What can Ole do with the current squad of players to help us improve?

[SteveW]

People need to start being realistic. There's no amount of coaching that will make a creative fulcrum of Matic, Pereira, Mata, Fred and Lingard play good football. They don't have it in them.

Ole needs to try and get Pogba and Martial fit. Get Gomes into the team and sign another midfielder in January.

 

[RedFin]

For me there are a few simple things Ole should change that would make us better. The players aren't the best bunch but it would help if the basics were right.

Make the team more compact. At the moment distance between attackers and defenders is way too big with the cm's closer to the defenders. That makes it really hard to press effectively from the front as there is loads of space behind our front 4. Also when we get the ball back and start building our attacks our front 4 just runs up field without offering any short and easy passing options. This then results in Pogba ( or someone else) running with the ball and trying to dribble their way out of the opponents press. By playing players closer to each other pressing from the front or defending deep is easier. Also building attacks is much easier when you have passing options around you.

More off the ball movement. Players need to be moving constantly trying to offer passing options and stretching the opposition. Full backs push up, wingers runs inside or offer short pass, one cm makes forward run and a cb pushes to the space left by the cm. It is risky of course but would make us better in the attacking phase or the least it would do is make it easier to recycle the ball. Now all we have is players standing still waiting for the one with the ball to do something.

We need more tempo badly. No more of this walking pace game. Though when you don't have passing options it's hard to play fast tempo passing game.

Corners and free kicks are a waste at the moment. Play it short and keep the ball if you can't come up with something that's even remotely dangerous and effective. Floating the ball back post isn't that.

All of that is simple. Just running and moving, playing easy passes and helping your team mate. But i'm not seeing any of that in our games at the moment. In pre season it looked much better don't know what happened since. Only thing i can think of is Ole wanting to play the way we are playing now. And that's really strange.

 

[Eoin McMahon]

For me there are a few simple things Ole should change that would make us better. The players aren't the best bunch but it would help if the basics were right.

Make the team more compact. At the moment distance between attackers and defenders is way too big with the cm's closer to the defenders. That makes it really hard to press effectively from the front as there is loads of space behind our front 4. Also when we get the ball back and start building our attacks our front 4 just runs up field without offering any short and easy passing options. This then results in Pogba ( or someone else) running with the ball and trying to dribble their way out of the opponents press. By playing players closer to each other pressing from the front or defending deep is easier. Also building attacks is much easier when you have passing options around you.

More off the ball movement. Players need to be moving constantly trying to offer passing options and stretching the opposition. Full backs push up, wingers runs inside or offer short pass, one cm makes forward run and a cb pushes to the space left by the cm. It is risky of course but would make us better in the attacking phase or the least it would do is make it easier to recycle the ball. Now all we have is players standing still waiting for the one with the ball to do something.

We need more tempo badly. No more of this walking pace game. Though when you don't have passing options it's hard to play fast tempo passing game.

Corners and free kicks are a waste at the moment. Play it short and keep the ball if you can't come up with something that's even remotely dangerous and effective. Floating the ball back post isn't that.

All of that is simple. Just running and moving, playing easy passes and helping your team mate. But i'm not seeing any of that in our games at the moment. In pre season it looked much better don't know what happened since. Only thing i can think of is Ole wanting to play the way we are playing now. And that's really strange.

Ole and his staff have been over the team for 10 months.
We had that great start followed by bad slump and i feel trying to judge the management from last season wouldnt be a great example considering he took over midseason and didnt really have his own team or style yet.

He had a long preseason with almost a full squad and going into this season I expected to see our team playing a certain way, a cohesion and understanding in the players an that they knew and had a gameplan on the pitch.

Ole and the staff have no excuse how many top teams do you watch in games look like they dont know what to do and struggle to play together in almost every game.

We need to see some sort of improvement or progress from game to game but nothing and there hasnt been much of a change from the team under Mourinho.

Youve listed a number of tactics and changes that are what we expect to see from top teams and especially us.

