Yet another Tactical Masterclass from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Whoop whoop!

Dan_F

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Ole has finally grown a pair and is making bold decisions and subbing early as opposed to playing safe and not making changes till the 85th min.

This was my biggest criticism of him last season. I even thought lampard had that edge over him as lampard isnt shy in making subs. Something he probably picked up from jose or maybe its just something smart managers do.

I hope Ole continues to do this. One may say he trusts the squad more to do so, but I thought at times last season he had a bench to use but just didn't use it.
That’s true. Although you could argue it’s because he feels like he now has the players on the bench to influence a game.

I’m impressed with how little shots we have given up in the PSG and RBL games. Obviously Brighton wasn’t good in this aspect, but it seems like he’s found a way to set up in the big games and defend well, but not rely hugely on the goalkeeper.

This is the thing I’m most pleased about. Even those games last year against City, or the PSG game 2 years ago, it seems like we were just defending and relying on a lucky counter. Now we seem to have an actual plan to contain and be purposeful when we have the ball.
 

BR7

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One of the best tactical brains in the world!!!!! Two decent performances with a strong squad don’t make a tactical genius. He needs to demonstrate the ability throughout the season with consistency before you start viewing him as the greatest manager ever. It’s the consistency or lack of which is the problem.
 

Cypriot

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One of the best tactical brains in the world!!!!! Two decent performances with a strong squad don’t make a tactical genius. He needs to demonstrate the ability throughout the season with consistency before you start viewing him as the greatest manager ever. It’s the consistency or lack of which is the problem.
Literally no one said that.
 

BR7

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But as a staunch ole outter I’m happy for him I do want him to succeed but don’t see it however over the last month I’ve decided to keep quiet and see where this leads us. If he does turn the corner then I’m one outter who will shut it. But until we’ve had consistency please don’t start telling us outters he’s cracked it. Show me consistent results and performances over 15 games and then start the greatest tactical mind conversation....
 

BenitoSTARR

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But as a staunch ole outter I’m happy for him I do want him to succeed but don’t see it however over the last month I’ve decided to keep quiet and see where this leads us. If he does turn the corner then I’m one outter who will shut it. But until we’ve had consistency please don’t start telling us outters he’s cracked it. Show me consistent results and performances over 15 games and then start the greatest tactical mind conversation....
  1. 5-0 W Leipzig
  2. 0-0 D Chelsea
  3. 4-1 W Newcsstle
  4. 2-1 W PSG
  5. 1-6 L Spurs
  6. 3-0 W Brighton
  7. 3-2 W Brighton
  8. 3-0 W Luton
  9. 1-3 L Palace
  10. 2-1 L Sevilla
  11. 1-0 W Kobenhavn
  12. 2-1 W LASK
  13. 2-0 W Leicester
  14. 1-1 D West Ham
  15. 1-3 L Chelsea
9 wins 2 draws 4 losses in the last 15 60% win rate is very good.

SAF Win % 59.47
 

Falcow

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:lol:

Not even close to Liverpool or City.
You are seriously undertaking our squad. Look at pool for instance, back up keeper is crap, I dont even know who their second choice full backs are and they are forced to play a midfielder in central defence when only one of their central defenders gets injured.....that's the definition of threadbare. Same applies to city unless you think Nathan Ake and co are better than what we have?

When it comes to midfield, we have 6 internationals competing for two positions so again we are stronger there than either city or pool.

Why do you think it's not even close? Genuine question.

MMM and cavani up front is not far off what either pool or city have.

We are lacking quality cover at right back and a wide attacking player (ignoring the two youngsters we have just signed) otherwise we have a very strong squad.
 

ReddBalls

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Ole has finally grown a pair and is making bold decisions and subbing early as opposed to playing safe and not making changes till the 85th min.
Ole finally has depth in the squad to choose from, which gives tactical flexibility and strength on the bench.
 

12OunceEpilogue

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That’s true. Although you could argue it’s because he feels like he now has the players on the bench to influence a game.

I’m impressed with how little shots we have given up in the PSG and RBL games. Obviously Brighton wasn’t good in this aspect, but it seems like he’s found a way to set up in the big games and defend well, but not rely hugely on the goalkeeper.

