Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion

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It's just a recent example. If you're a good coach, you can coach a team to play your style relatively soon. Pochettino had Southampton become one of the best footballing sides in the league as soon as he took over, and got Spurs playing his way in no time, too.
Southampton? One of the best footballing sides?

What does that even mean? They looked pretty while finishing 8th or whatever it was?

There's been a lot of this stuff going round lately and usually about Poch's teams. Oh they look more organised or seen to know what they're doing while the current United side doesn't.

That's all perception and none of Poch's teams won anything. As Mike Tyson was wont to say everyone has a plan til they're punched in the face.
 

Yagami

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Southampton? One of the best footballing sides?

What does that even mean? They looked pretty while finishing 8th or whatever it was?

There's been a lot of this stuff going round lately and usually about Poch's teams. Oh they look more organised or seen to know what they're doing while the current United side doesn't.

That's all perception and none of Poch's teams won anything. As Mike Tyson was wont to say everyone has a plan til they're punched in the face.
It means they played great stuff. It's why Spurs took him and why SAF heaped praise on Poch personally after they completely outplayed us at Old Trafford.
 

sammsky1

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I really liked OGS's tactics tonight, and his bravery to choose Fred over Matic. Ole was right to get the team to come out very fast at beginning of both halfs, and had his strikers been on form, the game would have been over by 60th minute.

His one failing tonight for me was not taking Rashford off after 65 minutes, putting on Ighalo and changing tactics by going more direct. But then Im sure he had his reasons.

Still, i feel OGS was badly let down by his first choice players tonight and he deserved better from them.
 
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It means they played great stuff. It's why Spurs took him and why SAF heaped praise on Poch personally after they completely outplayed us at Old Trafford.
They finished 8th with a +8 goal difference.

City and Liverpool both scored over 100 goals that year in a tight battle for the title but yeah Southampton were 'one of the best footballing sides'

Are you sure this isn't a case of you having zero expectations of them being anything other than shit and when they weren't against United you upgraded them to fantastic?
 

Bastian

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It's a tough setup, going with 2 midfielders against a very possession oriented midfield 3 of Sevilla, not least with Pogba who was both very good and quite sloppy tonight. It's not his game to play in a midfield pivot as we have learned over his time with us, though it can be done against deep sitting sides who cede possession.

The challenge for Ole is to navigate this window and use his leverage, not rest satisfied with a "fantastically well run club", and figure out how to get us to play more consistently like a big club, set up positively in big games.

We need a few quality players - he needs to push for this now.
 

Yagami

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They finished 8th with a +8 goal difference.

City and Liverpool both scored over 100 goals that year in a tight battle for the title but yeah Southampton were 'one of the best footballing sides'

Are you sure this isn't a case of you having zero expectations of them being anything other than shit and when they weren't against United you upgraded them to fantastic?
No, they were very good to watch. If, going by your patronising last sentence, that were true, Spurs wouldn't have hired him.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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What does Ole have? One of the most expensive teams in world football.
You are deluded if you think expensive means good enough. Not his fault that the previous manager spent their money on the wrong players and now become the deadwood of the team.

Bayern won Bundesliga for 7 in a row before Flick took in charge. Ole only had 120m net spend so far to fix a struggling team before Ole took in charge.

I don't think we dominated at all. There were periods where we couldn't get out of our half.
How is having 20 shots, 7 on target with DDG almost had nothing to do the whole game isn't dominate? Explain that please.

I don't know how you could think we pressed well. It's so disjointed and easy to play through. We only press as individuals; not as a team.
Sevilla were disposed 18 times because of our press. Just because it's not as good as Klopp, Hasenhuttl & Nagelsmann due to they have players with greater natural stamina doesn't mean we don't press.

We had a sub that won us the game just one match ago. The fact that Ole waited so long was silly when we all saw the impact Mata had for us so recently.
Why making the sub when we are creating good chances and dominating? We made the sub earlier against Southampton and he was bashed in this forum.

Mata made impact against Copenhagen tired leg doesn't mean he can do the same against Sevilla with better fitness.
 

always_hoping

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Thats madness, i can't recall two United matches in a row before with so many chances created and not score from play. As for Ole his tactics they were fine tonight however defensive lapses let him down. He was little too slow with his subs and Williams,Rashford were left on far too long.

