Imagine a top club actually using that barometer. Given what Ole has spent, I don't see how just making top four would constitute as being anywhere near good enough.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion
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Thats a sensible post.
I was an Ole fan up to jan then started to realise we had gone as far as we could with him and the bottle job and stupid subs in the final confirmed it for me. I have said many times I hope he could turn it round, but the first sign of madness apparently is expecting different results from doing the same thing.
I dont think he will get sacked if he finishes top 4, but I hope he is man enough to realise he cant do any more and offers to step down. Afterall thats basically what he said when he took over.
It clearly shows the priorities of the owners and those in charge though. It's not insane just financially calculated.
I think we've singing from the same hymn sheet on this for a while.
We will let this season spiral the drain, even if the writings on the wall. The exception was when they sacked Jose, but Ole is never going to go full scorched earth.
I don't think assembling one of the best squad in PL and throwing money around on salaries but settling for mediocre coaches is financially calculated. I don't know how much Ole and the coaches are on but I think they can't be far off than the other top team's managers and coaches, it's not like they're getting 50% less. By paying more you can win big trophies, it's like adding a little more to see your huge investments paid off.
Glazers are clueless. I like to imagine Ole phoning one of them one day and telling them to sign Ronaldo so he can be our Tom Brady. Glazers, not knowing what is football but know who Ronaldo (read it on newspaper one day) and Tom Brady are immediately agree and think we will win the league by signing Ronaldo.
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I imagine all top clubs look out for their finances; obviously some are in better positions than others. But they still demand success on the pitch too and wouldn't be content with just making the top four. It's a model we ridiculed Arsenal for!
Probably terms in his contract explicitly stating it, save a bit of cash when it's mathematically impossible
It's still just mental. When you look at our squad, just making top four is absolutely nowhere near good enough. Also, surely missing out on the CL is financially more detrimental to the club, than a managers severance package. Not to mention the implications it has on potential signings, with sponsors etc.
The Glazers bought us to make money. Even with the large salaries and transfer fees as long as we are in the CL and PL every year they are making a profit. They don't know enough about football to identify a good coach and i'm pretty sure their footballing decisions like giving Ole a new three year deal shows they don't demand success. Win nothing and finish 4th this year and there is a good chance Ole is still our manager next year if the fans don't get toxic. Like Robbie Boy says it's basically the Arsenal way. Keep the machine running and keep making bank.
Talking crap again in press conferences...
Apparantly it is great to be a forward for us at the moment because we play attacking football with the United DNA (trademark).
Honestly, he is worse than a caller on TalkSport, sounds so clueless and blatantly lies!
Apparantly it is great to be a forward for us at the moment because we play attacking football with the United DNA (trademark).
Honestly, he is worse than a caller on TalkSport, sounds so clueless and blatantly lies!
He is so deluded it really is frustrating.
Which game have we played attacking in? I mean even the West Ham, Villareal, Villa games, we didnt really look like scoring past 75 mins, the opposition kept the ball and we chased, when we got the ball, the pace of football was on par as playing a friendly. No intent, no urgency, no clue as to how to attack.
United trademark was throwing the kitchen sink, it was wave after wave of attack, at the moment is the opposition has 2 we have 1.
The teams personifies the manager, naive and passive. No aggression whatsover.
United trademark is winning games against smaller teams. He should start talking about that one. He knows.
Desperate to sign Lingard up "because we really rate him", "an important player for us".
You've not picked him to start in any game that mattered, you've barely given him a sniff of football off the bench. Why are you wanting to commit a squad number and £6-7m in wages a year to someone who clearly isn't good enough?
Presumably because he's a good lad and you're a nice guy.
It's one thing to look desperate and a little held to ransom over someone like Pogba. But Ole is making the club look more desperate and Lingard more powerful than Raiola ever could with Pogba. Fecking embarrassing.
You've not picked him to start in any game that mattered, you've barely given him a sniff of football off the bench. Why are you wanting to commit a squad number and £6-7m in wages a year to someone who clearly isn't good enough?
Presumably because he's a good lad and you're a nice guy.
It's one thing to look desperate and a little held to ransom over someone like Pogba. But Ole is making the club look more desperate and Lingard more powerful than Raiola ever could with Pogba. Fecking embarrassing.
Feel for Jesse. Ole obviously sold him the same lie he sold Donny. We definitely want you, you're important to us, blah blah blah, plan, DNA, big vibes. Jesse should be at West Ham & we should have him off the wage bill & £20m in our pockets to put toward a DM.Desperate to sign Lingard up "because we really rate him", "an important player for us".
You've not picked him to start in any game that mattered, you've barely given him a sniff of football off the bench. Why are you wanting to commit a squad number and £6-7m in wages a year to someone who clearly isn't good enough?
