A Solskjaer Masterclass. Whoop Whoop!!!

mancave bear

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So...buying your way to a trophy? That's what Guardiola gets criticized for.

But the current squad is strong too and should be good enough for a title challenge.
Our squad is not good or deep enough to win the PL or the CL yet. Look at the investments Chelsea have made. And Liverpool and City is to far ahead of us.
 

TwoSheds

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Our squad is not good or deep enough to win the PL or the CL yet. Look at the investments Chelsea have made. And Liverpool and City is to far ahead of us.
I don't think anyone should ever write the CL off so long as you're in it. Porto, Monaco, Liverpool (twice?) - it's not always the best team that wins it. Belief, form and sheer good luck play a huge part.
 

sammsky1

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Absolutely, he knows exactly who to play in these types of games and nearly always gets it right.
His balls for dropping Pogba, asking Tuanzebe to man mark mbappe and starting Telles - all very brave and very intellectual decisions.

And then his decision to swap into 442, brining on Pogba won us the game.

Truly masterful.
 

The Irish Connection

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Fred was magnificent. Best MF on the pitch.

We simply have to start Fred in every match.
Agreed. Him plus Mctominay or Matic. We need intensity and discipline in the middle.
Also, please please please Axel stay fit, exactly what is needed in defence.
 

sammsky1

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Our squad is not good or deep enough to win the PL or the CL yet. Look at the investments Chelsea have made. And Liverpool and City is to far ahead of us.
I agree.

you never know, we might win , but that would be an a massive over delivery vs the reality.

I hope Ole's critics don't use this as the sick to get him sacked when we dont win either trophy this season.
 

Wheato

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He got it spot on. He played a team who would back each other up. No trotting about or standing still when you lose the ball. They lost it, won it back and played it forward, always trying to score. And that kit is even growing on me.
 

mancave bear

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I don't think anyone should ever write the CL off so long as you're in it. Porto, Monaco, Liverpool (twice?) - it's not always the best team that wins it. Belief, form and sheer good luck play a huge part.
True : )
 

redshaw

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Ole deserves some credit and has served the club well overall, best to not get too carried away though. I support Ole and he's done well in big games mostly. We've looked like our old selves in this game and at Newcastle, hopefully the fitness blip has been overcome. People we're ready to bin the lot again.

PSG didn't look too sharp and missed some players, it's all a bit messy during covid and us and many others could be looking laboured in a few games.

The Poch thread was like that, he's shit hot or shit during his time at Spurs. PSG like Spurs might take a bit to get over the CL final loss as well
 

RU Devil

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Ole has proven to be very adept at setting up the team vs bigger sides. I'd think most 'outers' are a bit concerned with the lack of a team identity or cohesive offense when we are expected to have the majority of possession. As a counter attacking team, we need space to probe but seem to run in molasses when faced by a deep block. Hopefully, as the team gets to fully integrate Bruno, VDB, Telles, etc, we will see quicker interplay & more probing runs. Still a lot to develop, but at least there are more useable parts & options.

Bravo Ole & staff.
 

Green_Red

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I like that he has benched Pogba too. Set the tone for everyone, get the fire under them, thats what you get in return, a well disciplined professional reaction.
 

VP

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I'm not sure this is helpful for the forum. These type of threads are going to just a create of vicious cycle I-told-you-so threads.
 

Gasolin

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I think Everton is where the run will end.
At the Everton game, out fitness will have built up completely. I don't think it ends there normally if we follow the plan for our "preseason". Fantastic preseason btw, we play Chelsea, Leipzig and Arsenal!
 

rollingstoned1

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not bad for a fraud pe teacher whose level is the championship, but the next test is the most important one. do you honestly think hand on heart he will ever win the league? We would have won 5-1 with Poch today, sack him.
 

SAFMUTD

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Credit when its deserved, today he did everything spot on. Loved the Pogba substitution, a lot of managers would have got an extra defender but with Pogba we totally changed the momentum.

PSG was obviously not at their best with so many players missing, but its nice to outcoach another team for a change.
 