Onto next season now i feel drained after watching that long season. 3 to 4 signings are required in this transfer window and hopefully Woodward and co do what is required but hard to trust them.
 

Tapori

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I really liked OGS's tactics tonight, and his bravery to choose Fred over Matic. Ole was right to get the team to come out very fast at beginning of both halfs, and had his strikers been on form, the game would have been over by 60th minute.

His one failing tonight was not taking Rashford off after 65 minutes, putting on Ighalo and changing tactics by going more direct. Ditto, why bring on 4 subs on 85th minute and beyond? It means that we were totally disorganised and lost impetus in the final charge.

Still, i feel OGS was badly let down by his first choice players tonight and he deserved better from them.
I'm really worried about:

OGS's reluctance to VARY our plays
Reluctance to change things/leave things to fester
Substitutions.

He'll get there, but he does go into his shell a bit.
Also, leaving Romero out was harsh
 

AshRK

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I like the fact that he has openly asked for the board to invest. I hope he doesn't change his tone once woodward screws him over.
 

He'sRaldo

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I see a lot of complaining about the bench. I don't get why we signed players like Mata and Jones to extensions, as well as signing Ighalo and Dan James if Ole is unable to get a tune out of them.

At the time those extensions were bemoaned and viewed with suspicion. I'd say only Ighalo has justified anything, and even he hasn't played that much.
 

The United

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People are talking about changing things in the match. We were dominating them with lots of shots. It was just some individually mistakes cost us on both ends. Logically, when your team is playing that well, you would like to wait and see if it will sort itself out. The goal conceded at 78th minutes I believe.

It is not like we had Ronaldo and Messi coming to do the job from the bench. Yes, we did have some finishing problems. So, take out the best striker we have and the best finisher and put James, Mata etc early on? What would that do to fix it at 60th minutes? It didn't fix at 86th minutes.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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I don't think we'll ever see us playing progressive football that allows us to inflict our game on the opposition regardless of their ability under him.

He either doesn't want to or can't. It's counter attack or bust. For that reason, I would prefer another manager. Flick has come in and transformed Bayern in no time. We're nearly two years in still relying on individuals and penalties, and still unable to press as a team and keep possession against good teams.
I agree with this.

I do think we were unlucky today though(even if we faded really badly the last 25 minutes).
 

Zlatan Ibrahomovic

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How can it be his fault when he set up a team that got over 20 shots on target over two games?

The tactics obviously worked, it's just that he himself is not allowed to put the ball in the net.

I get it that you guys are disappointed and whatevs but focus on the real culprits, the attackers missing sitters, or praise the opposing GKs for having their games of their lives.
 

bond19821982

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I don't think we'll ever see us playing progressive football that allows us to inflict our game on the opposition regardless of their ability under him.

He either doesn't want to or can't. It's counter attack or bust. For that reason, I would prefer another manager. Flick has come in and transformed Bayern in no time. We're nearly two years in still relying on individuals and penalties, and still unable to press as a team and keep possession against good teams.
We are a very badly coached team. There is no style or pattern. There was a moment when Greenwood chased the ball from our half to their GK but Rashford and Martial was late in reaching there and their GK simply passed it to their right back.

Another occasion where Bruno was literally screaming to AWB on where to stay because he was sticking to right when Greenwood was already there. As soon as Bruno says that, he went inwards and made a run which was literally an offside position.

I mean these are all in game coaching. Can't believe we are not doing this in training. I dont blame him for today but something is seriously wrong fundamentally.

Getting 66 points in his second season after spending 150m is a sackable offense. No 2 ways about it.
 

DarkLord

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How can it be his fault when he set up a team that got over 20 shots on target over two games?

The tactics obviously worked, it's just that he himself is not allowed to put the ball in the net.

I get it that you guys are disappointed and whatevs but focus on the real culprits, the attackers missing sitters, or praise the opposing GKs for having their games of their lives.
Yes it's never his fault. It's all on the players for missing their chances. When Man Utd wins, Ole is a genius. When Man Utd loses, it's on the players. There has been a recurring pattern now. We needed extra-time to beat Copenhagen and now we get knocked out by Sevilla, our 3rd semi-final. We were favourites in 2 of the 3 semi-finals. Seems like when the stakes get high, the players bottle it. This is not a good sign.
 

