I see the 'ABU' Media are back in full voice...

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Siorac

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I think it is slightly amusing that he gets the Liverpool vs United wages thing wrong. However, the piece is clearly more about defending his idol Bielsa than anything else.

For a lot of football hipsters, of which Wilson clearly is one, Bielsa is like a prophet. A lone voice in a wilderness of direct, long ball football, preaching a message of tactical innovation and sophistication. Anything that takes the sheen off of him, like a 5-1 loss, must be explained away. Ole was, as you've pointed out, incidental to this story. This defence of Bielsa would've come regardless of who Leeds lost to.
Yeah, that's quite possible. Bielsa is undeniably fun; I'd much rather have ten more of him than another Sean Dyche in the league. Not sure if he's particularly innovative though.
 

Siorac

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And would he describe it as outlandish to suggest Thomas Tuchel got the better of Patrick Vieira tactically?
It would be... odd to say that. Chelsea were overwhelming favourites to win that game comfortably, and they did. Does it say anything meaningful about Vieira's tactical abilities? I don't think so: as the manager of Crystal Palace, it's possible to get everything right tactically and still lose 3-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

And that's sort of the point: he claims that some criticism directed at Bielsa implies that with another manager, someone with more tactical awareness or pragmatism or whatever, they might be able to kick on, go even further. When in reality, their 9th place last season is pretty much as good as it gets for a club with Leeds' financial resources. Even if the manager gets everything right, they'll be around mid-table and they will lose to Manchester United if we play to our abilities.

I still don't see anything wrong with this, apart from being incredibly obvious.
 

sparx99

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Wilson is just an arsehole. He writes all these books about footballing tactics to sound smart, but has obviously never kicked a ball in his life. He spends a lot of time talking about cricket whenever he's on the Football Weekly podcast, which tells you everything you need to know about how interesting a man he is...

Speaking of that podcast, during their review of the Leeds match one of their 'experts' mentioned how things might have been different if Philips had been playing instead of Koch. The same Philips substituted at HT in the same game last year, for being so shit. They'd all completely forgotten that. How convenient.
Hey! Nothing wrong with liking cricket as well.
 

Real Name

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Shame about Wilson, he's a good author. But it seems him adoring Bielsa and other hipster managers takes away lot of his objectivity.
It's absolutely ridiculous he can't write one positive piece on Ole to save his life. As others have stated him and the like have started with the he's shite notion from the word go and now they simply won't changed their tune. Rather they're hoping he'll end up shit and when we get good results it's cause of the players. Certainly its not because we have some famous patterns of play.

As @crossy1686 said if Ole wins the title he still won't get plaudits, it will be cause we have a big wage bill, got Varane and Sancho and have played individual ability the whole year.

If anything when I see this kind of articles it means we're definitely on the right track.

On the down side it's sad some of the posters think the same unfortunately.
 

BusbyMalone

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That Wilson article isn't even about Solskjaer, he mentions him what, twice? You lads in this thread have a well-developed persecution complex.

If anything, the most offending thing about that article is that it's a lot of words to state the bleeding obvious: money is generally the most important factor in footballing achievements. Everyone knows that by now.
Yeah, I read the article and would agree with this. The problem I have with it is that, as you said, It's just so obvious what he's saying that you could write that exact same article every week. I mean, I do agree with him that some of the criticism of Bielsa is over the top (although that's twice he's been smacked by United at Old Trafford) and does ignore the overall context of what he's working with.

I think it's a little bit churlish of him to seemingly give Ole no credit at all, but I read it more as a defense of Bielsa than anything. Certainly not as egregious as some on here find it.

Although him staying Liverpool's success is "remarkable" as if they're working on a shoestring budget is pretty laughable.
 

justsomebloke

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It would be... odd to say that. Chelsea were overwhelming favourites to win that game comfortably, and they did. Does it say anything meaningful about Vieira's tactical abilities? I don't think so: as the manager of Crystal Palace, it's possible to get everything right tactically and still lose 3-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

And that's sort of the point: he claims that some criticism directed at Bielsa implies that with another manager, someone with more tactical awareness or pragmatism or whatever, they might be able to kick on, go even further. When in reality, their 9th place last season is pretty much as good as it gets for a club with Leeds' financial resources. Even if the manager gets everything right, they'll be around mid-table and they will lose to Manchester United if we play to our abilities.

