Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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Do people on this thrad realize that we were 6-2 up, didn't play our strongest XI, and even those who were on the pitch were possibly instructed to not tire themselves out considering the fixtures coming up?
All good points. And I love that Ole has a chance to win his first trophy. But things could’ve got out of hand last night barring DDG.
Having said that I thought him bringing Matic on stabilised us and stopped their momentum which shows Ole is a bit more switched on with subs than I and many others give him credit for.
Donny (big disappointement) , Telles, Williams, Bailly weren't great last night but that's why Ole needs to rotate more. We use the same 13 players all the time & it means when we do rotate beyond that they're too rusty and not sharp.
Agree. Ten minutes here and there does not keep you physically or mentally sharp.
Needs to use the squad a bit more.
Saying that even if he wins the cup his critics and people who hate hits guts will find something anyway. Its like he cant get any credit whatsoever even through grinded teeth. They decided Ole is shit and nothing will change their mind and want to show their opinion in about 10 threads.
Saying that even if he wins the cup his critics and people who hate hits guts will find something anyway. Its like he cant get any credit whatsoever even through grinded teeth. They decided Ole is shit and nothing will change their mind and want to show their opinion in about 10 threads.
Really showed that he doesn't trust the squad. With a 6-2 lead and with 3 games in 5/6 days coming up after this one, he really should have made wholesale changes. Pogba, Bruno, Shaw, AWB and Fred should definitely not have started.
Right, cos starting with Williams and telles would've been fecking brilliant.
The lads did need minutes to keep their match fitness up though.
It's a fair point though.
Ole does need to start trusting his squad more. At the back end of last season it was cited squad players weren't his, well now they are.
For the most part predicting our starting 11 is academic, regardless of form. I understand why Bruno et al started last night after the postponed game on Sunday, but I think there was a good chance they would have played both if the Liverpool game went ahead.
It was nice to see Donny start, but he's rusty. He needs a prolonged run in the team to build his rhythm. However we likely won't see him now bar 5 or 10 minutes at the end of games.
Did you watch the game?! You maniac
ole was very correct in not chucking in the kids.I love the man.
There's naturally going to be a lot of talk about the squad today, because this game was such a glaring example of the decrease in quality when we rotate. Its the dilemma of 'are they underperforming because they don't play, or do they not play because they underperform?'. Any answer to that question is pure speculation, but its quite common for a team to have a squad of 25+ but still retain a core of 16 or 17 that are risk-free options.
I understand Ole's reluctance completely. I don't think its cowardice or any of the other negative terms used. We have to remember that he is still establishing himself as a United level manager. I think he is growing all the time. He seems more and more comfortable in the chair and he has worked hard to find the right balance in this team. Winning this trophy, if we do, will be another step in his evolution as a manager here.
I understand Ole's reluctance completely. I don't think its cowardice or any of the other negative terms used. We have to remember that he is still establishing himself as a United level manager. I think he is growing all the time. He seems more and more comfortable in the chair and he has worked hard to find the right balance in this team. Winning this trophy, if we do, will be another step in his evolution as a manager here.
It's weird how this narrative has built up again that he doesn't rotate, he's made on average c.4 rotations per match this season, which is a decent amount. It's just that the form of some of the understudies has dipped which has made it harder to rotate but on the whole he's been fine with it IMO.
You don't last the length of the season we have had especially (with an extremely compacted schedule) if the manager doesn't rotate. Some of the squad players need to recapture their form but it's not too pressing a problem.
You don't last the length of the season we have had especially (with an extremely compacted schedule) if the manager doesn't rotate. Some of the squad players need to recapture their form but it's not too pressing a problem.
I think we need to take into account wider aspects of OGS' approach when considering how he handles substitutions. He handles his players really well, stands up for them, don't hang them out to dry when there's a bad result, stays positive and never takes the credit himself when things go well. But another part of the same thing is I think he's pretty clear that it falls on the leaders and regulars of that team to get the result. If we're down by a goal and struggling, then there's an important message that it's on Marcus, Bruno, Cavani etc to get the job done. That's what it means to be a leader on a winning team. Hence, it's not his first, second or third thought to take them off. He'll make adjustments if there's something really wrong with the team shape, or it's clear that it's just not going to happen (as with Pogba yesterday, who was awful), but his preference is to challenge the best players to fix things on the pitch. I don't think that's a bad approach. This is what we need to do to build a winner.
As for yesterday, I too were suprised and dismayed by seeing so many regulars in the lineup, considering our insane schedule this coming week. But I think the development of the game justified the choice. It wasn't far removed from turning dangerous, and we were worse with the defensive substitutions than before them. Pogba should not have started though - he showed again he's not automatically motivated for every game.
As for yesterday, I too were suprised and dismayed by seeing so many regulars in the lineup, considering our insane schedule this coming week. But I think the development of the game justified the choice. It wasn't far removed from turning dangerous, and we were worse with the defensive substitutions than before them. Pogba should not have started though - he showed again he's not automatically motivated for every game.
Funnily, at Cardiff he was widely criticised for rotating too much and never finding a clear starting XI. Looks like he's determined not to repeat that mistake.
We didn’t score that many goals guys.
The Premier League will take away all goals Bruno was involved in as I have read here that they don‘t count as it’s just his brilliance and brilliance in football is obviously not allowed.
