Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion

[The United]

I have no idea if he will be good enough for long term at United considering that even great coaches do not last long at one team anymore now.

But, you have to admit that he has been doing all the right things for us. Signing good players that fit (which is important and even Jose couldn't do it), players with decent potentials, giving courage to youth players to get out and play decent when necessary. It is the direction that any good club should follow, not just us.

I do think that not being able to secure the signing of the likes of Dybala and injures to Martial pretty much made his plan and reputation go to deep shite for this season. Hopefully, we win EL this season and it would make next season more interesting for him.

 

[arthurka]

Agree. I wouldn't shift Scott or Fred to make way for Pogba just because of the system we play. Not having a go at Pogba as it's just a different playing style but he wouldn't have done half as much as either of those today. I hope Ole plays him as the most advanced midfielder/number 10 or not at all.

I agree, Pogba in for Pereira.

 

[AneRu]

What a heist we got for James! Hopefully this few games gives Ed the confidence to back Ole in upcoming transfer market. And hopefully we fixed Fred as well so we only have to worry about #10 and some squad depth.

I still feel we need an accomplished DM with better passing even though I like Fred and McT's all action play. To have someone who can build up play from deep alongside one of the two will be great for our overall fluidity.

 

[The United]

I still feel we need an accomplished DM with better passing even though I like Fred and McT's all action play. To have someone who can build up play from deep alongside one of the two will be great for our overall fluidity.

I think that and a no 10 if we keep the formation will be high on next transfer list.

 

[dove]

But you are complaining? We played well, great in periods, from first whistle to last.

I’m not, just stating the obvious.

 

[passing-wind]

It was a good performance but consistency is what's important. A good performance vs performances is what determines our season. Given the trajectory of what Ole has shown, we will lose again within the next 3 games and this is the fundamental problem. If we can manage positive results in the next 6 - 8 fixtures then we can rejuvenate our league position and perhaps build consistency.

 

[AneRu]

I think that and a no 10 if we keep the formation will be high on next transfer list.

Agreed though a top class #10 is a more pressing need because between the three of Pogba, Fred and McTominay we have the basis of a midfield duo but our #10 options are woefully inadequate.

 

[7even]

We slowly start to play like a functional team with better vertical passings and more movements. Get Pogba instead of Pereira and buy a quality dm and maybe we can save this season

 

[AneRu]

It was a good performance but consistency is what's important. A good performance vs performances is what determines our season. Given the trajectory of what Ole has shown, we will lose again within the next 3 games and this is the fundamental problem. If we can manage positive results in the next 6 - 8 fixtures then we can rejuvenate our league position and perhaps build consistency.

Sure thing, we need to go on a bit of a run and then winning becomes a habit just like Chelsea have done. If we win our next two then we'll be right back in the reckoning. Its imperative that with or without Ole we sign a couple of players in the winter window, the squad is thin.

 

[cfkane]

TBF, we have had a lot of injuries this year. I can't help but think that if we had been very healthy for this whole time, our league position wold be much better, so I won't judge Ole completely unless we have a mostly healthy squad for the second half and he doesn't get results.

 

[The United]

We slowly start to play like a functional team with better vertical passings and more movements. Get Pogba instead of Pereira and buy a quality dm and maybe we can save this season

As much as I like Pog, there is a danger that he might not work in the current setting. He is not reliable with defensive position and pressing like Pereira or even Lingard.

 

[Flexdegea]

Yeah I know what you did. Don’t think you know what I did.

Guess I was right to say the warning signs been there for this new attacking side

 

[Bobcat]

Agreed our attack patterns look a LOT better and that must be the coaching finally coming right. But the reason i still feel a bit cautious is that we saw against Chelsea on the opening day that there's no debate to be had; if you try and attack and dominate we'll win the ball back and slaughter just about any team on the counter. If a team sits in against us and decide to pick us off and play us at our own game that's when we really struggle. The space we had today was huge at times.

Biggest thing i'm taking from this season is that 'possession=dominance' and 'winning the midfield battle wins you the game' are seriously overrated cliches nowadays. Leicester dominated the ball against us but I felt they didn't deserve anything against us earlier in the season. Brighton had 57% possession today but did bugger all with it. Similarly people at the start of the season said we deserved to win against Wolves and Palace and we did feck all for most of those games despite having all the ball.

The way we played today is how Ole had Molde playing when they won the league. Aggressive pressing and then go straight for the kill by utilizing fast attacking players. The problem earlier in the season was that our midfield completely failed to keep moving the ball between lines and could not find an attacker if their lives depended on it

Fred for example gave the ball away for fun, where as today his passing was top notch and he could have had two assists had we been more clinical. Its also the reason our results have been better against the stronger sides, because our midfielders have had loads of space to aim into, but against more compact defenses those passes needs to be inch perfect unless the midfield manages to create that space for themselves.