The fact that he hasnt got the team doing any of the points you posted is embarrassing.

 

[Sky1981]

There are 2 possibilities at play IMO:

1. Ole doesn't have any idea on how to coach
2. The player doesn't follow his instructions

If it's No. 1 then Ole could do the following :
- Hire a more technical coach to help him, poach one from top clubs if you have to.
- Make a simpler formation, a simple but well drilled formation is better than a complicated tiki taka

If it's No. 2 :
- reprimand the players, bench them, freeze them in reserves, kick some ruckus. He's at a point of nothing to lose at this moment. If carrot doesnt work, make sure you have a big enough stick
- Put pressure on them, air the culprits openly so that they're pressured to prove us wrong


And leave the board out of this, they have their flaws but saying "we won't achieve anything as long as we're not sold" is a cop out for all players, they believe the hype that it's not their fault, while it's their fault for not understanding football basics. Either they're too thick, or too ignorant. Blame the board if we can't keep up with City/Liverpool and finished top 4. If we can't beat Rochdale, Wolves, West Ham, and can't score more than 2 goals for so many games I blame the coaching team.

We need to face reality that the man we appoint is the wrong one. Took liverpool a few try to finally land klopp. No shame in keeping the boot and sack phase until we find one we can back. I doubt people really believe ole can turn into SAF. He's had 10+ years being a manager and I don't see improvement from his molde side. Suffice to say this is his level, he might learn 1 or 2 along the way but if we depend our future on "Ole's gotta be twice the manager he was at molde" than i think it's a stupid bet.

 

[Sky1981]

Ole and his staff have been over the team for 10 months.
We had that great start followed by bad slump and i feel trying to judge the management from last season wouldnt be a great example considering he took over midseason and didnt really have his own team or style yet.

He had a long preseason with almost a full squad and going into this season I expected to see our team playing a certain way, a cohesion and understanding in the players an that they knew and had a gameplan on the pitch.

Ole and the staff have no excuse how many top teams do you watch in games look like they dont know what to do and struggle to play together in almost every game.

We need to see some sort of improvement or progress from game to game but nothing and there hasnt been much of a change from the team under Mourinho.

Youve listed a number of tactics and changes that are what we expect to see from top teams and especially us.

The fact that he hasnt got the team doing any of the points you posted is embarrassing.

Our best match today was ole's first game, where he has literally 1-2 days as manager, I very much doubt that's down to him. If he comes in, and make us play like that "intentionally" he must have know what he's doing, why can't he produce that now? with a preseason, a better set of defender, and clean slate. Why aren't we seeing glimpse of that match? if he "intentionally sets up a system that works in his first game with the old squad" why can't he produce them with the same squad, and if the squad of last season are capable of going to another 15 runs why sell / loaned them?

 

[Eoin McMahon]

Our best match today was ole's first game, where he has literally 1-2 days as manager, I very much doubt that's down to him. If he comes in, and make us play like that "intentionally" he must have know what he's doing, why can't he produce that now? with a preseason, a better set of defender, and clean slate. Why aren't we seeing glimpse of that match? if he "intentionally sets up a system that works in his first game with the old squad" why can't he produce them with the same squad, and if the squad of last season are capable of going to another 15 runs why sell / loaned them?

Your agreeing with my post right? I don't put much consideration into last season under Ole it was this season where were supposed to see Ole's United and he had good preseason with a full squad so its ridiculous really that we still dont have a clear idea of how this team plays and theyre hasn't been any improvement all season.
He won't be manager next season if the Glazers and Woodward have any common sense left between them.

And thats what worries me.

 

[Sky1981]

Your agreeing with my post right? I don't put much consideration into last season under Ole it was this season where were supposed to see Ole's United and he had good preseason with a full squad so its ridiculous really that we still dont have a clear idea of how this team plays and theyre hasn't been any improvement all season.
He won't be manager next season if the Glazers and Woodward have any common sense left between them.

And thats what worries me.

