don’t think Ole, with his lack of experience, coupled with lack of investment is a good combination.

Ok So, let's see:

Ole has been doing better than Poch since Dec.

Ole has been getting the best out of the squad.

Ole has had a lot of experience - even the bad ones - which should help him develop more.

Poch would not be happy not being backed and staying in top 4 for long at a club like United. In fact there is more chance that Ole would even be better at that kind of role as he has a connection with United.

So, again, what you wanted to say is?

 

[DBT85]

"Spurs game will be his first test".

"Spurs are bottlers anyway. Arsenal will be a better test".

"Arsenal are shite, still need to see him in a bigger game".

"After drawing with Burnley his test is to prove how he can handle this".

"Still winning against easy teams. PSG will be his first test".

"He lost to PSG, how he'll react to the loss will be his test".

"We're playing average now. The subs made during the game will be his test".

"We defeated Chelsea but they're shite. Liverpool will be his test".

------

3 years later

"He has won the treble with us so far but I'm still not convinced. The next game will be his TEST".

Basically.

 

[Nuts]

I think the reason he hasn’t been announced permanent yet is because the board are currently planning on putting things in place to support him better next season.

There’s no way a feel good factor can win you games, and tough games at that, over a period of 10 weeks. It’s unheard of. The players were under achieving and now they’re playing at the level they should be due to good management.

We cannot afford to get our next appoint wrong otherwise we’re going to completely disappear for a long long time. We have to back Ole and make it work.

I disagree about the feel good factor - I think there’s actually so many decent players who’ve suffered under Moyes, Van Gaal and then most horrendously under Mourinho.

JM’s regime seemed particularly unhappy and oppressive, so it doesn’t surprise me that players released from that are able to put such a run together.

I’d add that a lot of it is simply correcting some incredibly stupid mistakes - binning Fellaini, reinstating attacking football, playing with ease and enjoyment, playing Rashford through the centre, giving Martial some love, and playing Pogba in the right way are all things we have all been complaining about for months. The effect of correcting all that at the same time is bound to lift players and facilitate results.

 

[DBT85]

There’s no way a feel good factor can win you games, and tough games at that, over a period of 10 weeks. It’s unheard of. The players were under achieving and now they’re playing at the level they should be due to good management.

It was very nice to hear the pundits on MOTD saying the same thing. Finally people are realising that its not just Ole giving everyone a blowie.