I still don't see anything wrong with this, apart from being incredibly obvious.
Okay, but then by the same measure Chelsea's win over CP should be an even better argument for JWs point than our win over Leeds. As should Leeds' 9th place finish as opposed to their loss against Man Utd.

Also, while Leeds loss naturally is not a sane argument for sacking Bielsa, it is also too simple to ascribe the result to such factors, or to assume that it happened in spite of the respective managers actions, rather than at least in part because of them. Leeds after all has achieved much better than this against equally strong and rich teams.
 

georgipep

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Then you should probably read it again. Because why is United's win over Leeds the ONLY thing that allegedly proves this point, rather than, say, Chelsea's win over Crystal Palace (who I'd bet have a bigger wage differential than United and Leeds), or Liverpool's over Norwich? And would he describe it as outlandish to suggest Thomas Tuchel got the better of Patrick Vieira tactically?

Or maybe City's run of league titles would make for a better example of this than the result of an individual game? It is actually a very, very odd way to make the point he purports to make, since you could just as easily pick any number of individual games to prove the exact opposite. Starting with Spurs' win over City in the same round.

You're right that it's bleeding obvious that money is the basic thing separating big and successful teams from the rest. What is much more questionable is that it's the thing that explains the result of a given individual match. There are far too many examples of rich teams losing to poor teams for that to stand up to scrutiny. No matter how much money you have, the outcome of a match is never that simple and to beat a team as good as Leeds is never easy, for anyone. You only do it if you get a lot of things right.
There is a simple answer to that and I'm afraid it's not about personally attacking Ole (although that probably helps). It is because having Manchester United in the title and the article generates A LOT more clicks.
 

Ole's screen

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Jonathan WIlson simply doesn't rate Solskjaer. He believes Solskjaer is just copying Ferguson and seeing how far that will take him.
That's an odd thing surely? Every manager/coach that's starting out will take lessons from their past mentors and footballing idols and SAF is clearly that for Ole. Did people call all the "total footballing" coaches like van Gaal, Koemen, etc. just copying Cruyff and seeing how far that will take them? Are Barcelona denigrated for wanting to go back to the Cruyff principles?

Surely the guy who created a 26 year long dynasty at the club deserves and warrants emulation from his successors? Surely it is smart of Ole to want to learn from SAF and try to re instill some of those values and principles at the club?

Why is it such an insult to be copying SAF. I want Ole to copy SAF. If he's half as successful as him he'd go down as one of the most successful managers ever.
 
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Yeah, that's quite possible. Bielsa is undeniably fun; I'd much rather have ten more of him than another Sean Dyche in the league. Not sure if he's particularly innovative though.
But Ole's football is fun! The only things I really take issue with in the article is Wilson's sneering dismissal of the possibility that Ole might have done something tactically clever, and the argument that Ole is underachieving purely because he has spent lots of money. Both points seem condescending and based outside of reality. It's like he refuses to talk about how Ole built the squad, and how Arsenal for example have gone the opposite direction despite having a ridiculous wage bill because it doesn't fit his narrative, despite the fact that the Arsenal result was the biggest shock of the weekend. And he does that so he can criticise Ole and avoid criticising Bielsa after Ole beat Bielsa 5-1.
 

Mithrals

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It's not all doom and gloom. Match review just released a 30 minutes video praising both players and Solskjær on youtube.
Worth a watch I'd say!

(I'm not allowed to post links or media yet)
 

georgipep

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It would be... odd to say that. Chelsea were overwhelming favourites to win that game comfortably, and they did. Does it say anything meaningful about Vieira's tactical abilities? I don't think so: as the manager of Crystal Palace, it's possible to get everything right tactically and still lose 3-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

And that's sort of the point: he claims that some criticism directed at Bielsa implies that with another manager, someone with more tactical awareness or pragmatism or whatever, they might be able to kick on, go even further. When in reality, their 9th place last season is pretty much as good as it gets for a club with Leeds' financial resources. Even if the manager gets everything right, they'll be around mid-table and they will lose to Manchester United if we play to our abilities.

