Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

City away, Arsenal at home - late Fellaini winner. Chelsea at home. Not all late comebacks.

Are these Mourinho's still? Or examples of Oles?

 

[Lennon7]

Was willing to stick by him but this deluded, Glazer PR bollocks is pissing me off. Losing a game is not strides forward for any fecking team, never mind for United.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

What's the point of arguing with Ole and his supporters when they already have a default excuse deflecting back at you

We win and play well against lower opposition - "Ole's got us playing free flowing football. Best since Ferguson".

We win and play shit against lower opposition - "We won at least but everybody knows we struggle against low blocks. Do you expect Lingard to unlock a defense like De Bruyne. We need more quality creative players"

We lose and play shit against lower oppositions - "We struggle against low blocks. Also the players are young, expect inconsistency"

We lose and play well against lower oppositions - I don't recall this ever happening

We win and play well against higher oppositions - "Ole outsmarted Klopp and Pep. See he has tactics"

We lose and play shit higher lower oppositions - "Look at the players we have. They are far less than that of Liverpool or City. Where you expecting a win??"

We lose and play well against higher oppositions - Don't recall this happening either.

We win and play shit against higher oppositions - "Why are you complaining, look at the difference in squad quality and yet we won. Don't be negative."

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Are these Mourinho's still? Or examples of Oles?

All under Jose.

 

[DBT85]

Just buying players is not a sensible thing to do, it's getting right players in.

If you think Solskjaer is a bad manager why want him to bring in players at all? Makes no sense. He'll just get wrong players in.

Again, the managers do not buy players. The manager does not scout the players. Even though they may have questionable ability, we have teams that deal with that stuff.

The same teams that will deal with it whether its Ole or Mou or Your Mother in charge.

The sensible course is to buy the players that the club have identified as fitting it in one way or another. Whether that is ability, age, Noodle sponsorship, whatever.

Yes a manager might say "i like him" or "no, not him", but no player is just bought on the managers say so.

If we'd wrapped up Haaland and Sancho over the last 2 weeks do you think anyone here would be saying "no those are shit becase ole bought them"?

Now I'm not saying he's the man for the job, but I'm also not certain that he isn't. Frankly with this squad at the start of the season I'd have said at best we were getting 4th. That means you're gonna be crap at times and sure enough we have been. IDK if Ole is to blame for Pogba being dead all season or not, or Martial missing 8 weeks or now Rashford getting his injury. I don't know if he told woodward to feck Lukaku off but only if we got someone else in, or not.

We'll never know, or we'll only ever know what the press tells us which, shock, isn't often the truth.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

I don't know if you are a wum or not. If this squad is not good enough then it is Ole's fault. I do not think this Squad is that bad. Yes we have injuries and that is his fault too. You cannot blame Woodward for getting the squad this thin. Ole was given a budget and he decides how to spend it. It is his fault for spending 80 million on Maguire when a central defender was the last thing you need with the departure of Fellaini and Herrera and the desires of Pogba to leave. Our midfield was decimated. You let two midfield players who are regulars leave the club and then did not strengthen because Longstaff was not available? As another OP has said very eloquently if he cannot get his first choice then get someone who is better than what we have right now. By all means to all the Ole in squad our players are the problem and not the manager. In this case anyone would be better than what we have isn't it?

confused a bit by the post but no im not a wum, i don't believe ole is solely responsible for the squad, i actually think you are in the sharp minority that thinks that, like it is fifa and ole just has a number on the screen and says ill have this player this player this player

 

[lRed]

No I think we have a hard choice to make but spending for the second or third choices is what has created this current squad. This is going to be a problem. At the end of the day, it's a money issue... there are only 2 ways out. Either the club is sold to someone who can put more money in, or, the Glazers go all in and start being in charge of everything. They have to listen to Ole on how to run the FC because as much as you hate it, he's the biggest fan ever of United and he wants the best for the football club, literally. He will sacrifice himself if that's what it takes so we know we can count on him. And the correct way to run the club is to go back to basics, see talent, promote them, and hire once in a while the super star if conditions are met. Never go for any second choice or lower.

In Manchester United, DoF positions or such are not really a need. What we need is to bring the football focus back, and that means listening to the manager. A manager who will then delegate as needed, but the money owners need to listen to the footballing side of the club. We will then start changing the staff for the better people, and the team will naturally benefit from it. It will require some money. There are only 2 big sources of money on earth that we can tap in as of now, it's either the Middle East or Asia, probably China. If we can get any type of major sponsorship from one of those regions, we can start investing into players again. And yes, Ole job of removing the high wages earner who do not perform is one of the most critical job.

