Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Well, we saw what style we can actually do against Chelsea, Wolves, Norwich, Brighton and what tactic he can actually do to get the result against Liverpool & Leicester. Tactics & style of play will not work if the players are just not good enough. How can we dominate the match with Pereira & Fred in midfield. Can Pep even implement his system with those two in his midfield plus Lingard? I doubt it.

The real positive sign is the man management changes that he made in our squad, improving & developing players, giving young & youth players chances & minutes, recruitment is spot on & developing leadership in the squad. Result has been up & down but when you got lot of injuries & young players in the squad, we have to expect inconsistent.

I didn't see anything against Wolves. The only time we play well is when the opponents have given us lots of space to attack and that's as a result of absolute shitty defending or counter attacks. I'm talking about the matches against Brighton Norwich Leceister Liverpool Chelsea

 

[ash_86]

Should a club the size of Manchester United be hiring a manager who is 'learning' on the job? Isn't that supposed to be for rookie managers? Should a rookie manager be our manager?

Ever manager has to learn from ever single game be it Ferguson or Klopp or Pep. The day they stop learning is the day you get left behind. I'd be more worried if he's not learning.

 

[JPRouve]

Another midfielder was needed, but so was a quality CB. We should have gotten both. Of course now with 3/5 CM's out injured a CM is a lot more pressing, but truth be told the list of "needed" transfers is still quite long.

As i said, i have no idea why we did not get more players. In the 18/19 window we only got Fred and Dalot with a net spend of 50 million, and this season we sold Lukaku and had a net spend of 90 million. We all know Jose had his meltdown because he would not get the money to bring in Maguire, but the question is why? Considering we spend 152, 137, 53 and 146 the four years before that, that does seem a bit suspicious to me

Have the board/Woody cut off the money flow? Do they want us to trim the squad before we make new additions?

First people thought that we needed a CM before Herrera even left and then he left which made the position a priority for a lot of people, it has nothing to do with hindsight or the current injuries. I personally didn't think that CB was a priority and definitely not Maguire for 80m because I didn't see him as a big enough upgrade compared to Smalling, yes he is an upgrade but not one that justifies that type of fee. For me we needed 1 wide attacker, 2 CMs and one fullback before even thinking about spending on CBs.
As for the money questions, it's fairly simple our wage bill went from 210m around 2016 to 295m in 2018 to 332m in 2019. Our money has been allocated to wages which reduces the amount of money that we will spend on transfers, we also have various installments to pay from previous transfer windows. So two things, we don't have a lot more to spend and we do need to trim or more accurately retool the team and needs to rearrange the way we allocate money.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

I didn't see anything against Wolves. The only time we play well is when the opponents have given us lots of space to attack and that's as a result of absolute shitty defending or counter attacks. I'm talking about the matches against Brighton Norwich Leceister Liverpool Chelsea

We dominated the majority of the game against Wolves and we had 66% of the possession. They barely threatened us and the only time they were a threat was the first 10 min in the 2nd half. It's one of the many match that we didn't get a 3 point and we deserve the 3 points. Pogba's penalty that could be our winning goal & Lingard missed the chance to made 2-0. There are games that you could see some positive in our style.

 

[Kemizee]

Ever manager has to learn from ever single game be it Ferguson or Klopp or Pep. The day they stop learning is the day you get left behind. I'd be more worried if he's not learning.

Yes. This is understandable. But then a manager of Manchester United should not have to be learning the basics, 101 of management. He is supposed to be an experienced professional and you expect a certain level of technical knowhow from him.

Funnily, the clown we have in charge is no managerial novice. He is been doing it for 10 years. If a manager who has been doing it for that long can't get the basics right, then it's really up to anyone's guess what will become of us as a club. He needs to be put out of his misery! We are just wasting time with him.

 

[JPRouve]

Yes. This is understandable. But then a manager of Manchester United should not have to be learning the basics, 101 of management. He is supposed to be an experienced professional and you expect a certain level of technical knowhow from him.

Funnily, the clown we have in charge is no managerial novice. He is been doing it for 10 years. If a manager who has been doing it for that long can't get the basics right, then it's really up to anyone's guess what will become of us as a club. He needs to be put out of his misery! We are just wasting time with him.