Kush

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I've been one of the bigger Ole critic in the past, and even the suggestion of him being sacked is barmy. Today was annoying, no doubt, but we had enough chances to wrap up the match. Defence was poor but it's a work in progress, we still need couple of players in there.

Overall, no matter how you dissect his tenure so far, it's clear, he has taken a lot of bold risks, which not many managers would take in his position. The decision to sell Lukaku and loan out Sanchez, while knowing there isn't a striker incoming takes a lot of balls. Ultimately, it definitely cost us few points at the start, but in the end, we also saw Greenwood rise to the fore as one of the best talents in world football. He's also had to rely on shit players like Lingard, Pereira, Mata etc. for vast portions of this campaign due to number of injuries and absence of Bruno in 1st half of the season. The involvement of all the three players mentioned above along with many other shit to average players have been severely reduced once he's found adequate quality ahead of them.

I still don't believe he's got the tactical nous to win us trophies at this level, but I'm content as of now, as long as this progression continues into next season. There are still gaping hole in our squads and he should be backed to finish the team he is building. I'm confident that we'll have a far far better team for the next manager if he does leave in next few years.
 

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No, they were very good to watch. If, going by your patronising last sentence, that were true, Spurs wouldn't have hired him.

I wasn't being condescending. We all have subconscious biases and if expect a team to be rubbish we can over-rate them if we see them playing well on a given day.

He can have done a good job at a mid level team and shown he deserved a chance at a bigger team without the hyperbolic claim they were one of the best footballing sides in the league, and I'm still not sure what that means by the way.
 

Berbasbullet

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Agree with those saying we kept trying to walk it in, but credit to Sevilla to defending so well they dropped into a tough shape and stopped us taking the shot on a lot.
 

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Leaving Romero out was a poor decision.

If you want loyalty from your back up keeper, at least stick with him when the team gets to the latter rounds of the competition.
 

Squeaky Bumtime

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After yesterday game blaming him is ludicrous, we had ton of shots and lot of chances. Sadly some can't wait to put everything on him.
 

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I think Ole has done a credible job. After Mourinho our football was dire, our players were not interested and we weren't given a chance on qualifying for the CL. The fact that we've gotten 3rd and when the dust settles down - reached 3 SFs - is a credible achievement.

However I am going to criticize Ole and I'm going to criticize him because its an area of development/ opportunity for him. Irrespective of here or at Cardiff - he can't seem to have players perform above their level (See SAF with the countless players we played who were excellent on a given day/season for us, but couldn't even get into the XI when they went to other teams)

He's a young and learning manager, which most people seem to forget. But he needs to learn the trick or motivating average players to play out of their skin. We can't have 50M backups for every position.
 

Squeaky Bumtime

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We are a very badly coached team. There is no style or pattern. There was a moment when Greenwood chased the ball from our half to their GK but Rashford and Martial was late in reaching there and their GK simply passed it to their right back.

Another occasion where Bruno was literally screaming to AWB on where to stay because he was sticking to right when Greenwood was already there. As soon as Bruno says that, he went inwards and made a run which was literally an offside position.

I mean these are all in game coaching. Can't believe we are not doing this in training. I dont blame him for today but something is seriously wrong fundamentally.

Getting 66 points in his second season after spending 150m is a sackable offense. No 2 ways about it.
I thought not getting top 4 is a sackable offense. Oh well, anything goes I guess.
 

romufc

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I don't think we'll ever see us playing progressive football that allows us to inflict our game on the opposition regardless of their ability under him.

He either doesn't want to or can't. It's counter attack or bust. For that reason, I would prefer another manager. Flick has come in and transformed Bayern in no time. We're nearly two years in still relying on individuals and penalties, and still unable to press as a team and keep possession against good teams.
20 shots 7 on target compared to 9 and 3.

That isnt progressive football? what do you expect? 40 shots?

Transformed Bayern? they have won the league 8 years in a row. We finished 6th.

Are you that deluded? Flick joined a Bayern team with Neur, Kimmich, Davies, Alaba, Thiago, Coutinho, Lewandowski, Gnabry, Mulller.

Surely you are not comparing the two apples to apples?.
 