This is the thing I’m most pleased about. Even those games last year against City, or the PSG game 2 years ago, it seems like we were just defending and relying on a lucky counter. Now we seem to have an actual plan to contain and be purposeful when we have the ball.
Ne'er a truer word spoken for me. I was tearing what little hair I have left out in clumps watching the likes of Trossard, Son and Zaha given as many sights of goal as they liked. I think it's something we've clearly worked on as a team; the midfield has been thickened up with Fred in particular putting in superb screening performances recently, Magurie and Lindelof look to have a much better understanding of each other's games as well as their own and De Gea looks more comfortable when called upon. It's a multifaceted issue and we seem to have set about putting the whole range of problems right; individually, tactically and the fitness/match fitness issues that have dogged us in these odd times. Ole, who finally has a squad to rotate, and the players deserve huge credit for grasping the many nettles we had sprouting up this year.

Now as well as one-off specials against the likes of PSG and RB Liepzig what we now need to see is a consistent run of performances in the league, starting with Arsenal who themselves are going through a few consistency issues.
 

sglowrider

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I just watched Craig Burley on ESPN discredit Ole & Utd as much as he could. It was almost hilarious, man. Their pundits are a bunch of clowns really.
Craig The Toothless has never had anything good to say about United. Its like he has been paid to be specifically negative towards United.
 
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AngeloHenriquez

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Why is it seen as a gift when teams attack? I dont even think PSG and RBL overly attacked us.
Having pace up top doesnt mean we are a counter attack side. We also have a team full of ball carriers and a AM that loses the ball a lot with his incredible directness and which is not possession stat friendly so when people bring up these stats as if its proof of anything then its very misleading.
I dont think we were a counter attack side v PSG or RBL in the slightest.
Perhaps "Counter" is the wrong word, I don't mean we sit deep waiting to pounce on a mistake but rather we both counter each other where we are both attacking teams, it's end to end. I think PSG & RBL did try to attack us, not being very successful is due to how we played but the fact they put men forward ultimately favored our play as the better attacking team on the night. Stats can be so misleading, I wouldn't bother, quite simply they weren't playing safe, they wanted to score against us, they would move up the pitch trying to attack us, we win the ball and they are higher up caught out of possession, that's all I mean, we favor playing teams who try to play against us.
 

rotherham_red

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Think you are missing the point there, PSG & RB last night attacked us, when we are playing a team that is happy to attack, we can play with two more defensive minded players, especially if they can pick a pass as it won't stop our counter transition. The issue is against teams that are happy to sit back, then we only need the 1 defensive player with two further forward, that's been my issue at least; against the likes of West Ham etc you see Pogba and Matic (for example) play deep, clearly Pogba should have been given instruction to roam further forward in those games.
They attacked us, and yet we had more efforts on goal than them :lol: :houllier:
 

rotherham_red

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Correct, we attacked each other, clearly we were more successful, what's confusing?
Because they didn't really attack us. They just held the ball in the middle third, threatening to attack us but never actually doing so. Hence why we almost had twice as many shots on goal as them.
 

BR7

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  1. 5-0 W Leipzig
  2. 0-0 D Chelsea
  3. 4-1 W Newcsstle
  4. 2-1 W PSG
  5. 1-6 L Spurs
  6. 3-0 W Brighton
  7. 3-2 W Brighton
  8. 3-0 W Luton
  9. 1-3 L Palace
  10. 2-1 L Sevilla
  11. 1-0 W Kobenhavn
  12. 2-1 W LASK
  13. 2-0 W Leicester
  14. 1-1 D West Ham
  15. 1-3 L Chelsea
9 wins 2 draws 4 losses in the last 15 60% win rate is very good.

SAF Win % 59.47
But here lies the problem. You’ve said in the last 15 how many games has he managed us in total? This is what I’m saying, everyone on both sides of the coin need to stop and give it a few weeks/couple of months and we can have the convo
 

AngeloHenriquez

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Because they didn't really attack us. They just held the ball in the middle third, threatening to attack us but never actually doing so. Hence why we almost had twice as many shots on goal as them.
Would you sit their intent was to attack and win or sit back and go into damage control? I believe they tried to attack

EDIT: At least until the 2nd goal anyway :lol:
 

reelworld

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To all of you asking for consistency and beating the teams that sit back and defend.