Can you not do that? We can criticize someone's work without using pejorative terms.

 

[Kemizee]

Can you not do that? We can criticize someone's work without using pejorative terms.

Fair enough.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Yes. This is understandable. But then a manager of Manchester United should not have to be learning the basics, 101 of management. He is supposed to be an experienced professional and you expect a certain level of technical knowhow from him.

Funnily, the clown we have in charge is no managerial novice. He is been doing it for 10 years. If a manager who has been doing it for that long can't get the basics right, then it's really up to anyone's guess what will become of us as a club. He needs to be put out of his misery! We are just wasting time with him.

Even if Ole was doing the worst job in the world ( I don't think he is with this squad ) who else is available?.

Pochettino might not even want to manage us, he might be feeling too strongly towards Tottenham. He might want to try back in Spain, especially with Barcelona needing a new coach soon.

Anyway I think Pochettino needs a rest. He looks burnt out and tired, he was almost relieved he got sacked by the looks of it. I think he needs a year off and then come back stronger.

There is no Klopp/Guardiola waiting right now, I say we let Ole carry on his work and try to improve things - we aren't winning the title this year anyway.

 

[Bilbo]

the thing is, many bad decisions are being made regularly, just some are not as obvious, and some fans miss it, that’s why Ole in fans keep supporting him, also that’s why we are where we are...

A breathtakingly patronising post.

 

[Bilbo]

Spending money "to protect himself" than to do what is right for the club. I'm pretty sure I've heard about someone named JoMo or something at the club who tried to protect himself first and foremost than the club, even the canteen lady despised the guy.

What's different this time? oh right, it's his mate.

Pogba it's always about you, you, you, isn't it? I'm sick of this - Gary
Ole, please, this is your time and should be about you you you - Also Gary

Gobshite Gary strikes again.

Gary is totally right with that quote. With the lack of patience that our fans are showing for this project we need to improve results and that might mean accelerating this project. With a patient set of fans that buy into this project we might choose to wait until the summer if it means getting target no.1. Given the situation now I think its essential that we bring in some quality in January.

 

[MrEarl]

It seems that most of the criticism here of Ole consists of broad generalizations. He's not improving players. His tactics are ridiculous. The team is going nowhere. Time for a change. With all the money spent (typical claim of 90 million last year) the team should be playing far better.

Some details. The net expenditure last year was 65.5 million. See:
https://www.transferleague.co.uk/ma...sh-football-teams/manchester-united-transfers

If one accounts for the loss of Herrera (conservatively estimated at 40 million) the net investment in the team was 25.5 million. Quite a bit less then the expenditures of their major rivals not facing a ban.

Two proven PL outstanding players lost, Lukaku & Herrera and two proven PL players brought in, Maguire & AWB along with one proven Championship League player, James. Hardly a major rebuilding effort.

The actual rebuilding has had to rely upon Ole's management skills upgrading players.Ole has had remarkable success in this area. Six of 11 starters have made significant improvement.

Lindelof - has gone from flop to reliable starter.
Williams - reserves to outstanding performances.
Fred - from total flop to improving starter.
McTominay - substitute to essential starter.
James - brought in to provide some depth off the bench and has risen to essential starter.
Martial - from disinterested bystander to focal point on the attack.

That's 6 out of 11. Who could have done better and how would they have done it? One could even make the argument that AWB has improved with signs of addng offense to his defensive prowess. And, waiting in the wings are Greenwood and Tuanzebe.

There is also criticism of Ole's tactics. This squad is paper thin. When there is injury, the bench is made up of elderly or academy players without experience. A decision was made not to replace Herrera and not to replace Lukuku. So when Martial is injured, the attack is decimated. When Pogba & McTominay are injured as now we are forced into a midfield of Fred (improving but not there yet) and Pereira. Without a midfield it's not possible to attack and it really stretches the defense. It doesn't leave much room for fancy tactics.

Ole is forced to play the hand that was dealt to him. The team has not received the kind of massive rebuilding through transfers promised by Man Utd management. But what he has done is to play the cards he has very well gaining significant improvement from the majority of his starting players.