AbusementPark

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Our squad is not good or deep enough to win the PL or the CL yet. Look at the investments Chelsea have made. And Liverpool and City is to far ahead of us.
We quite a lot of options to choose from off the bench now compared to last season. In defence we now have Telles and Tuanzebe as choices. These 2 additions alone opens up a lot more possibilities. Shaw can move to lcb and Williams can be moved to rb cover. In midfield now we have Donny in the team, along with Bruno and Pogba. Behind them we have Fred, McT and Matic. We have so many choices and good choices might I add that it is encouraging for the season ahead. Up front we have added in Cavani and Pellistri and Diallo, no idea how any of the 3 will actually perform or fit in but I'd rather any of them over Lingard and Ighalo.

Chelsea have made very good signings, but there defence is still terrible. Hopefully Kepa plays on Saturday as he is a liability.

Liverpool brought in Thiago and Jota, both very good signings, vvd being injured will show how far ahead of us they really are and how much squad depth they really have.

City have regularly spent more every season since Pep arrived and yes they do have more strength in depth than us. But I believe we can still compete with them for the title. Bear in mind we have beaten them 3 out of the last 4 times we played last season.

The start of last season is where we lost our title challenge and the beginning of January before Bruno arrived. Not saying we would have won the league but we would have been closer to the top 2 and I expect us to improve on that this season.
 

anant

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He often gets criticized for not being able to change a game through subs. Guess what, he had quality on the bench vs Newcastle and yesterday, and we won both the games.

The switch of formation was something no one saw coming, especially as we were comfortable in stifling their attacks even though they dominated the territory. Pogba's sub meant we gained a lot more territory, and we actually completely took the game to them. Bravo Ole!
 

Lj82

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Never loses his cool in the media.
Doesn't throw players under the bus.

His players genuinely seem to care when they play.
Seemingly good in the transfer market.
Tactically very good.
United legend.
The frustrating thing is, there are actually fans who want him to do the first two.
 

OleBoiii

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The frustrating thing is, there are actually fans who want him to do the first two.
You can't win with some supporters. I can guarantee you that the same people who want to see some more "passion" would lose their mind if Solskjær sulked in the media. Most of the people who wanted to see Pogba benched would have thrown a tantrum if we lost yesterday.
 

Adam-Utd

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Big decision to keep Pogba out of the 11 and play the 3-5-2, worked a treat.

Bringing Pogba on again and turning into a 4-2-2-2 changed the momentum of the match which made us win. Most coaches would probably settle for the 1-1 and stay in the 3-5-2 formaton but Ole was brave and went for it, and we got rewarded.

Top marks all round last night.
 

zacx

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So he is like pogba in manager role... Brilliant in few occasions... Then pretty anonymous in other occasions.... :D
 

georgipep

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He is good at setting up his team against better opponents. Sit back and counter with mostly Rashford. Last season he was the first the get points against Liverpool playing that way for example.

The problems start when he plays 'inferior' teams. He hasnt discovered how to break those defenses down while not conceding goals. It is harder to do though... for a manager and also demands more quality of players.
Not sure what your definition of 'inferior' teams 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 problems but to me a record of 13 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss is not one.

Steady on. Excellent result. But, we have seen this before. I actually felt we would raise our game because no one expected us to do anything much. PSG seemed to play with little spark at all.

I think we are a team that play better when there is little expectation, and that worries me.

Manchester United getting a big result in Europe shouldn't be met with such astonishment. It's as if we no longer see ourselves at that level. Darren Fletcher made it sound like some amazing performance.

It was an excellent win, but I'm keeping things in perspective.
What should be met with astonishment? Do you still expect us to win the league and reach the final of the Champions League to be excited? Things change, Sir Alex retired, we are no longer a certainty for the title challenge and expectations must adapt.

So, beating PSG (last season's Champions League finalist) is not a big deal because they have pressumably played with little spark at all? Cool...

We are playing on the bounce from Newcastle win... this form will continue for next 2,3 games. Then a big dip will come. This is the pattern. His inconsistency is almost predictable now.
Please see what I've written above as response to the first quote and tell me where is the pattern. If you find results so predictable, you must be making a killing with the bookies. But then again, facts show that you're just full of it..

My take after tonight

Tactically , ole is actually excellent when he can play on the break. It's just impossible to argue with this...

When we have to have the ball and play a high line, and play ball players in cm, we look much worse in defence and if we can't break down the opposition we don't look good at all. When we are at our best or when we have luck on our side we can still win these games on the front foot. But right now it looks like if ole just plays on the break in every big game we can have a great run in the cl
As I've already written above, I don't think a record of 13 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss since end of January, is showing that we 'can't break down the opposition'.