Not sure what your definition of 'teams sit back' is but let's say every team that is not Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, is that fair? (I'm not counting Everton, Leicester or Wolves as 'big' teams) If so, since the Burnley debacle on the 22nd of January (we lost 0:2 at home), this is our record:
  • Watford at home, 3:0 win
  • Everton away, 1:1 draw
  • Derby County away for the FA Cup, 3:0 win
  • Sheffield United at home, 3:0 win
  • Norwich, neutral for the FA Cup, 1:2 win after extra time
  • Brighton away, 3:0 win
  • Bournemouth at home, 5:2 win
  • Aston Villa away, 3:0 win
  • Southampton at home, 2:2 draw (the game we lost Shaw to injury)
  • Crystal Palace away, 2:0 win
  • West Ham at home, 1:1 draw
  • Leicester away, 2:0 win
  • Crystal Palace at home, 1:3 loss (new season)
  • Luton away for the Carabao, 3:0 win
  • Brighton away, 3:2 win
  • Brighton away for the Carabao, 3:0 win
  • Newcastle away, 4:1 win
Well, not sure what do you see as inconsistency but to me a record of 13 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss is not one.
You can't remove half of last season to fit your argument. When I said consistent, he needs to be consistent throughout the season. That first half of last season, we were really inconsistent. We won against Spurs and City, only to drew and lost against Everton and Watford. How many times we want to use he didn't have enough quality players, the quality of players he had back then should not lose to Watford who got relegated.
I wanted Ole to build something special here, but the inconsistency thing is a fact. I hope with the better players he has now, he can get us to play more consistent. There are signs of that at the second half of last season, and I wanted to see that throughout this season
 

sglowrider

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One of the best tactical brains in the world!!!!! Two decent performances with a strong squad don’t make a tactical genius. He needs to demonstrate the ability throughout the season with consistency before you start viewing him as the greatest manager ever. It’s the consistency or lack of which is the problem.
My expectation starts when he finally is able to get rid of Phil Jones. We all know that he will be the last deadwood to ever leave. Then we know it's his team.
 

Strelok

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Perhaps "Counter" is the wrong word, I don't mean we sit deep waiting to pounce on a mistake but rather we both counter each other where we are both attacking teams, it's end to end. I think PSG & RBL did try to attack us, not being very successful is due to how we played but the fact they put men forward ultimately favored our play as the better attacking team on the night. Stats can be so misleading, I wouldn't bother, quite simply they weren't playing safe, they wanted to score against us, they would move up the pitch trying to attack us, we win the ball and they are higher up caught out of possession, that's all I mean, we favor playing teams who try to play against us.
The PSG match both goals we scored from attacking them, not countering. We actually dominated and brought the game to them after bringing on Pogba.

The last match we scored our first goal from attacking them as well. As a result they had to attack us and left space behind.

Our only recent draw is with Chelsea. Where they played a deep line for most of the match. Imo if a team of that quality want to have a point it's really hard to dominate and break them down. We didn't have Martial and had to play James. We tried our best bringing on Pogba and Cavani. But they're no joke tbh. And their keeper had a really good match.

Imo we're pretty different compared to last season. Where we usually employed a defensive approach and waited for our counters in those big matches. Now we actually attack them, score first then force them to attack us. Thus the space for our deadly counters. It's quite different I think.
 

youmeletsfly

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I'm one of the most anti Ole around here, but props to him last night, it was one of the few games in his tenure where I could really see we had a proper setup adapted on our players.
He also seems to have grown a pair.
 

tenpoless

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Pleased with the subs he made which changed the game. Long may it continue. Sometimes it's going to be Rashford's day, sometimes Martial's, Canavi's, vDB's, Pogba's, etc... If one struggles to perform then give the next one a chance. It's a nice feeling to have a good depth.
 

ReddBalls

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There are signs of that at the second half of last season, and I wanted to see that throughout this season
That was title winning form, so are you saying is that it's title or bust this season? To get there in two seasons after building a new team from the bottom is nearly unheard of, but feel free to give examples of someone who has done it.

I'd say your expectations are a bit unrealistic.
 

GameOn

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Ole is great in big games, no doubt about that.

He just needs to learn how to win those games against your ordinary mid-table PL teams. Those are the ones that are costing us.
 

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That was an outstanding showing against a well coached and strong team. Really don't understand how anyone could be negative after that match.
 

OleTheGreat

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That was a good performance. I'm so happy Ole is doing well every time he's put under the radar. I'm glad these players are sat on the bench enough to actually aggravate them. They get on the pitch and show their quality and express themselves when given a chance. I remember Cavani rushing towards the ball at PSG when Neymar won a spot kick and argued that he should take it because he's a senior but the very same player had the chance to pick up the ball against Leipzig and score his first goal for Man United but instead let Martial open his scoring for the season. I think Ole's impact on this squad has been very good. I love the way he handles the journalists as well. I'm going to agree, I was one of those who was skeptical about his levels when it comes to being technically astute, but I still stand by my statement when I say I'm not so sure the patterns of play is as much visible as it has never been. We still struggle when teams press us high up the pitch and we find it really hard to get up the pitch. Sometimes we get suffocated and pushed into losing the ball. It's irritating but I now have full confidence that we'll get better as we go along and learn about each other through the season.
 