Yes. I agree with you.

But what worries me is that he will still be the manager next season because of our fans stubborness

 

[kiristao]

The biggest difference I see between United and Liverpool/City is the lack of urgency. We seem to be happy to stay back and hope something happens rather than force the issue. Pre-season it looked like we were playing a style of forcing the issue. Once the season has started we have gone back to the pre Ole days of being reactive rather than Pro-active.
As far as formations go, I would play Pogba further up the pitch with Fred & Mctominay behind him. Rashford on the right, James on the left & Martial down the middle.

 

[RedFin]

If there was any indication that we were going some where regarding our playing style i wouldn't worry so much, but since it looks like there are no improvements coming it does look bad for Ole. Getting better players wont do much if the style remains the same. And if his tactics are suppose to be fast attacking football with loads of movement but the players aren't following his orders then that's a bigger reason for him to go.

 

[Eoin McMahon]

Yes. I agree with you.

But what worries me is that he will still be the manager next season because of our fans stubborness

Ole still has the backing of the majority of fans and for them the blame is mostly being pointed at the players which is becoming more mindless by the day and the atmosphere around the club is tense as a result.

Any player from Messi to Lee Cattermole can only play to their best when they are used in a role and in a team that suits them and seeing the majority of our players struggling every game cannot be overlooked and they're is obviously a clear problem with the tactics, style and plan every game as most of these players are top quality and if this is how we are playing after 10 months then under Ole in that we are still playing like under Mourinho in parts of games then the staff are clearly not good enough.

I think he should stay for the rest of this season simply for stability but to trust him with another busy transfer window when he cant even get the team to play toghter after 10 months. Pochettino is a must.

 

[roonster09]

I think he should stop using 4-2-3-1 when we don't have a player good enough to play in the #10 position. He should go back to how he used to set up when he joined, playing 4-3-3 with Pogba playing more attacking role. With the current set up we are playing Lingard/Mata in the most important position to create chances, they both are very poor at it. We are relying on Pogba for defensive work, again he is poor at it.

Fred, McT, Pogba midfield with Rashford, Martial, James attack with Greenwood rotating with Rashford and James. Fred is not the ideal choice but in the current options we have, he is better than Matic.

 

[Eoin McMahon]

I think he should stop using 4-2-3-1 when we don't have a player good enough to play in the #10 position. He should go back to how he used to set up when he joined, playing 4-3-3 with Pogba playing more attacking role. With the current set up we are playing Lingard/Mata in the most important position to create chances, they both are very poor at it. We are relying on Pogba for defensive work, again he is poor at it.

Fred, McT, Pogba midfield with Rashford, Martial, James attack with Greenwood rotating with Rashford and James. Fred is not the ideal choice but in the current options we have, he is better than Matic.

Agreed I was surprised to see he set the team up this way this season as you said we don't have a top quality CAM and it nullifies Pogbas attacking contribution.
It could be down to lack of a top CM in the mold of Kante or a more attacking CM Bruno maybe?

We are playing our best player in a position prevents him being effective and it really does baffle me. Mctominy and Matic can't play together the lack of pace would leave us vulnerable and between Peireirra and Fred maybe Fred should get another chance as Peirreira hasn't performed yet this season.

Regardless of where players will on the pitch until we can get some sort of cohesion on the field Pogba might aswell go in goal.

 

[roonster09]

Agreed I was surprised to see he set the team up this way this season as you said we don't have a top quality CAM and it nullifies Pogbas attacking contribution.
It could be down to lack of a top CM in the mold of Kante or a more attacking CM Bruno maybe?

We are playing our best player in a position prevents him being effective and it really does baffle me. Mctominy and Matic can't play together the lack of pace would leave us vulnerable and between Peireirra and Fred maybe Fred should get another chance as Peirreira hasn't performed yet this season.

Regardless of where players will on the pitch until we can get some sort of cohesion on the field Pogba might aswell go in goal.

Yeah, we are also playing our best player in a position where his limitations are exposed a lot and his strengths are nullified.