Well maybe but objectively, are they just a bit poor? I mean they were playing Gana alongside Danilo. Danilo is a class DM, why play another average one alongside him with only Herrera to create anything unless your squad is just a bit shit?

And is Kimpembé just shit? It's his second rubbish performance against us out of 3. Easy in the French league sometimes.
Kimpembe is the 10th best CB in the CL last season of players who played more than 3 games. He is also a WC winner with France in 2018. Neymar and Mbappe also play the majority of their games in the French league. Are they rubbish too?
 

TwoSheds

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10th best CB in the tournament! :lol:

Very precise.
 

Crashoutcassius

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We quite a lot of options to choose from off the bench now compared to last season. In defence we now have Telles and Tuanzebe as choices. These 2 additions alone opens up a lot more possibilities. Shaw can move to lcb and Williams can be moved to rb cover. In midfield now we have Donny in the team, along with Bruno and Pogba. Behind them we have Fred, McT and Matic. We have so many choices and good choices might I add that it is encouraging for the season ahead. Up front we have added in Cavani and Pellistri and Diallo, no idea how any of the 3 will actually perform or fit in but I'd rather any of them over Lingard and Ighalo.

Chelsea have made very good signings, but there defence is still terrible. Hopefully Kepa plays on Saturday as he is a liability.

Liverpool brought in Thiago and Jota, both very good signings, vvd being injured will show how far ahead of us they really are and how much squad depth they really have.

City have regularly spent more every season since Pep arrived and yes they do have more strength in depth than us. But I believe we can still compete with them for the title. Bear in mind we have beaten them 3 out of the last 4 times we played last season.

The start of last season is where we lost our title challenge and the beginning of January before Bruno arrived. Not saying we would have won the league but we would have been closer to the top 2 and I expect us to improve on that this season.
if you are saying here we should be expecting ole to win the league then you are saying we are one of the greatest teams of all time since we are competing against the two best league teams of all time. nobody is buying that for a second. we aren't good enough to beat not one but two 100 pt potential teams. all we can do is improve on last years 66 pts, and we can probably improve quite a bit on that. this isn't the greatest squad in the history of the premiership though
 

Crashoutcassius

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Well maybe but objectively, are they just a bit poor? I mean they were playing Gana alongside Danilo. Danilo is a class DM, why play another average one alongside him with only Herrera to create anything unless your squad is just a bit shit?

And is Kimpembé just shit? It's his second rubbish performance against us out of 3. Easy in the French league sometimes.
possible they are shit just like anyone, but they got to the CL final last year and looked good getting their, their front 3 are the most expensive in the world by such an extreme distance. They played their kid in Kimpembe vs rashford, we played our kid who hasnt played in a year vs Mbappe, it was an amazing performance
 

Crashoutcassius

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As I've already written above, I don't think a record of 13 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss since end of January, is showing that we 'can't break down the opposition'.
I said 'if we cant break down the opposition we look poor'. Are you saying there have been no games in that time where we struggled to break down the opposition? there have been plenty, although much improved from under lvg and mourinho
 

georgipep

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I said 'if we cant break down the opposition we look poor'. Are you saying there have been no games in that time where we struggled to break down the opposition? there have been plenty, although much improved from under lvg and mourinho
Of course, every team has games when they look poor and cannot break down and beat the opposition. I just don't think this is something we're experiencing any more than the top clubs do.
 

podurban2

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if you are saying here we should be expecting ole to win the league then you are saying we are one of the greatest teams of all time since we are competing against the two best league teams of all time. nobody is buying that for a second. we aren't good enough to beat not one but two 100 pt potential teams. all we can do is improve on last years 66 pts, and we can probably improve quite a bit on that. this isn't the greatest squad in the history of the premiership though
Not saying we will win but crazier things have happened. City don’t look at their best and Liverpool will be without their talisman VVD. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of Chelsea/United/Spurs were in the race until the end.
 

Matriac

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Of course, every team has games when they look poor and cannot break down and beat the opposition. I just don't think this is something we're experiencing any more than the top clubs do.
No more than the other top clubs you mean. :smirk:

Even liverpool struggled in many games last season to get their winner until the final 10 minutes or so, and then some times scoring several in rapid succession.

Most people don't realize this is pretty normal as they mostly just watch our games in full and then the highlights of the other games.
 

Maticmaker

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Against the top teams Ole has his tactics and selection spot on, please Ole now do it with the lesser teams.