Volumiza

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Aside from a bit of dithering regarding subs at the end, I actually think Ole doesn’t deserve any real criticism for last night.

What more could he do? He sent out a team that had Fred as a starter over Matic, that worked well. Fred had a fantastic game and we were pretty slick in the middle from what I was seeing.

Some are moaning about Rashford being an automatic choice but what other options are there really?

Until their second goal it was actually a good match to watch, very open and for a spell in the second half we were turning the screw more than I’ve seen in ages.

It’s hardly Oles fault that there appeared to be a fecking force field around Sevilla’s goal, 20 shots. That’s 20 good chances created. Impressive when taken that way.

Our football is so much better than it was 12 months ago and even if we aren’t quite top drawer yet we are absolutely a more cohesive unit capable of punishing teams.

Oles done an overall fantastic job really. I was actually Ole out at the end of last season but crikey, he has weathered the storm, brought in useful players, got rid of a load of unwanted players and at least put some fecking teeth into our play.

Are there better managers out there? Sure, but Ole has shown that he can learn and if he adds more smart signings this window I’m sure we will kick on even further. We should be excited.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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Aside from a bit of dithering regarding subs at the end, I actually think Ole doesn’t deserve any real criticism for last night.

What more could he do? He sent out a team that had Fred as a starter over Matic, that worked well. Fred had a fantastic game and we were pretty slick in the middle from what I was seeing.

Some are moaning about Rashford being an automatic choice but what other options are there really?

Until their second goal it was actually a good match to watch, very open and for a spell in the second half we were turning the screw more than I’ve seen in ages.

It’s hardly Oles fault that there appeared to be a fecking force field around Sevilla’s goal, 20 shots. That’s 20 good chances created. Impressive when taken that way.

Our football is so much better than it was 12 months ago and even if we aren’t quite top drawer yet we are absolutely a more cohesive unit capable of punishing teams.

Oles done an overall fantastic job really. I was actually Ole out at the end of last season but crikey, he has weathered the storm, brought in useful players, got rid of a load of unwanted players and at least put some fecking teeth into our play.

Are there better managers out there? Sure, but Ole has shown that he can learn and if he adds more smart signings this window I’m sure we will kick on even further. We should be excited.
Is this not a problem though? Why don't we have 1 of the better managers out there? Unless you meant those better managers are unavailable.
 

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It's a tough setup, going with 2 midfielders against a very possession oriented midfield 3 of Sevilla, not least with Pogba who was both very good and quite sloppy tonight. It's not his game to play in a midfield pivot as we have learned over his time with us, though it can be done against deep sitting sides who cede possession.

The challenge for Ole is to navigate this window and use his leverage, not rest satisfied with a "fantastically well run club", and figure out how to get us to play more consistently like a big club, set up positively in big games.

We need a few quality players - he needs to push for this now.
He can push as much as he wants, but if Ed and the board don't think we're getting value for money, then they won't pay up, Sancho being the obvious case. I would be buying Sancho now for whatever Dortmund want, then we may have to sell players like Smalling, Pereira, Lingard, Dalot if we're going to purchase any one else.
 

Volumiza

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Is this not a problem though? Why don't we have 1 of the better managers out there? Unless you meant those better managers are unavailable.
I just think Ole has shown enough to suggest he can learn and get better. Long term who knows? Next season he should absolutely get our support. We’re a different team to 12 months ago. That’s Oles doing.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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I just think Ole has shown enough to suggest he can learn and get better. Long term who knows? Next season he should absolutely get our support. We’re a different team to 12 months ago. That’s Oles doing.
Feel like that's risky in itself. Having a manager at Manchester United learn on the go.

Hopefully works out.
 

Bestietom

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I really liked OGS's tactics tonight, and his bravery to choose Fred over Matic. Ole was right to get the team to come out very fast at beginning of both halfs, and had his strikers been on form, the game would have been over by 60th minute.

His one failing tonight for me was not taking Rashford off after 65 minutes, putting on Ighalo and changing tactics by going more direct. But then Im sure he had his reasons.

Still, i feel OGS was badly let down by his first choice players tonight and he deserved better from them.
Yes I agree 100% but we don't have any game changers on the bench, and that's our problem.
One forward (Oghalo) on the bench when we needed change in this whole area is not good enough for a team as big as United.
 
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