I feel Fred should get extended run of games. 1 game here and there won't help him. He wins lot of tackles, has mobility and also releases the ball quicker than Matic. He loses concentration at times but he is the best option we have to play next to McTominay.

 

[Eoin McMahon]

Yeah, we are also playing our best player in a position where his limitations are exposed a lot and his strengths are nullified.

I feel Fred should get extended run of games. 1 game here and there won't help him. He wins lot of tackles, has mobility and also releases the ball quicker than Matic. He loses concentration at times but he is the best option we have to play next to McTominay.

It's funny how it's pretty much agreed unanimously that Pogba is most effective in that LCM role and we have seen his best performance for us in that role.
So the fact he's only played 10% of his games there for us under Mourinho and Ole is a hard one to explain.

I feel if we had a 3rd top class CM to complement Pogba and Matic the last few seasons he would be playing LCM every week. Personally I think the team is crying out for a Kante like player to give a balance their and the need for quick ball turnovers for counter attacking. Unfortunatel theres only one Kante but we really missed out on a player that I petitioned for us to sign everyday untill he signed for PSG.

Idrissa Gueye for 23million is a bargain and age seemed to be an issue for everyone else but last Wednesday he dominated the Madrid midfield of Kroos, Casemiro and James on his own for the whole game.

 

[roonster09]

It's funny how it's pretty much agreed unanimously that Pogba is most effective in that LCM role and we have seen his best performance for us in that role.
So the fact he's only played 10% of his games there for us under Mourinho and Ole is a hard one to explain.

I feel if we had a 3rd top class CM to complement Pogba and Matic the last few seasons he would be playing LCM every week. Personally I think the team is crying out for a Kante like player to give a balance their and the need for quick ball turnovers for counter attacking. Unfortunatel theres only one Kante but we really missed out on a player that I petitioned for us to sign everyday untill he signed for PSG.

Idrissa Gueye for 23million is a bargain and age seemed to be an issue for everyone else but last Wednesday he dominated the Madrid midfield of Kroos, Casemiro and James on his own for the whole game.

Worst part is, Ole had very good success with Pogba when he played him in attacking role.

 

[Eoin McMahon]

Worst part is, Ole had very good success with Pogba when he played him in attacking role.

i know your a Ole fan and I am vocal in that I don't think he's capable of leading this team to success.

I am all for managers getting time to mold their own team and in terms of the current squad it's not enough to challenge and it looks like a long term build but lack of progress and the performances are worrying and my biggest concern is the lack of consistently and understanding between the players, no creativity and this has been apparent in almost every game this season.

Sometimes it looks like Mourinhos team playing? I'm not demanding to win every game, win the league not at all I am looking for a confident performance, a game where we see an understanding on the pitch and a style, an idea we can get behind this is a huge club with quality players and we are struggling to even pass it 10 yards.

 

[roonster09]

i know your a Ole fan and I am vocal in that I don't think he's capable of leading this team to success.

I am all for managers getting time to mold their own team and in terms of the current squad it's not enough to challenge and it looks like a long term build but lack of progress and the performances are worrying and my biggest concern is the lack of consistently and understanding between the players, no creativity and this has been apparent in almost every game this season.

Sometimes it looks like Mourinhos team playing? I'm not demanding to win every game, win the league not at all I am looking for a confident performance, a game where we see an understanding on the pitch and a style, an idea we can get behind this is a huge club with quality players and we are struggling to even pass it 10 yards.

No I'm not Ole fan. I'm ManUtd fan. I even said I have lost hope on Ole.

 

[Eoin McMahon]

Worst part is, Ole had very good success with Pogba when he played him in attacking role.

So that 10 game run at Oles start where we played the best football ive seen since Fergie left and the club felt like it was the start of a return with Ole at the wheel.