Getting Pogba back will no doubt help, but we still need more quality/depth at midfield if this system is going to be successful. Against those teams that sit deep, i actually think "winning the midfield battle" will be key since it means we will create more chances than they do. If we can keep Pogba around and then break the bank for a world class CM and/or #10, i can see us becoming a pretty lethal counter attacking team

 

[Eriku]

My bad Shakespeare

Oh come now, it’s a funny word. Nothing implied.

 

[Foxbatt]

It was a good win. Played well too. But the difference between 7th place and 13th place is just one win. 3 points.

 

[SAFMUTD]

People are starting to talk about offensive set ups, don’t want to be negative or anything but we’ve seen this in the past, we attack great when the other team gives wide open spaces.

James and Rashford pace help a lot on the counterattacks, but besides that we don’t create much.

We were lucky today to have scored 2 goals and then play the game how Ole likes it, all fast transition counterattack. But we will still struggle to create chances against any medium well organized teams.

 

[TMDaines]

5 wins from 6 and a draw against arguably the best team in the world before that. Starting to see some good performances too and finally some partnerships developing within the team.

Feels kind of ludicrous how far we are behind Chelsea and Leicester in the league, as that isn’t a true reflection of performances.

Sheffield United away will be interesting. Can’t have days like we did against Bournemouth.

 

[lysglimt]

5 wins from 6 and a draw against arguably the best team in the world before that. Starting to see some good performances too and finally some partnerships developing within the team.

Feels kind of ludicrous how far we are behind Chelsea and Leicester in the league, as that isn’t a true reflection of performances.

Sheffield United away will be interesting. Can’t have days like we did against Bournemouth.

We really should sacrifice that game against Astana to avoid getting another Bournemouth-performance. Let 5-6 of the starters today stay home and send kids, if we beat AZ in the final game we win the group anyway.

 

[momo83]

Guess I was right to say the warning signs been there for this new attacking side

Hope you’re right.

 

[Mainoldo]

5 wins from 6 and a draw against arguably the best team in the world before that. Starting to see some good performances too and finally some partnerships developing within the team.

Feels kind of ludicrous how far we are behind Chelsea and Leicester in the league, as that isn’t a true reflection of performances.

Sheffield United away will be interesting. Can’t have days like we did against Bournemouth.

Are you silly. You can’t see why we are behind Chelsea and Leicester. We don’t play like this every week. Infact this is the only time this season we have played like this.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

Are you silly. You can’t see why we are behind Chelsea and Leicester. We don’t play like this every week. Infact this is the only time this season we have played like this.

Exactly this. We are so far behind those teams because for 4/5 games we are dogshit and our league position and points haul support that.

One swallow does not a summer make. When you beat a smaller team 3-1 then drop points in a few games, you end up in a shit league position.

 

[Lentwood]

Surely it comes down to the simple truth that having a bloke who can play CF is quite fundamental to being any good at winning football matches?

We’ve very rarely, if ever, been outplayed this season in games, what we’ve lacked is goals. If Martial can stay fit and we get Pogba back for the rest of the season we can realistically finish 5th or 6th, which is an accurate reflection of our squad

 

[Chairman Steve]

10 point gap behind Leicester and Chelsea doesn’t look good for our chances. Can we really see either one of those teams blowing it and us having an extremely good run of form? And don’t forget the North London duo of Spurs and Arsenal... Can’t see them sucking for the rest of the season. Arsenal could go out and get a new manager and/or Poch can turn it round.

I’d like our chances even more if we pulled our finger out of our ass and did some business in January, given how ridiculously thin the squad is and how frequent injuries occur, to the point where I question the training regime.

 

[BlueHaze]

Surely it comes down to the simple truth that having a bloke who can play CF is quite fundamental to being any good at winning football matches?

We’ve very rarely, if ever, been outplayed this season in games, what we’ve lacked is goals. If Martial can stay fit and we get Pogba back for the rest of the season we can realistically finish 5th or 6th, which is an accurate reflection of our squad

A good CF would still need proper service. We create too little. We need a proper 10 and a RW as well. There's too much unbalance in this squad. Ole's not even playing Pogba more offensively.

 

[momo83]

Great win today. Ole still crap, Moyes had these little spells where the talent of the players would get through and funnily enough his little win spells were also matches where United had a mix of league, cup, and CL group matches.

 

[el3mel]

Great win today. Ole still crap, Moyes had these little spells where the talent of the players would get through and funnily enough his little win spells were also matches where United had a mix of league, cup, and CL group matches.

True. Moyes had several 4-0 and 4-1 wins away from home. Today was great though. Let's just hope it's not a false down. For once I'm glad the international break won't be all doom and gloam.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Confidence is building.

We’ve finally got a settled team that we know is our “best” I don’t think we ever had that for 2 years under Jose.