I still don't see anything wrong with this, apart from being incredibly obvious.
So United winning at home to a side they beat 6:2 last season is in any way surprising? Btw, the bookies were putting United as clear favourites too.
 

Becks_VII

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Ian Wright is a good impartial pundit. He is night and day compared to Grey Ham Sourness.
Ye I like Wright, he's a very good character too. Really like listening to Coley aswell, think he's become a very good pundit. Would have never thought it years ago watching his rap videos
 

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Ye I like Wright, he's a very good character too. Really like listening to Coley aswell, think he's become a very good pundit. Would have never thought it years ago watching his rap videos
Yeah I love Andrew Cole. I think he is a great ambassador for Man Utd and really speaks well when talking about football.
 

sugar_kane

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That Wilson article isn't even about Solskjaer, he mentions him what, twice? You lads in this thread have a well-developed persecution complex.

If anything, the most offending thing about that article is that it's a lot of words to state the bleeding obvious: money is generally the most important factor in footballing achievements. Everyone knows that by now.
Yeah, I read the article and would agree with this. The problem I have with it is that, as you said, It's just so obvious what he's saying that you could write that exact same article every week. I mean, I do agree with him that some of the criticism of Bielsa is over the top (although that's twice he's been smacked by United at Old Trafford) and does ignore the overall context of what he's working with.

I think it's a little bit churlish of him to seemingly give Ole no credit at all, but I read it more as a defense of Bielsa than anything. Certainly not as egregious as some on here find it.

Although him staying Liverpool's success is "remarkable" as if they're working on a shoestring budget is pretty laughable.
Perhaps in isolation it would seem overly touchy, but Jonathan Wilson is a remorseless critic of Ole and has been for years.

Check the guys track record
 

roonster09

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Perhaps in isolation it would seem overly touchy, but Jonathan Wilson is a remorseless critic of Ole and has been for years.

Check the guys track record
Yeah, Jonathan Wilson is one obsessed twat. I'm guessing he posted few articles saying how Ole is a joke and shouldn't be ManUtd manager in the past, now just doubling down on those claims.
 

pav1790

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Perhaps in isolation it would seem overly touchy, but Jonathan Wilson is a remorseless critic of Ole and has been for years.

Check the guys track record
Holy hell! That is some real agenda driven journalism. I expected bad - after the headline we have been discussing. But this is beyond the pale. I can only hope that the club doesn't entertain shitheads like these.
 

SecondFig

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Perhaps in isolation it would seem overly touchy, but Jonathan Wilson is a remorseless critic of Ole and has been for years.

Check the guys track record
Nah, I really like (and rate) Wilson as a journalist/football writer. He doesn't rate Ole as a tactician, but I've never gotten any sense of it being personal or ABU. He just doesn't think Ole is that good at tactically setting a team up. He's been complimentary in the past of Ole's man-management, substitutions etc - he's never come out and said that Ole is a joke. Just that he's not an elite level manager, which is arguably true. BUT, Ole is uniquely suited to manage Utd
 

wolvored

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You are always going to have biased press to the big teams and the bigger the team, the more headlines, good and bad will be generated. Every day something in the media is about Utd.
Regarding Ole, he will always have his doubters until he wins the big trophies regularly. If by some chance he wins the Premiership of Champions League, he will get some praise, but some will still slag him off. If he wins one or both 4 times in the next 5 years, it will quieten down.
Look back around 87-90 at the headlines Fergie generated, and his background was a lot more successful than Oles.
 

Ole's screen

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You are always going to have biased press to the big teams and the bigger the team, the more headlines, good and bad will be generated. Every day something in the media is about Utd.
Regarding Ole, he will always have his doubters until he wins the big trophies regularly. If by some chance he wins the Premiership of Champions League, he will get some praise, but some will still slag him off. If he wins one or both 4 times in the next 5 years, it will quieten down.
Look back around 87-90 at the headlines Fergie generated, and his background was a lot more successful than Oles.
That is a ridiculous standard to apply to managers. Even Klopp is a nobody by that standard.
 

wolvored

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That is a ridiculous standard to apply to managers. Even Klopp is a nobody by that standard.
Thats the only way the abu media will quieten down on Ole though. If he 'only' won it once or twice they would still have something bad to say.
 