Ole got a lot of praise and he looked like a good coach due to our performance but to completely fall apart and only win 5 games in our last 20 its like the 11 game winning streak never happened. Ole got the permanent job he actually became manager because the players manged themselves for them 11 games the relief of mourinho leavung gave the team a freedom to play however they wanted.

 

[Enigma_87]

Good thing is that he might set the bar so low that the board can finally take some action to restructure the footballing side.

If Ole is given enough time he would put us in the bottom half of the table in one year time.

 

[Eoin McMahon]

No I'm not Ole fan. I'm ManUtd fan. I even said I have lost hope on Ole.

Suprising considering the amount of arguments we had about Ole. As long as hes not in charge next season all is good.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Not a lot. It's an average squad that will get average results.

it's easily a top 4-6 side that's currently playing like a relegation candidate.

it may be one of our weakest squads in a long time but this idea people have that it's not still one of the league's strongest is daft. He should be doing so much better with it than he is.

 

[Beans]

Buy a box to box midfielder, someone who will link attack and defense, such as Herrera used to do.

Generally, have a plan, use tactics. We look like 11 strangers without a plan.

 

[Eoin McMahon]

Good thing is that he might set the bar so low that the board can finally take some action to restructure the footballing side.

If Ole is given enough time he would put us in the bottom half of the table in one year time.

We will never have any major restructure at the club unless the Glazers are bought out. The Americans were so unprepared for Fergie and Gills departure that they've turned the best team in England feared and revered by most into the biggest laughing stock in the PL. We've stood still as the likes of Spurs, City and Pool evolved and are way ahead of us I mean there probably 7-8 years late on getting a DOF and that was because of the demand for one.

 

[Eoin McMahon]

It's funny how it's pretty much agreed unanimously that Pogba is most effective in that LCM role and we have seen his best performance for us in that role.
So the fact he's only played 10% of his games there for us under Mourinho and Ole is a hard one to explain.

I feel if we had a 3rd top class CM to complement Pogba and Matic the last few seasons he would be playing LCM every week. Personally I think the team is crying out for a Kante like player to give a balance their and the need for quick ball turnovers for counter attacking. Unfortunately theirs only one Kante but we really missed out on a player that I petitioned for us to sign everyday until he signed for PSG.

Idrissa Gueye for 23million is a bargain and age seemed to be an issue for everyone else but last Wednesday he dominated the Madrid midfield of Kroos, Casemiro and James on his own for the whole game.

 

[Jerome Holland]

Develop a tactical system that defines their roles and restricts some of them to their limitations. Basic principle in all sports. Limited players are best used that way. AWB shouldn't need to be crossing in a desperation attempt to create a chance in a nothing attack. Lingard shouldn't be played as a creative hub. That just makes their limitations detrimental.

Basically Ole needs help on his coaching team because none of them have it in their locker to implement such

Excellent post sir, i 100% agree with you but do you think he is the man to do it though?

 

[roonster09]

Suprising considering the amount of arguments we had about Ole. As long as hes not in charge next season all is good.

My argument was always that we should give him at least a transfer window and preseason before judging him, that's a minimum that should be given.

Don't think everything will be good after Ole, whichever manager we will appoint, there will be group of people who will be against it.

 

[Eoin McMahon]

it's easily a top 4-6 side that's currently playing like a relegation candidate.

it may be one of our weakest squads in a long time but this idea people have that it's not still one of the league's strongest is daft. He should be doing so much better with it than he is.

Exactly its madness that fans are ok with losing to Palace and drawing with Southampton results that were a tragedy only 5-6 years ago.
We've won 5 games in our last 17. Thats relegation form and some people are cool with it.
5 wins in the last 6-7 months.

 

[Enigma_87]

My argument was always that we should give him at least a transfer window and preseason before judging him, that's a minimum that should be given.

Don't think everything will be good after Ole, whichever manager we will appoint, there will be group of people who will be against it.

I can see someone like Poch getting a lot of love here.

Up and coming manager with progressive ideas will most likely unite the fans at least at the beginning. The best manager on paper we hired was way too much of a controversial figure to be loved straight away.