 

[Bilbo]

Yes. This is understandable. But then a manager of Manchester United should not have to be learning the basics, 101 of management. He is supposed to be an experienced professional and you expect a certain level of technical knowhow from him.

Funnily, the clown we have in charge is no managerial novice. He is been doing it for 10 years. If a manager who has been doing it for that long can't get the basics right, then it's really up to anyone's guess what will become of us as a club. He needs to be put out of his misery! We are just wasting time with him.

Clown? You're embarrassing yourself with that comment.

Can I ask whether you personally have ever had any experience with management in your life? Not just football management, any kind of management?

 

[Svartzonker]

So, what do fans want?

To fire Solskjaer and replace him with a manger who didnt win an away game for 11 months?

What about standing behind your manager for atleast one full season, let the kids develop and see what he can bring to the table after a full season with a couple of windows under his belt?

Just a reminder that Klopp came 8th with LFC his first season..

I want to hire Poch, but not yet. I think the best way to move forward is to secure the signing of Pochettino and let him be on a holiday for the rest of the season.

Personally I don´t have anything against Ole, quite the opposite. He is a positive person and he is a United man, but lets be honest here. He is not a good tactician and we have been in poor form for a while now. Lack of imagination in attack, silly mistakes in the defence and our overall performances have not been moving in the right direction. We have seen glimpses of better football (Brighton, first 45min vs Pool) but overall we are poor. Im quite pleased with the additions of Maguire, James and AWB but that was not near enough. McTominay, Martial, Rashford, James and Greenwood have made progress this season and its delightful, but is it enough?

Pochettino has a great track record of developing players and we have the youngest squad in the league, match made in heaven right? He got Spurs with limited resources punching way above their weight, and they did so quite consistenly for the last four or five seasons. I personally think he would jump at the chance to become our manager. Always speaks highly about Manchester United, and SAF in particular. In Mancherster he would have more resources than at Spurs, a young squad with high potential and he would get a fresh start. This season, and the end of last year, Spurs were a mess but I dont think its completely his fault. Ageing players, contracts runned down and Kane has not been the same after a couple of injuries.

Tbf many of us have been hoping to get Pochettino for a while now. Ole did a great job last winter and he gave us the memory of the comeback in Paris, but its time go. Let him have this season, as we are not going to finish top 4 anyway. Personally I could not care less about EL-football, and sack him with some dignity at the end of the season. In a perfect scenario he would be a part of Pochettinos staff, but I dont think he would like to be anything else than the main man.

 

[R'hllor]

Klopp being used for comparisons and our midfield being thin is a hindsight now.

 

[Giggsyking]

The players are learning, the manager is learning. It's all part of the experience. The important things is that this game showed that that this team has it in it to come back even on one of the toughest grounds in the premier league. Would have been wonderful to get all 3 points but not today. We will learn from this.

Please stop this. What learning? we are worse than last year, What are we learning? how to be worse in one year?

 

[VP89]

It was a pretty logical move to make at the time. It obviously backfired in hindsight, but that’s a sub most, if not all managers would and do make.

I don't think many needed hindsight. Gary Neville even questioned it at the time live on TV. The Co commentator said Tuanzebe is being readied to shore up the midfield and Neville muttered "or they should keep going as is".

You generally change to protect the lead if you feel you're losing control but it was the complete opposite before the sub. It was truly bizzare.

 

[Bilbo]

I don't think many needed hindsight. Gary Neville even questioned it at the time live on TV. The Co commentator said Tuanzebe is being readied to shore up the midfield and Neville muttered "or they should keep going as is".

You generally change to protect the lead if you feel you're losing control but it was the complete opposite before the sub. It was truly bizzare.

It wasn't even a controversial substitution. We'd just taken the lead. We had Lingard, Martial, Rashford, James & Greenwood on the pitch. It would have been an almighty risk to leave them all on for 10 minutes and we will never know how it would have turned out. I get the argument that we were well on top in that moment, but there's little doubt that Sheffield would have had a spell of attacking play.

 

[VP89]

It wasn't even a controversial substitution. We'd just taken the lead. We had Lingard, Martial, Rashford, James & Greenwood on the pitch. It would have been an almighty risk to leave them all on for 10 minutes and we will never know how it would have turned out. I get the argument that we were well on top in that moment, but there's little doubt that Sheffield would have had a spell of attacking play.