Can someone imagine how crazy it is to hear that Rashford has played with pain in the back for years? Who in the medical staff said that was fine? Years = under Mourinho, and even under LVG most probably. How can you find normal that Evra discovers, when he's like 33, that he's allergic to eggs, when United could not note that? Why do we have all those issues with Pogba? Because the staff is not properly selected. Ole needs to re-hire the right people for the job, people who are committed to the footballing success, and for that, you need someone who thinks like a fan, breathes like a fan.

I know lots of you get upset with what he says but it's literally useless messages. For all we know, we could just s*** in public if that's what it takes to just get this interview done. What we needs are points, and progress off the field, and it will happen when we remove Ed from any football decisions + we can get more investment from somewhere. That's where our focus should be right now.

Amen.

 

[Shark]

Fail to win tomorrow and top four is pretty much gone, not that there’s much hope of Ole making it anyway. He couldn’t manage it last season either when his honeymoon period gave him every chance to. Already just want this season to feck off along with him and Woodward.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

All under Jose.

Wow, there really were plenty of fightbacks under him.

 

[izec]

Fail to win tomorrow and top four is pretty much gone, not that there’s much hope of Ole making it anyway. He couldn’t manage it last season either when his honeymoon period gave him every chance to. Already just want this season to feck off along with him and Woodward.

It is basically Europa League or nothing from that point. As soon as we are out of it, the season is done.

 

[Foxbatt]

confused a bit by the post but no im not a wum, i don't believe ole is solely responsible for the squad, i actually think you are in the sharp minority that thinks that, like it is fifa and ole just has a number on the screen and says ill have this player this player this player

No Ole is not solely responsible because he is not getting the top world class players he wants. But any good manager is going to have a second choice or third too. The Ole in squad cannot have it both ways.
Either the players are pathetic poor and he is a fantastic manager and in this case anyone else should be good enough for us. So even if he doesn't get the world class players he wants, the 2nd and third choice should also be better than what we have. Or the players are decent enough and he is an incompetent manager who cannot get the best out of them?

 

[L1nk]

No I think we have a hard choice to make but spending for the second or third choices is what has created this current squad. This is going to be a problem. At the end of the day, it's a money issue... there are only 2 ways out. Either the club is sold to someone who can put more money in, or, the Glazers go all in and start being in charge of everything. They have to listen to Ole on how to run the FC because as much as you hate it, he's the biggest fan ever of United and he wants the best for the football club, literally. He will sacrifice himself if that's what it takes so we know we can count on him. And the correct way to run the club is to go back to basics, see talent, promote them, and hire once in a while the super star if conditions are met. Never go for any second choice or lower.

In Manchester United, DoF positions or such are not really a need. What we need is to bring the football focus back, and that means listening to the manager. A manager who will then delegate as needed, but the money owners need to listen to the footballing side of the club. We will then start changing the staff for the better people, and the team will naturally benefit from it. It will require some money. There are only 2 big sources of money on earth that we can tap in as of now, it's either the Middle East or Asia, probably China. If we can get any type of major sponsorship from one of those regions, we can start investing into players again. And yes, Ole job of removing the high wages earner who do not perform is one of the most critical job.

Can someone imagine how crazy it is to hear that Rashford has played with pain in the back for years? Who in the medical staff said that was fine? Years = under Mourinho, and even under LVG most probably. How can you find normal that Evra discovers, when he's like 33, that he's allergic to eggs, when United could not note that? Why do we have all those issues with Pogba? Because the staff is not properly selected. Ole needs to re-hire the right people for the job, people who are committed to the footballing success, and for that, you need someone who thinks like a fan, breathes like a fan.

I know lots of you get upset with what he says but it's literally useless messages. For all we know, we could just s*** in public if that's what it takes to just get this interview done. What we needs are points, and progress off the field, and it will happen when we remove Ed from any football decisions + we can get more investment from somewhere. That's where our focus should be right now.

It's a good post and I agree on some points, but it's just romanticism for a bygone era with Fergie that you are talking about, Solskjaer is qualified to do all of these things because he is a fan? He certainly isn't a good and well decorated football coach/manager, literally, as far as I'm aware, no modern club is run the way you are talking these days.