 

[Adam-Utd]

$400m. The Glazers are selling Class A shares to fund him.

A third of that would be for attending coaching courses.

They aren't.

This was never actually confirmed. I believe the note issued was more of a "we might in the future" sell these shares as a way to raise capital. It's apparently shown every year.

 

[roonster09]

I can see someone like Poch getting a lot of love here.

Up and coming manager with progressive ideas will most likely unite the fans at least at the beginning. The best manager on paper we hired was way too much of a controversial figure to be loved straight away.

Doubt it. Once we hit a rough patch, people will start to question his motivation levels as had bad patch at Spurs too, then keep reminding everyone how he didn't win anything so he lacks "winning mentality", came 3rd in 2 horse race and few more.

Anyways hopefully we will get him. Very talented coach.

 

[wolvored]

I think he’s done her and we’re just waiting for the inevitable.
But at least try to switch to a 3 at the back formation, or something.

Has he knocked her up?

 

[MikeUpNorth]

I’d say currently different parts of the team are playing mismatched ‘styles’, to give it an overly grand characterisation.

Our centre backs (Maguire and Lindelöf) are slow and consequently sit deep. However, our forwards are fast and have been instructed to aimlessly close down the ball, even pointlessly chasing down the opposition keeper and isolating themselves from the team.

Consequently, there is a huge distance between defence and attack, and neither element of the team can function. The attackers are ineffective in the press, because they’re pressing as individuals rather than as a team and can be simply played around. The defenders are exposed because the players in front of them have pushed too far forward.

I’ve not even mentioned our midfield, because they do not deserve mentioning.

How would I solve this? In the short term, I’d go for a defensive approach and make use of the imbalanced squad by playing more centre backs and fewer midfielders. 5-3-2.

De Gea
Lindelöf - Tuanzebe - Maguire
AWB ————————————- Shaw
McTominay - Matic
Pogba
Rashford - Martial
​

Don’t press high up the pitch, it’s a fools errand without a well coached team. Sit deep and stay compact. Try and get Pogba in between the lines to feed runs in behind from Rashford and Martial. Accept we’re not going to blow teams away, so try to keep it tight and win 1-0.

 

[Eoin McMahon]

I can see someone like Poch getting a lot of love here.

Up and coming manager with progressive ideas will most likely unite the fans at least at the beginning. The best manager on paper we hired was way too much of a controversial figure to be loved straight away.

Most of the love from me id say He is the only manger i want to see get the job and he has the ability to get us to the standard that City and Pool are at he' gotten close with Spurs!.

PL experience that with Spurs shouldn't be underestimated as he's transformed a midtable team in Spurs into the 3rd best team in England and finally broke the top 4 monopoly. He built a squad with alot of quality without splashing the cash and importantly has promoted lot of Academy Players.

Most importantly his style of football is good attacking football and a fast high pressure attacking style is something we Utd fans have craved for.I think he'll Spurs in the summer he seems to have gotten them as far as he can and it's manager like him that would keep pogba at the club and finally play some good football.

 

[Sky1981]

Good thing is that he might set the bar so low that the board can finally take some action to restructure the footballing side.

If Ole is given enough time he would put us in the bottom half of the table in one year time.

At the current rate relegation is a possibility.

The last 20 match we're consistently bad. I can be optimistic if we had good and bad games. But the current theme is a broken team that doesnt know what to do with the ball

 

[Eoin McMahon]

I’d say currently different parts of the team are playing mismatched ‘styles’, to give it an overly grand characterisation.

Our centre backs (Maguire and Lindelöf) are slow and consequently sit deep. However, our forwards are fast and have been instructed to aimlessly close down the ball, even pointlessly chasing down the opposition keeper and isolating themselves from the team.

Consequently, there is a huge distance between defence and attack, and neither element of the team can function. The attackers are ineffective in the press, because they’re pressing as individuals rather than as a team and can be simply played around. The defenders are exposed because they players in front of them have pushed too far forward.