We actually had control of the game even post the goal and Lingard looked a very good player in central midfield.

As much as there is little doubt that they'd have had spell of attacking play, there's equally little doubt that we'd have created a great chance or two ourselves. As I said it didn't need hinsight and when Tuanzebe came on you can see we were retreating more and more deep. It was a disruptive substitution.

I'm not really blaming Ole as much for that though because there's logic to it. But at the same time you can understand a lot of posters who questioned the change at the time of the sub. They didn't need hindsight to know its defeatist.

 

[Andycoleno9]

So much talk about that late sub. Tbh he had 4 options:
1) leave as it was and go for 4th goal( and leave weaker defence).
2) put Mata in instead of attacker and keep the ball( imo, best way)
3) put defender in and go back with 3 at the back.
4) put another dmc in
For me all of those decisions are logical so i can't blame Ole for this but i would always go with keeping the ball instead of pure defending. Especially against not so technical teams like SU.

But bigger issue is that Ole totally failed in match preparation. Again! Wrong formation, wrong players( Jones) and wrong mentality. Where is logic in playing defensive and waiting for counter attacks against hard working but not so much skilled team? He adapted to bloody championship team instead making a stand; "We are Man Utd, we have better players( this time nobody here on CAF can't argue that we have better 11 than SU) and you try to adapt on our style".

Mourinho went defensive against Sevilla and this place wanted him sacked because of that. Now we have manager whos main plan is to adapt to any team. I thought that his biggest trait is that he knows the club, right? Always attack, always show who we are and shit like that? Right?

 

[Kemizee]

Even if Ole was doing the worst job in the world ( I don't think he is with this squad ) who else is available?.

Pochettino might not even want to manage us, he might be feeling too strongly towards Tottenham. He might want to try back in Spain, especially with Barcelona needing a new coach soon.

Anyway I think Pochettino needs a rest. He looks burnt out and tired, he was almost relieved he got sacked by the looks of it. I think he needs a year off and then come back stronger.

There is no Klopp/Guardiola waiting right now, I say we let Ole carry on his work and try to improve things - we aren't winning the title this year anyway.

You have gotta be kidding me!! What's all this crap about who else is available?? So are you telling me that Klopp and Pep are the only managers in the world who are better than Ole Solskjaer? There is Pochettino and there is Allegri and both of them are as sure as hell better than Ole. It grinds my ears whenever I hear 'the who else is available' nonsense. I would even take the manager of bloody Sheffield United ahead of Ole right now. At least, he can organize a team to play more than the sum of it's parts, something Ole has not been able to do for close to a year now!

 

[Mainoldo]

So, what do fans want?

To fire Solskjaer and replace him with a manger who didnt win an away game for 11 months?

What about standing behind your manager for atleast one full season, let the kids develop and see what he can bring to the table after a full season with a couple of windows under his belt?

Just a reminder that Klopp came 8th with LFC his first season..

He came 4th in his first season.

 

[Kemizee]

Clown? You're embarrassing yourself with that comment.

Can I ask whether you personally have ever had any experience with management in your life? Not just football management, any kind of management?

Nope you are the one embarrassing yourself by siding with an inept, out of depth manager. I won't dignify you with an answer concerning my management history because I know for sure that when you are underperforming in the corporate world, then you have gotta have some periodic, performance-related reviews.

And I stand by what I said. Ole the player was fantastic and a legendary figure. Ole the manager is a big clown and should be booted out ASAP. It's clear to everyone except the 'top reds' that he does not have what it takes. Not even a single club in the EPL would take him into their dugout as manager. Does that not tell you all you need to know about this manager you are supporting? Give it up man!

 

[Mainoldo]

Clown? You're embarrassing yourself with that comment.

Can I ask whether you personally have ever had any experience with management in your life? Not just football management, any kind of management?

What does his experience have to do with judging Solskjaer? A lot of us never played in defence but we can criticise Phil Jones.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

What does his experience have to do with judging Solskjaer? A lot of us never played in defence but we can criticise Phil Jones.