It really helps build cohesion, and today and Norwich was the first couple of times we’ve really looked like a team.

 

[Leftback99]

Surely it comes down to the simple truth that having a bloke who can play CF is quite fundamental to being any good at winning football matches?

We’ve very rarely, if ever, been outplayed this season in games, what we’ve lacked is goals. If Martial can stay fit and we get Pogba back for the rest of the season we can realistically finish 5th or 6th, which is an accurate reflection of our squad

Injuries don't make a difference, it's all about coaching and 'patterns of play'. Rodgers would get exactly the same results without Vardy, Guardiola is definitely not missing his best centre back.

 

[JustAGuest]

10 point gap behind Leicester and Chelsea doesn’t look good for our chances. Can we really see either one of those teams blowing it and us having an extremely good run of form? And don’t forget the North London duo of Spurs and Arsenal... Can’t see them sucking for the rest of the season. Arsenal could go out and get a new manager and/or Poch can turn it round.

I’d like our chances even more if we pulled our finger out of our ass and did some business in January, given how ridiculously thin the squad is and how frequent injuries occur, to the point where I question the training regime.

Remains to be seen whether Leicester can keep this up, I'm not entirely convinced. The issue is that 10 point gap...

 

[lysglimt]

Injuries don't make a difference, it's all about coaching and 'patterns of play'. Rodgers would get exactly the same results without Vardy, Guardiola is definitely not missing his best centre back.

Eh no he probably wouldn't simply because Leicester have no able back-up for Vardy. But try taking out Ndidi, Chilwell, Vardy - you still think they would get the same results ? (and that was just 3 players - we at times have been missing 7-8)

 

[NotoriousISSY]

Eh no he probably wouldn't simply because Leicester have no able back-up for Vardy. But try taking out Ndidi, Chilwell, Vardy - you still think they would get the same results ? (and that was just 3 players - we at times have been missing 7-8)

I think, and I hope leftback99 is being sarcastic

 

[Leftback99]

Eh no he probably wouldn't simply because Leicester have no able back-up for Vardy. But try taking out Ndidi, Chilwell, Vardy - you still think they would get the same results ? (and that was just 3 players - we at times have been missing 7-8)

Sarcasm never works on here.

 

[Jericholyte2]

Brighton and Partiazan. Glad he got 6 points from these juggernaut of football. But, might be a false dawn. I was so confident in a victory today that I captained a united player in my fantasy team. So I m not that impressed by the victory today. Even Mourinho at his worst had good moments.

So far this season:

Beat Chelsea twice, beat Leicester (they barely had a sniff), barring Rojos’s brain fart we had Liverpool beat.

The ‘juggernauts’ aren’t the issue, it’s the likes of Brighton who have given us the biggest frustration recently.

 

[troylocker]

Eh no he probably wouldn't simply because Leicester have no able back-up for Vardy. But try taking out Ndidi, Chilwell, Vardy - you still think they would get the same results ? (and that was just 3 players - we at times have been missing 7-8)

Hehe! I think you fell into a trap here. He is obviously making a joke on the «Ole out» crews expense... A good one too

 

[Tom Cato]

Injuries don't make a difference, it's all about coaching and 'patterns of play'. Rodgers would get exactly the same results without Vardy, Guardiola is definitely not missing his best centre back.

XD Yeah say that to Pep today.

Edit: oh god i fell for it

 

[Foxbatt]

There is a reason why Fergie said it's a marathon. It's a decent result considering Brighton is above us. We need to win many more games before Ole is safe.

 

[alexthelion]

Brighton and Partiazan. Glad he got 6 points from these juggernaut of football. But, might be a false dawn. I was so confident in a victory today that I captained a united player in my fantasy team. So I m not that impressed by the victory today. Even Mourinho at his worst had good moments.

If we'd had Poch we would have won 5-0, I suppose.

 

[Tom Cato]

So far this season:

Beat Chelsea twice, beat Leicester (they barely had a sniff), barring Rojos’s brain fart we had Liverpool beat.

The ‘juggernauts’ aren’t the issue, it’s the likes of Brighton who have given us the biggest frustration recently.

We've lost 2 matches against a top6 opponent since Ole came in, against Manchester City at home and Arsenal at Emirates. A fun fact that gets completely lost around here

 

[Alemar]

We've lost 2 matches against a top6 opponent since Ole came in, against Manchester City at home and Arsenal at Emirates. A fun fact that gets completely lost around here

It must be noted that a loss to Arsenal was an incredibly unlucky one - with numerous sitters missed by Lukaku and a fluke Xhaka goal.

 

[Shark]

Loved the win today, and hope to God the form continues, but I’m unsure why the Ole in crowd have to suddenly act like everyone else was wrong. There’s a long way to go before Ole can be considered the right man for the job, let’s see how we do on the road first, as we’ve still had plenty of shocking results.