Presumably because he's a good lad and you're a nice guy.
He talks a lot of rubbish at times. If he rated Lingard as highly as he makes out, he'd not have loaned him out last season, and he'd not have signed Sancho and Ronaldo, as that makes Lingard even more surplus to requirements.Desperate to sign Lingard up "because we really rate him", "an important player for us".
You've not picked him to start in any game that mattered, you've barely given him a sniff of football off the bench. Why are you wanting to commit a squad number and £6-7m in wages a year to someone who clearly isn't good enough?
Presumably because he's a good lad and you're a nice guy.
Is Ole trying to stockpile players or something?Desperate to sign Lingard up "because we really rate him", "an important player for us".
You've not picked him to start in any game that mattered, you've barely given him a sniff of football off the bench. Why are you wanting to commit a squad number and £6-7m in wages a year to someone who clearly isn't good enough?
Presumably because he's a good lad and you're a nice guy.
It's one thing to look desperate and a little held to ransom over someone like Pogba. But Ole is making the club look more desperate and Lingard more powerful than Raiola ever could with Pogba. Fecking embarrassing.
Jones on that big contract, Lingard, keeping VDB with false promises.
From credit for getting rid of deadwood, he's now beginning to keep a lot of it.
He doesn't have that ruthless streak. Wants to be nice and well liked by everyone. Someone should tell him that never works out.
The fact we're throwing millions of pounds at Mata & Jones still is worse than any of the deadwood we kept under Mourinho
A great many things about how our club operates, for a club of our finances and prestige, is absolutely insane.
The thing I don't get about the club in its appointment of Ole on a full-time basis is that when we sign players we look to sign some of the best around in order to compete with the other clubs around us who also have some of the best players around. In order to maintain parity with those teams, we need to compete in the transfer window (which we do). You can argue that we should be spending more because we have it to spend, but we do spend and look for the best players (or what the managers at the time deem to be good enough), but when it comes to the manager we don't do it. Arguably the most important guy at the club, and we don't seek out the best-in-class.
Because whatever you think of Ole (and I think he's a decent manager, to be fair) he's obviously not the best-in-class with the likes of Tuchel, Klopp, or Guardiola. It's not even about being Ole in or Ole out - that's just a fact. Or as close to a fact as you can get in an otherwise objective game. Because the question that should be asked is: what is the biggest differentiator between United, City, Liverpool, and Chelsea? If you are being honest, the answer to the question is obvious to the point where it's almost rhetorical. We all know the answer is the manager, so why did the club settle. That is the biggest differentiator between us and the teams that we're competing with, so why woulnd't you fix that.
Because whatever you think of Ole (and I think he's a decent manager, to be fair) he's obviously not the best-in-class with the likes of Tuchel, Klopp, or Guardiola. It's not even about being Ole in or Ole out - that's just a fact. Or as close to a fact as you can get in an otherwise objective game. Because the question that should be asked is: what is the biggest differentiator between United, City, Liverpool, and Chelsea? If you are being honest, the answer to the question is obvious to the point where it's almost rhetorical. We all know the answer is the manager, so why did the club settle. That is the biggest differentiator between us and the teams that we're competing with, so why woulnd't you fix that.
I find this utterly baffling too. It's something I haven't been able to wrap my head around. Jose was realistically the only big name manager appointment post-Fergie. LvG was a 'has been' on the club scene by the time we appointed him, Ole never should have been given the full time gig and Moyes was just a terrible, terrible appointment.
How come people are more than happy to bin off players and replace them with better ones each summer, and yet get so protective and defensive when it comes to applying the same standards to the managerial position?
A Solskjær quote from today:
- The big attacking purchase of the summer hasn't scored or assisted yet because he is a RW who Ole's insists to play on the left. He didn't figure altogether against Villa.
- We've scored 14 goals, 9 of which came against 16th placed Leeds and 19th placed Newcastle. 2 of 3 teams with the most goals conceded in the league this season.
- We were poor against Southampton, Wolves, Villa and Everton.
- United DNA
- Make sure we're hard to play against. Thanks Moyes.
- The big attacking purchase of the summer hasn't scored or assisted yet because he is a RW who Ole's insists to play on the left. He didn't figure altogether against Villa.
- We've scored 14 goals, 9 of which came against 16th placed Leeds and 19th placed Newcastle. 2 of 3 teams with the most goals conceded in the league this season.
- We were poor against Southampton, Wolves, Villa and Everton.
- United DNA
- Make sure we're hard to play against. Thanks Moyes.