Spot on. We're apparently well within our rights to criticise Jones for his blunders that cost us points, and to criticise Pereira for looking like a League 2 player 24/7. None of us have played CB or MF for a PL team but apparently, to criticise Ole, you must have experience of managing or coaching a football club.

The mental gymnastics are sickening. It's nothing but FEAR. I've said it before, it's FEAR. It's fear that we've got it wrong yet again and that we've now pretty much 'tried everything' It's fear that perhaps we are just simply an also-ran in football nowadays rather than a sleeping giant.

 

[Bilbo]

What does his experience have to do with judging Solskjaer? A lot of us never played in defence but we can criticise Phil Jones.

Probably an obnoxious comment from me. I cant help but react when people use quotes like mgmt. 101 etc without enquiring as to experience. I manage over 50 people right now, and I know how important morale is in a team. You lose that and its game over. It seems to me that Ole has done well in building morale and ridding the team of toxic players. As a consequence we have left ourselves short, and results have been affected, but over the course of time it was absolutely the right thing to do. In terms of building something, having a 2 to 3 year plan, he (the club) have actually done a lot of good things in the last 6 months. Its why we need patience from the supporters now.

 

[Zhadow]

Just a reminder that Klopp came 8th with LFC his first season..

But he got them in the Europa League Final in that not full season at the helm. In his first full season he got them back to 4 and in the CL, in his second season in the CL final, in his 3rd season he won the CL and now it looks like they are going to win their first league title for 30 years. THAT is how developing a team and progress looks like and not like the shit show we're in.

 

[Mainoldo]

Probably an obnoxious comment from me. I cant help but react when people use quotes like mgmt. 101 etc without enquiring as to experience. I manage over 50 people right now, and I know how important morale is in a team. You lose that and its game over. It seems to me that Ole has done well in building morale and ridding the team of toxic players. As a consequence we have left ourselves short, and results have been affected, but over the course of time it was absolutely the right thing to do. In terms of building something, having a 2 to 3 year plan, he (the club) have actually done a lot of good things in the last 6 months. Its why we need patience from the supporters now.

He has but he’s failing at the one thing that keeps football managers in a job. Results and because of that and the fact he can’t coach. He deserves to go.

But atleast you have a valid reason other than faith to why you are backing him.

 

[ash_86]

Please stop this. What learning? we are worse than last year, What are we learning? how to be worse in one year?

We don't have squad depth as last year though, so results are going to suffer here and there . The team that starts week in week out is very young and hence results are going to be inconsistent. But finally we looks like having a very good front 3 taking shape. Complaints of one goal a game are gone now as front 3 is scoring 3 a game since martial has been back. Lots of things to be optimistic about.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Ever manager has to learn from ever single game be it Ferguson or Klopp or Pep. The day they stop learning is the day you get left behind. I'd be more worried if he's not learning.

I'm not worried about his lack learning. Rather the lack of ability.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

But he got them in the Europa League Final in that not full season at the helm. In his first full season he got them back to 4 and in the CL, in his second season in the CL final, in his 3rd season he won the CL and now it looks like they are going to win their first league title for 30 years. THAT is how developing a team and progress looks like and not like the shit show we're in.

That's not how regular progress looks like for every team, what you described with Liverpool is the best case scenario where everything goes right.

 

[Sweet Square]

Alright, this is ridiculous, like beyond Moyes levels of stupidity. Mourinho's team came back from behind and won 3-2 weeks before he was sacked, so it obviously meant feck all in the grand scheme of things. I might actually celebrate more when this guy gets the sack than I did Moyes' departure.

''Manchester United supporter'' in 2019.

That's not how regular progress looks like for every team, what you described with Liverpool is the best case scenario where everything goes right.

Er...... it does when I play fifa.

 

[passing-wind]

So, what do fans want?

To fire Solskjaer and replace him with a manger who didnt win an away game for 11 months?

How about a manager who in five years finished in the top 4 consecutively and reached the UCL final. Who in those repeated champions league qualifications was only 7 points off winning the league. Who's built / coached one of the best squads in the league, before this season averaging a £29 million NET spend. You all give credit for Solskjaer buying Maguire, James and AWB but don't give the credit to Poch for his development with Kane, Alli, Son, Winks, Sissoko, Moura the consistency that Eriksen developed, the defensive partnership of Vertonghen / Alderweireld.