I’ve not even mentioned our midfield, because they do not deserve mentioning.

How would I solve this? In the short term, I’d go for a defensive approach and make use of the imbalanced squad by playing more centre backs and fewer midfielders. 5-3-2.

De Gea
Lindelöf - Tuanzebe - Maguire
AWB ————————————- Shaw
McTominay - Matic
Pogba
Rashford - Martial
​

Don’t press high up the pitch, it’s a fools errand without a well coached team. Sit deep and stay compact. Try and get Pogba in between the lines to feed runs in behind from Rashford and Martial. Accept we’re not going to blow teams away, so try to keep it tight and win 1-0.

Please tell me your being sarcastic? We still haven't recovered fully from Mouriho's time at the club and then this?? Putting a Utd team out to try and sneak a 1-0 against the likes of Sheff Utd would start a riot. Our midfield is our weak spot at the moment we are really lacking top ball winner the regain possession and we need to have Pogba in that LCM hes our best player so play him in his best position.

 

[romufc]

At the current rate relegation is a possibility.

I think bottom half is possible this season, I wouldn't be surprised if we did finish 14 or something.

 

[MikeUpNorth]

Please tell me your being sarcastic? We still haven't recovered fully from Mouriho's time at the club and then this?? Putting a Utd team out to try and sneak a 1-0 against the likes of Sheff Utd would start a riot. Our midfield is our weak spot at the moment we are really lacking top ball winner the regain possession and we need to have Pogba in that LCM hes our best player so play him in his best position.

I'm not being sarcastic. The question was how would you use the current squad to improve results. That's what I think would probably lead to the most points in the short term.

 

[EireRed_GS]

Its mentality thing at this stage.. he really needs to make a huge effort in changing this. We have seen when Ole took over that they can perform when they can be bothered/ not sulking. Alot of them not good enough to perform consistently though. And i think some of them think they are the finished article already and have just fallen into this comfort zone, going home no matter the result to their massive pay checks.

He needs to start showing his anger to them in public, show everyone he really means business, but i think some of these players are so fragile and weak minded they wouldn't handle it well and just shell up and get worse. As we have seen when a team proper squares up to us.. No balls in our team at all.

This is where he desperately needs the help of the senior pros in the squad to help him out, set the example. Help the younger kids develop and show them the standards they should be holding themselves to.. But we simply do not have any. Really, when you think about it who are these players Greenwood,Gomes, Chong etc should be looking to?? Young? Jones? Mata? Matic? It doesnt help when these players are playing absolute rubbish themselves. Maguire is probably the only one could be a good role model. But we have our club promoting the likes of McTominay & Rashford as season pros.. kids themselves. (McTominay seemingly one of the only one with his head screwed on right, but still a kid with lots to learn himself)

next window, i think we need a mixture of talent, young & experienced, to make this work. Until then Ole has an almost unmanageable job on his hands

 

[Leftback99]

it's easily a top 4-6 side that's currently playing like a relegation candidate.

it may be one of our weakest squads in a long time but this idea people have that it's not still one of the league's strongest is daft. He should be doing so much better with it than he is.

It's a 6th best squad that hasn't had two of its best players for a month and it's getting the type of results you'd expect in such a scenario.

 

[Massive Spanner]

It's a 6th best squad that hasn't had two of its best players for a month and it's getting the type of results you'd expect in such a scenario.

We've won 5 games in 17. That's lower table form.

is it really 6th place quality? Arsenal and Chelsea are nothing special and Spurs are a mess at the moment. It's more than capable of challenging for top 4, with a manager who actually has a clue what he's doing.

How is it that when we were doing well it was cause of "the Ole effect" but now we're doing shit, it's cause of the players. Why is the manager not accountable here? Signings aside, he has been a disaster. We have no identity, his team selections are terrible, we look dire on the ball and off the ball. What the feck has he actually done? Seriously? Can anyone see any sign of any sort of improvement under him based on our results so far?