The appointment of Ole as interim manager was a great move. Both for the PR, and just to inject some positivity into a pretty dejected squad. And it worked to great effect and was fun to watch. But they had a plan. They were going to use that time to look around and find the best manager that could compete with the other managers that we were going to be competing with long term. And they abandoned it. One of the few times that this club had seemingly had a plan, and they fecked it off. I think they got caught up in the emotions of it all and gave in.
Now I think we're stuck with a manager who's good, but not great. Who will reliably get us top four, but will not necessarily compete for the major honours because he's nowhere near as good as the managers that we're supposed to be competing with.
I've never enjoyed listening to him as our manager. He talks a fair bit of nonsense, and comes across a-bit awkward.
United DNA
As interim, it was awesome! I honestly loved when he came in; it lifted the mood of the whole club. By the time he got the full time gig, things weren't so rosy though, and I found it all very meh. He's honestly done better than I ever thought he could, but I feel he's probably reached his limitations now.
Getting top four with this squad should be an absolute given for any manager. Honestly, I think he's a decent enough manager, that's about it. Who would have thought during the Fergie era that we would ever settle for just a 'decent' manager, though? It's pretty mental that we've let the likes of Tuchel, Pep and Klopp literally walk to our rivals. This season was meant to be a title challenge, and it should be. However, our start to the season has given me zero confidence that we will mount one. It's all just very underwhelming.
Because of Sir Alex, lot here seem to think any manager given enough time will come good
Never seen such a post from staff on here, quite refreshing in some way.
That's because Varun's one of the few who isn't in his eighties.
@Rhyme Animal what’s the source of your 100 games in comparison? And do you know exactly when Jose’s and Ole’s 100th games were?
Don’t see what that’s got to do with it!
I started going to Old Trafford regularly about a month before Wilf McGuinness was sacked, and enjoyed five managers’ reigns in my first twelve years.
I suspect the Give Him Time zealots only knew SAF. They wouldn’t have been wanting the same for poor old Frank O’Farrell.
Remember the days you were a mod, bring back those glory days amol!
I appreciate this and the reply. There are without question more astute managers than Ole that could wring more out this squad, but I’m not sure with even a better manager like Tuchel that we’d be on same level as City with the squad that we have right now.
We have a huge hole in midfield, which a better manager like Tuchel would likely have plugged over the summer. I’ve become very concerned about the lack of improvement — and arguable regression — by AWB. But the hole in midfield presents a serious challenge IMO for all but the most accomplished managers today.
This. Thank you.
Whenever challenged, Solskjaer has done well. It actually gives him freedom to implement the tactics that are more familiar to him. Liverpool and City are good, but they have looked less than their usual unbelievable forms. I think he and United will come through this stretch in a surprisingly good position in the table.
Yeah, we're clueless. The plan for the interim was sound. But I'm really baffled by after that. Ole was a relative novice for a job this size and so were Carrick and McKenna. So someone should have seen that and made him bring in a more experienced coach to compensate. Or Ole, based on his own-admitted specialties, should've brought in another coach. But he didn't. And now everyone is having their contracts extended. Does that mean they are and always were, a package deal? Which means Ole can't fire them or bring in anyone else because they were hired together and doesn't have the authority. I'm beginning to wonder. Otherwise, it's simply a case of Ole trusting average players and coaches. And that stubbornness and blind loyalty will likely be the death of him.
Agree, it's about balance though. Having a good DM would help compensate for Pogba running forward and vacating the midfield. The problem is having Ronaldo, Pogba, Greenwood, and Bruno, who all don't really press in an organized fashion. I believe Pogba can actually stay in midfield, I've seen him do it. But I think Ole wants him as close as possible to the box to be another match-winning individual brilliance player. And the more we have of those the better for Ole. We are just totally lacking balance. A new DM isn't a magical fix but it would certainly help. How Ole didn't see this in the first place though is another question.
All these theories are pointless anyways.
Varane was supposedly the one that would have allowed us to play more freely and on front foot because he is quick and easily recovers. But guess what? We play like shit ever after his signing.
Sancho was supposed to be the one who would build a partnership with AwB and we were supposed to see a newly reincarnated attack minded RB but voila!
As the poster you responded to said that nothing would change even if we get Prime Essien, I 100% agree with it. The problems lie elsewhere. No player is magically going to turn us into a well oiled machine that we are pining for. There will never be any consistency with this manager, that's a given. People claiming otherwise are welcome to enjoy the 1356th false dawn under his reign.
Yeah, as I said, I don’t believe a brilliant DM is going to fix everything. But a young Matic etc. Would certainly help us control things better than McTominay who goes hiding and doesn’t have the ability to take the ball from the back and distribute it forwards. I agree though, I always thought Varane would help the defence go further forwards and thus allow the midfield to get closer to the attack. All made sense. But I don’t see too much sense on the field or the bench tbh.
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