Weak assessments from fans to dethrone the credibility of Poch as a manager. I don't believe Poch is the best manager in world football he has faults but he's one of the best hence he's been sought after the links to Bayern, Madrid and us are reminiscent of that. Ole will be given the target of top four this season, if he makes it he stays if he doesn't he's out the door. Any fan who thinks that United doesn't have seasonal objectives is deluded, I cannot see the glazers sacking Ole throughout the season however the sentimentality love affair of the fans is too fragile for that.

 

[Zhadow]

That's not how regular progress looks like for every team, what you described with Liverpool is the best case scenario where everything goes right.

Of course that is the best case scenario. And I didn’t expect us to make that kind of progress…. but I want progress. We are in an worse state than we were last year when Jose got the sack. It really is the worst case scenario for us at the moment. And giving Ole 2…3 more transfer windows won’t change that. He has been weighed, he has been measured and he has been found wanting. He simply isn’t good enough for a club of our size. It really is that simple. Is Poch the answer? I really don’t know, you never know with a new manager. But does this uncertainty mean we should stick with someone who really looks out of his depth? Don’t think so. You shouldn’t be at the wheel when you don’t know how to drive. We are most of the time terrible to watch. We have no real game plan, no playstyle or no identity on the field. It's just frustrating.

 

[I Am Zlatan]

A breathtakingly patronising post.

I wish that’s what is, but you can’t tell me you’re seriously happy with everything right now. You might see some positives, I struggle to see it, time will tell anyways, it’s gotten to the point that everyone just repeating the same thing over and over, and on the field, we keep seeing one step forward, two steps back, and the more time goes by without real improvements, then the problem is becoming more clear..

 

[patty123]

Pochettino might not even want to manage us, he might be feeling too strongly towards Tottenham. He might want to try back in Spain, especially with Barcelona needing a new coach soon.

So lets see if I got this right, he might not want to manger us because of his time with spurs and you link him to Barca who he openly told to a room full of Englands top (alleged) journos 2 yrs ago he could never manege Barca due to his time at in Spain "I am an Espanyol supporter," he explained. "I don’t think I need to speak too much"

 

[Adam-Utd]

So lets see if I got this right, he might not want to manger us because of his time with spurs and you link him to Barca who he openly told to a room full of Englands top (alleged) journos 2 yrs ago he could never manege Barca due to his time at in Spain "I am an Espanyol supporter," he explained. "I don’t think I need to speak too much"

I don't claim to be a Pochettino expert, so i'll take your word for it.

But if Jose can go from Chelsea to Tottenham, anything is possible. I doubt little old Espanyol will be too offended.

I'm sure Pochettinho would take the United job in all honesty, but right now isn't the right time. He looked dead on his feet and by all accounts became a very grumpy/angry person. He needs a rest and to regain focus.

 

[Zen86]

I don't think many needed hindsight. Gary Neville even questioned it at the time live on TV. The Co commentator said Tuanzebe is being readied to shore up the midfield and Neville muttered "or they should keep going as is".

You generally change to protect the lead if you feel you're losing control but it was the complete opposite before the sub. It was truly bizzare.

It wasn’t a bizarre decision by any means, but obviously it was the wrong one.

 

[VP89]

It wasn’t a bizarre decision by any means, but obviously it was the wrong one.

Yeah perhaps the word bizzare is too far to criticise the sub.

 

[zenith]

And I stand by what I said. Ole the player was fantastic and a legendary figure. Ole the manager is a big clown and should be booted out ASAP. It's clear to everyone except the 'top reds' that he does not have what it takes. Not even a single club in the EPL would take him into their dugout as manager. Does that not tell you all you need to know about this manager you are supporting? Give it up man!

Calling a club legend a clown over and over again is insulting to the club and fans. Strongly suggest you stop doing that.

And do speak for yourself and not on behalf of 'everyone' unless there is some poll you can point to which can substantiate this opinion.

 

[elnorte]

Calling a club legend a clown over and over again is insulting to the club and fans. Strongly suggest you stop doing that.

And do speak for yourself and not on behalf of 'everyone' unless there is some poll you can point to which can substantiate this opinion.

You're right. He's a cnut.