Then the goals against Southampton will also not count as United are not allowed to play against 10 men.
Maybe they will take the goals scored against Leeds, too as it’s Leeds and they are the best Leeds team ever.
Not many goals left after that
The Premier League will take away all goals Bruno was involved in as I have read here that they don‘t count as it’s just his brilliance and brilliance in football is obviously not allowed.
Then the goals against Southampton will also not count as United are not allowed to play against 10 men.
Maybe they will take the goals scored against Leeds, too as it’s Leeds and they are the best Leeds team ever.
Not many goals left after that
With Donny, I think we'll see more of him next year. Everyone seems to be getting very concerned but he is a good player adapting to a new country, new league and new system during a pandemic and he's still relatively young as he's just turned 24.
Andy Mitten has said a few times that he has heard from contacts at the club that Donny wasn't bought to come in and hit the ground running as part of the first team this year, like say Bruno was. He was bought as a squad option who can hopefully become a first-team player over the next couple of seasons.
With regard to the wider point about using the squad, I think there's a few there that have proven they aren't worthy of his trust or who can't be relied upon to be fit.
Mata, Matic and Telles are all pretty much done as far as I'm concerned.
Tuanzebe and Bailly are either injured or inconsistent.
If we are able to get a few first teamers then some of the current first teamers become trusted squad options.
Then you have Dan James who is ok in certain games and the rest are kids.
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Agreed, and I think people on here seem to hugely undervalue how difficult it is to find a winning balance in a team, and how beneficial it is to do so. As soon as Pep moved to a slightly more defensively-balanced first XI this season I had them down as clear favourites to finally win a champions league, and likewise with United its no coincidence that we've looked so much more consistent, and difficult to beat, once we found our best XI.
Not only that, but going forwards it gives us a much clearer picture of where we want to go with our recruitment. The teams identity and style of play is pretty well set now. We aren't scrambling around looking for answers to problems. Instead we are now looking to enhance what we have where we can.
Pretty sure Ole extended contracts to 4 out of those 5 and signed the other one.
Think the two semi's last night showed the relationship between the manager and the players. Our players are close to Ole. Arteta seems rather detached, which might show why we are fighting in a final and for second and Arsenal aren't.
Wonder what sort of pre-season has been arranged. Think some of the players and the kids will seriously benefit from one.
Yeah I think all of the players will benefit from a proper summer and pre-season.
I'm hoping very few of our players go to the euros.
Unfortunately, quite a-few will obviously be going. It's something all top teams will have to deal with.
Oh it's a futile hope I know
Mourinho got us 6th the season we won the Europa League. We scored fewer goals than Bournemouth that year.
It's a fecking pain that clubs could do without tbh.
Think it's too early to say on Telles, it's his first year and he hasn't really played all that much thanks to the stellar form of the man in front of him. He isn't the first player to have had a patchy first year to then show more of his true self the season after - Cancelo is a perfect example of this. Personally, I think he's been adequate for most of the games he's played this season (and considering he's a squad player and the price we paid for him, that's exactly what we need), though yesterday was bad I agree.
Matic and Mata aren't really there for their on-pitch contributions these days. They are more like the elder statesmen of a very young squad who need guidance. Mata will most likely be off in the summer on a free, and Matic might yet go too, though you saw yesterday that in some games he can provide a positive impact.
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It's not like while playing with our almost first choice back four we were in control of the game. If you can't even trust them to defend a 4 goal lead, what's the point of having them in the squad. Specially Telles who is an experienced player.
Kids? Who said anything about kids? Could have played Matic, Mata, James, Teles and one kid in Williams and rested Pogba, Bruno, Shaw, etc.Did you watch the game?! You maniac
And 'maniac'? Really?
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Yeah, so he basically achieved Mourinho's best result in a cup competition and Mourinho's best result in the league in the same season. Our best season since 2013 by a large margin.
Maybe Telles can come good but I don't think he's ever been a good defender.
I'd agree about Mata and Matic and yeah Matic can do a job on occasion but these players are all on our bench and in the squad that people say the manager should trust more.
My point was a rebuttal to that because at the moment I don't feel a lot of those guys can be trusted.
Again, did you watch the game?
1-3 yer dah
4 husband
By kids I meant seconds. We might genuinely have been knocked out with the team you suggested.
Let's not let that get in the way of a good ole bashing.
The negativity on the back Roma's 3-2 win is over the top as United were never in any danger of going out. If United win in Gdansk, their manager will have gone someway towards silencing his doubters.
Why is everyone getting onto the manager for his team selection? This is a Semi Final not some Emirates cup pre season game.
Imagine the stories if he made 11 changes and we lost 3-0 or 4-1, everyone would be Ole out this morning.
He treated Roma with respect, which is what all good managers would do. The only chance of winning silverware this season, why would he want to take a chance?
We have seen over the past few years, weird things have happened, Liverpool's come back, United at PSG, Roma at Barca, Spurs at Ajax.
Imagine the stories if he made 11 changes and we lost 3-0 or 4-1, everyone would be Ole out this morning.
He treated Roma with respect, which is what all good managers would do. The only chance of winning silverware this season, why would he want to take a chance?
We have seen over the past few years, weird things have happened, Liverpool's come back, United at PSG, Roma at Barca, Spurs at Ajax.
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