Smores

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Yup he got it spot on. Shows what we can do when we nail our setup and why his obsession with 4231 is unnecessary.
 

OverratedOpinion

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Who was the deadwood? The team he took over won the Europa league, and multiple trophies and cost near half a billion to create. It was a good team, that with few more additions became a more amazing. I have always stated that Ole is great at recruiting. AWB and Bruno stands out to me as some of the best addition to an already good team.

all those players you listed, were highly rated, while some were still maturing. They have showed brilliant performance in their past and I have rated most of them baring matic, who is the only surprise from those list of players.
All of them have showed the best form of their United careers under Ole. True or false?
 

POF

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Please don't go back to the 4-2-3-1 again. We don't have the wingers for this.
Yup he got it spot on. Shows what we can do when we nail our setup and why his obsession with 4231 is unnecessary.
He switched to 4-2-3-1 after an hour at 1-0 up and won 5-0.

Somehow, I think he'll continue to play it!
 

georgipep

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You can't remove half of last season to fit your argument. When I said consistent, he needs to be consistent throughout the season. That first half of last season, we were really inconsistent. We won against Spurs and City, only to drew and lost against Everton and Watford. How many times we want to use he didn't have enough quality players, the quality of players he had back then should not lose to Watford who got relegated.
I wanted Ole to build something special here, but the inconsistency thing is a fact. I hope with the better players he has now, he can get us to play more consistent. There are signs of that at the second half of last season, and I wanted to see that throughout this season
Is finishing 3rd last season enough for you? Or should we ignore that too?
 

POF

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No, he didn't, he switched to a 4-3-3.
Nope. 4-2-3-1. McTom and Fred in midfield. Rashford, Donny/Bruno Pogba as the 3. Martial up front. Martial went left and Cavani up top when Pogba went off.

It makes me laugh. "That shows what happens when you don't play 4-2-3-1", as they win playing 4-2-3-1!
 

MalibuKen

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Nope. 4-2-3-1. McTom and Fred in midfield. Rashford, Donny/Bruno Pogba as the 3. Martial up front. Martial went left and Cavani up top when Pogba went off.

It makes me laugh. "That shows what happens when you don't play 4-2-3-1", as they win playing 4-2-3-1!
Okay, I will reply with your nope, to a nope of my own.

We were still playing a diamond in the 74th minute when Rashford scored his first.

It was fairly fluid, so I may be mistaken between the diamond and 433, but 4231 it absolutely wasn't.
 

POF

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Okay, I will reply with your nope, to a nope of my own.

We were still playing a diamond in the 74th minute when Rashford scored his first.

It was fairly fluid, so I may be mistaken between the diamond and 433, but 4231 it absolutely wasn't.
Who was in the diamond then and in what positions?

From the moment McTominay came on, he lined up in a 2 next to Fred. Look at Fred's change of position. He moved from right of the diamond to left of a midfield 2.
 

STYLOISRED

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I think that's a fair question to ask. Consistency is an issue with this team. I want that ruthlessness that Liverpool have that still picked up points when they're not at their best.
Players looked very sharp though in the last couple of matches. Hopefully we win on Sunday
Sorry but you won't get that from one of the youngest squads in europe under a manager still learning. If you feel that this sqaud can be more consistent under a different manager (Poch, Naggelsmann, etc) that's your opinion and i disagree whole heartedly.
 
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lex talionis

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I’m an #OleRemain man and see good things ahead for us if we stick with the project, but what I saw last night was focus and mature determination from the players. Starting with De Gea, no howlers to be found. Maguire and Lindelof, tack sharp. Rashford, no fukking around with his chances.

We lacked focus earlier in the season but we had it last night. Focus, call it concentration or commitment or whatever, is the key for more than tactics for this squad. Ole’s job, like SAF’s, is about getting his players to believe in themselves as well as to believe in the tactics. That’s not always easy given the superstar status of modern footballers at this level, but Ole seems to have found the magic potion. Time will tell.
 

Red Shorts

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Outdid two "more highly rated" managers and with style, very good turnaround since that Spurs game and much better tactics and subs.

We have played well against the European teams who dont press as much as a lot of English teams do. If we can counter the press and play well in those circumstances (which is where we have had our worst performances of recent times), then I will be much more impressed by Ole's tactics. Arsenal will be an interesting one, to see how hard they press our midfield and how we cope with it
 

Deery

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I was genuinely worried for him going into these 5/6 games, even thought he was looking at the sack, but he’s been brilliant so far really good team selection and man management.

Well done Ole deserves all the praise he’s getting, looking forward to the Arsenal game now.... :)