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He didn't miss another opportunity to point that Ole is a bad manager. What a plonker and a sad, sad person.
 

Loon

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Merson was a shocker. Not only can he still not say “Manunited” but he was so bitter. Had City signed him he’d be saying league done. We signed him “He’s 50% the player he was.”
 

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You are always going to have biased press to the big teams and the bigger the team, the more headlines, good and bad will be generated. Every day something in the media is about Utd.
Regarding Ole, he will always have his doubters until he wins the big trophies regularly. If by some chance he wins the Premiership of Champions League, he will get some praise, but some will still slag him off. If he wins one or both 4 times in the next 5 years, it will quieten down.
Look back around 87-90 at the headlines Fergie generated, and his background was a lot more successful than Oles.
Interesting things is Poch didn't win a thing and still gets praises while Ole gets dogs abuse constantly.
 

Foxbatt

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I was going to post it too and yes they have started. They are now blaming Ronnie for all the ills at Juventus.
And Ole for getting him. And blaming Ronnie for not pressing. Since when did Ronnie do any pressing? I also think he does a lot more defending now than when he was at United the first time around.
 

shaky

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https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ust-what-is-that-manchester-united-see-in-him

Right on cue, along comes Mr Wilson with a tear stained negative article on the Ronaldo signing.

Thing is, there is arguably an interesting debate to be had how Ronaldo fits in but Wilson completely undermines it by littering his article with snide, reductive attacks on the club.
I'd have thought Wilson would be delighted that Utd signed Ronaldo. That way, if we win things in the next couple of years, he can drone on about how it was all down to Ronaldo rather than giving Ole any credit. Honestly, that bloke should start an ABU supporters club with Souness.
 

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https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ust-what-is-that-manchester-united-see-in-him

Right on cue, along comes Mr Wilson with a tear stained negative article on the Ronaldo signing.

Thing is, there is arguably an interesting debate to be had how Ronaldo fits in but Wilson completely undermines it by littering his article with snide, reductive attacks on the club.
For this line alone the article should be discounted:

Three years ago, Juventus paid £100m for a 33-year-old and gave him a basic salary of £26.6m a year, a deal that must now rank as one of the worst in history.

It didn't win them the CL as they'd hoped but one of the worst in history? :lol:
 

Fully Fledged

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Last season they were the second-top scorers in the Premier League, and scored more than anybody else in their Champions League group, but still finished third
What? Did we lose a place I didn't know about? We finished third the season before last not last season. The season we finished 3rd we were not second top goal scorers.
 

Xaviesta

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What? Did we lose a place I didn't know about? We finished third the season before last not last season. The season we finished 3rd we were not second top goal scorers.
He's referring to your Champions League group.
 

Adisa

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What? Did we lose a place I didn't know about? We finished third the season before last not last season. The season we finished 3rd we were not second top goal scorers.
He means third in the group.
Wilson is a plonker.
 

shaky

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For this line alone the article should be discounted:

Three years ago, Juventus paid £100m for a 33-year-old and gave him a basic salary of £26.6m a year, a deal that must now rank as one of the worst in history.

It didn't win them the CL as they'd hoped but one of the worst in history? :lol:
It funny how he goes on about Juve not winning the past couple of years and lays the blame squarely on Ronaldo's shoulders, yet ignores the fact that they changed managers 3 times and Pirlo was hopeless last season. Not a peep about him having no managerial experience, yet Ole's lack of experience is the cause of all our problems apparently.
 

justsomebloke

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Wilson has just descended when it comes to United to a level that makes him not worth reading. It's just too stupid, and blindly stupid at that. So, Ronaldo is a stupid signing motivated solely by Uniteds unique romantic attachment to its own past, and yet City was hours away from signing him? What was their reason?

What a jerk. Zero respect.
 
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