What we need to do is stop thinking we NEED Solskjaer only because he used to play for the club, that he somehow has the magic sauce because of this and only he can take us back to the pinnacle because he just "gets the club", we aren't special, we are just another football club in a sea of football clubs, ours just happens to be very popular and has a weight of expectation on it because we've had some great managers and some great players that led us to a lot of success. Klopp has absolutely nothing to do with Liverpool, yet he's brought them to where they are because he's a fantastic modern manager, and the owners have an interest in running Liverpool like a football club.

In Manchester United DoF's are not needed etc, like, what is this kind of talk, most modern successful football clubs are run this way, Liverpool, Man City, Bayern, Barca, Dortmund, PSG, I mean I could go on. The era of Sir Alex is gone, the era of one man doing everything top to bottom is gone, it's GONE, it's never coming back, the game has moved on, people need to accept this reality and realise we aren't "special" and that we have to be run a certain way for us to work, we need a modern football structure to compete, Ole has shown absolutely nothing his entire managerial career that he has anywhere near the skillset, personality or any other metric you wanna measure, required, to take us anywhere past a top 4 finish, nevermind an entire "reboot" of the club, but apparently none of that matters because he's a fan who would sacrifice himself for the club, so of course we know we can count on him, It's just fantasist romantic nonsense, i'm sorry.

However as i've also said, I do agree with some points of your post, the medical staff situation is an absolutely joke and i've no idea how this has been continuing on so long

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

The narrative or idea that this team is 5th and we should accept it because 5th is befitting of the squad quality needs to die. Ole didn't spend wisely last summer and that is why this squad is the 5th best in the league when it could have been more.

Leceister and Chelsea are currently the teams above us. Leceister came 9th the previous season and spent 88m in the summer while Chelsea came 3rd and lost their best player and had a transfer ban. Yet we who came 6th and spent 140m are below these two clubs.

We spent 52m more than a club that we were above by three positions last season and are now below them. We spent 140m more than a club that was 2 positions above us last season, who then lost their best player and we are now below them.

We arguably have not made any progress that people on here yap about. Our recruitment has arguably been bad and people think its very good. Spending 125m on defense and I'm always still expecting us to concede every game. And what was the point of Daniel James(a squad player) if you are going to play him out of position.

 

[KekiZeki]

Again, the managers do not buy players. The manager does not scout the players. Even though they may have questionable ability, we have teams that deal with that stuff.

The same teams that will deal with it whether its Ole or Mou or Your Mother in charge.

The sensible course is to buy the players that the club have identified as fitting it in one way or another. Whether that is ability, age, Noodle sponsorship, whatever.

Yes a manager might say "i like him" or "no, not him", but no player is just bought on the managers say so.

If we'd wrapped up Haaland and Sancho over the last 2 weeks do you think anyone here would be saying "no those are shit becase ole bought them"?

Now I'm not saying he's the man for the job, but I'm also not certain that he isn't. Frankly with this squad at the start of the season I'd have said at best we were getting 4th. That means you're gonna be crap at times and sure enough we have been. IDK if Ole is to blame for Pogba being dead all season or not, or Martial missing 8 weeks or now Rashford getting his injury. I don't know if he told woodward to feck Lukaku off but only if we got someone else in, or not.

We'll never know, or we'll only ever know what the press tells us which, shock, isn't often the truth.

Managers should have more control of transfers, at least the final say. If that's not the case at our club then I worry. If you can't trust him to make the picks you can't trust him to manage the squad. Yeah I know the manager can't scout or feel up players, but he can certainly asses what type of player he needs and decide if he needs him. These aren't 70's or 80's, there is plenty of video evidence in any league from which we could possibly acquire a working license for a player so there is no reason not to get involved in transfer decisions, especially the major ones.

Going for the 4'th, with this team and injuries is optimistic at the very least. I know the point gap is significant, but we didn't really have the means of closing it. Too much of it is still not resolved within the club and when some of your best players are on sidelines it's always gonna be problematic.

 

[fergiesarmy1]

The narrative or idea that this team is 5th and we should accept it because 5th is befitting of the squad quality needs to die. Ole didn't spend wisely last summer and that is why this squad is the 5th best in the league when it could have been more.

Leceister and Chelsea are currently the teams above us. Leceister came 9th the previous season and spent 88m in the summer while Chelsea came 3rd and lost their best player and had a transfer ban. Yet we who came 6th and spent 140m are below these two clubs.

We spent 52m more than a club that we were above by three positions last season and are now below them. We spent 140m more than a club that was 2 positions above us last season, who then lost their best player and we are now below them.

We arguably have not made any progress that people on here yap about. Our recruitment has arguably been bad and people think its very good. Spending 125m on defense and I'm always still expecting us to concede every game. And what was the point of Daniel James(a squad player) if you are going to play him out of position.

Did we sell anyone?

 

[fergiesarmy1]

Fail to win tomorrow and top four is pretty much gone, not that there’s much hope of Ole making it anyway. He couldn’t manage it last season either when his honeymoon period gave him every chance to. Already just want this season to feck off along with him and Woodward.

If we did fail to win tomorrow that’s a defeatist attitude to have.

We would be SIX points behind a team that themselves have won 4 of their last TWELVE premier league games with 14 games to go and still to play each other.

I know it’s doom and gloom around here but for Christ sake there’s 42 points still up for grabs AFTER tomorrow, not saying we will smash it we just might not end up being as bad as Chelsea actually are and their “super” manager that everyone was getting carried away with earlier in the season.

If we win tomorrow I think the bookies will favour us over Chelsea getting 4th also. Their next 3 games are Leicester, us and spurs so could get messy for them there.

 

[onetwo3oclock4oclockrock]

We spent 52m more than a club that we were above by three positions last season and are now below them.

And Arsenal, who were 4 positions above are below them. And Chelsea, who were 5 positions above are below them. And Tottenham, who were 6 position above are below them. And City who finished 46 points ahead of them are now only 6 point ahead. And a couple of years ago, they finished 14, and next season: above everyone..

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

And Arsenal, who were 4 positions above are below them. And Chelsea, who were 5 positions above are below them. And Tottenham, who were 6 position above are below them. And City who finished 46 points ahead of them are now only 6 point ahead. And a couple of years ago, they finished 14, and next season: above everyone..

Arsenal has had two different managers because of where they are now. Tottenham sacked Pochettino becauase of where they are now. Meaning the club has seen that they are doing drastically worse than their previous season and sacked their managers for this failure. And what's the point of calling City if they are still above Chelsea and Leceister. You're measuring by points when we're currently just 4 points above 13th and 6 points below 4th.

 

[Foxbatt]

I cannot see us losing tomorrow. I mean if we lose or do not win anyone with an once of honesty would walk away.

 

[MrEarl]

No I think we have a hard choice to make but spending for the second or third choices is what has created this current squad. This is going to be a problem. At the end of the day, it's a money issue... there are only 2 ways out. Either the club is sold to someone who can put more money in, or, the Glazers go all in and start being in charge of everything. They have to listen to Ole on how to run the FC because as much as you hate it, he's the biggest fan ever of United and he wants the best for the football club, literally. He will sacrifice himself if that's what it takes so we know we can count on him. And the correct way to run the club is to go back to basics, see talent, promote them, and hire once in a while the super star if conditions are met. Never go for any second choice or lower.

In Manchester United, DoF positions or such are not really a need. What we need is to bring the football focus back, and that means listening to the manager. A manager who will then delegate as needed, but the money owners need to listen to the footballing side of the club. We will then start changing the staff for the better people, and the team will naturally benefit from it. It will require some money. There are only 2 big sources of money on earth that we can tap in as of now, it's either the Middle East or Asia, probably China. If we can get any type of major sponsorship from one of those regions, we can start investing into players again. And yes, Ole job of removing the high wages earner who do not perform is one of the most critical job.

Can someone imagine how crazy it is to hear that Rashford has played with pain in the back for years? Who in the medical staff said that was fine? Years = under Mourinho, and even under LVG most probably. How can you find normal that Evra discovers, when he's like 33, that he's allergic to eggs, when United could not note that? Why do we have all those issues with Pogba? Because the staff is not properly selected. Ole needs to re-hire the right people for the job, people who are committed to the footballing success, and for that, you need someone who thinks like a fan, breathes like a fan.

I know lots of you get upset with what he says but it's literally useless messages. For all we know, we could just s*** in public if that's what it takes to just get this interview done. What we needs are points, and progress off the field, and it will happen when we remove Ed from any football decisions + we can get more investment from somewhere. That's where our focus should be right now.

Thanks for the well thought out post. I would just add one thought. The owners bought the club as venture capitalists using loans instead of their own money. I wonder if they are operating this club as venture capitalists stripping assets for their own benefit. I'm not claiming that they are doing this but it seems penny wise and pound foolish to start the current season with only one proven Premier League quality CM/AM. It doesn't seem as if they have the funds available that are needed to upgrade through the transfer market. Why is that?

 

[dove]

Should redo his coaching badges, if he has any.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

At this point, I don't even care - clearly no one at the club does. Its a shame we've fallen so far so quickly. 9 wins in 24 (almost) is considered acceptable.

 

[Womp]

Is he gone yet?

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

If he's not sacked come season's end, I fear for our future.

 

[GifLord]

yes all 3 misses are Ole's fault

 

[Holocene]

yes all 3 misses are Ole's fault

Nothing is ever Ole's fault. There's always something/someone else to blame.

 

[Redplane]

If we're getting better at getting worse, we re getting better.

 

[dannyrhinos89]

Turned the game off again.

Cheers for making me hate football Ole/glazers/woodward/perreira.

 

[dove]

yes all 3 misses are Ole's fault

Shambolic defence in set pieces isn't his fault too. Nothing is his fault. Ole is blameless. We should just ignore the fact he is a joke of a manager. All good.

 

[stubie]

The longer we persevere with the Norwegian Alan Pardew the more we will continue to suffer.

I’ve even resorted to reading a book (The battle for Sky)

 

[Fooza]

yes all 3 misses are Ole's fault

I never look at individual incidents and blame, but everything that is happening is a result of poor planning, coaching and decisions from Ole and the board. Just not good enough

 

[bosnian_red]

Our options are so shit and the depth is so shit that I cant for a second believe that Ole is happy with the balance of the squad. Woodward and the board aren't doing their bit, so Ole doesn't have the resources to actually do anything. What we are left with after McTominay, Pogba and Rashford are taken out is a firmly mid table squad. So random results will inevitably happen, whether the manager is good or bad.

Saying that, the 2 biggest things I'd have to criticize Ole and the coaching staff with is the lack of fluidity/intensity in attacking, and our fecking set pieces. Have to be the worst in the league at them when you take into account attacking and defensive set pieces (not counting direct free kick shots). And for the play style it's just general disappointment how Ole is actually just a pragmatic, cautious manager rather than an attack minded one.

Hes done decently in a lot of ways IMO, and I dont think he is really a negative to us, but rather just a manager who has us doing about as expected when you look at the players at his disposal. With him to be successful, the structure has to really improve and get working.

 

[Bebestation]

Why when Rashford is Injured - when you know your main forward is a false 9 would you play James & Mata next to him. My good lord.

Talk about shooting your self on the foot.

Poor squad management.

 

[TsuWave]

arguably the worst manager in the league

 

[Skills]

arguably the worst manager in the league

Not even arguable. He won't be managing a PL club again and would be lucky to get a Championship job.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Hes done decently in a lot of ways IMO, and I dont think he is really a negative to us, but rather just a manager who has us doing about as expected when you look at the players at his disposal. With him to be successful, the structure has to really improve and get working.

He had a big squad that had finished 2nd @bosnian_red just months before he came in, the squad he has now is 100% on him.

Tell me seriously, would you be backing Neil Warnock if he'd come in and gutted the squad like this, made all the same decisions etc? If we fail to win tonight against fecking Burnley at home, Ole has a PL win-rate of 37% for this season. Read it again man, 37%.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

People keep harping on about lack of options and injuries. We've been this dreadful for almost a year for heavens sakes.

 

[hp88]

arguably the worst manager in the league

He was way out of depth at Cardiff, feck knows how he managed to get this gig.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

He was way out of depth at Cardiff, feck knows how he managed to get this gig.

arguably the worst manager in the league

After he was sacked by Cardiff in the Championship, no PL or Championship sides came in for him...

It's blatantly fecking obvious that Solksjaer is a lower Championship / League 1 level manager.

Nepotism, negligence and nostalgia have given him this job and the Utd fanbase need to wake up to it - ASAP.

This isn't Man Utd anymore - it's Woodward Utd.

 

[ParksLife81]

Would he ever just walk?
Still remain his hero status and must realise his plans are not exactly working.