Ole Gunnar Solskjaer criticises some players from time in charge at Old Trafford

[crossy1686]

Thought he won the culture reset trophy during his time.

Pretty hard when you've got players like this:

"Some players felt they should’ve played more and weren’t constructive to the environment. That’s a huge sin for me. When I didn’t start games I wanted to prove to the manager he’d made the wrong decision. "Now, a lot of players aren’t like that. Agents and family members get into their heads and tell them they’re better than they are because they have a vested interest. It’s a disease of modern football."

 

[Gandalf]

Henderson and Cavani I’d say are a shoe in for this one.

Definitely those two and going back further Lukaku was a huge problem, effectively downed tools and forced his way out because he didn't like the way he was used in Ole's first few games.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

I think and this is my opinion, not trying to provoke shit. You pay average to good players extortionate wages. That’s the issue, when u pay average players a wage they won’t get else where, there is no reason they would play for you. I can say Bruno, Shaw, are the only players who really care about United. You signed players like Casemiro and Varane when they were clearly crocked, yeah they will give their all but they are both done. De Gea was the last player who IMO cared but u replaced him,

 

[RedDevil@84]

I actually wondered if it was him preparing to come back into management somewhere. Get his version of events out and close the United chapter for good.

He doesn't have mates in the media like Moyes has. He will need more interviews.

 

[Orton]

I think and this is my opinion, not trying to provoke shit. You pay average to good players extortionate wages. That’s the issue, when u pay average players a wage they won’t get else where, there is no reason they would play for you. I can say Bruno, Shaw, are the only players who really care about United. You signed players like Casemiro and Varane when they were clearly crocked, yeah they will give their all but they are both done. De Gea was the last player who IMO cared but u replaced him,

Too true. We’ve been guilty of it for years. Other players unhappy because we’ve splurged a stupid amount on wages for someone else in the team, then you’ve got the likes of Maguire happy to sit on his contract instead of playing football. Just a shit culture from top to bottom and we wonder why our team plays the way they do. Spoilt babies.

 

[clarkydaz]

Players couldnt be bothered being captain, id say thats a new low for me regarding the pits the club is in. Just take the high profile and wages, horrible spineless self absorbed wankers, who the club enable

 

[SirAF]

Can we put a notification on top saying Mitten did this interview weeks ago and have no/little control in when its released.
Then we dont have to read people bashing Ole or Mitten for their timing.

Anyway, he said nothing wrong imo. He also gives me the impression that he knows he did not do well enough to keep the job and not trying to find excuses.

"He has not spoken fully about his experiences at Old Trafford. I have regularly asked him to talk, but the time has never been right. A text on Monday morning confirmed he was now ready to speak — and no topics were off the table."

 

[roseguy64]

All good comments although some of it is just to portray himself in a good light. Like when LVG said he wanted about 10 players and never got one. Of course he'd say that after he was sacked. Of course he wanted Haaland, Rice and Bellingham..

We were definitely after Haaland and Bellingham though. It's not new info.

 

[RedDevil@84]

"He has not spoken fully about his experiences at Old Trafford. I have regularly asked him to talk, but the time has never been right. A text on Monday morning confirmed he was now ready to speak — and no topics were off the table."

Which Monday?

 

[roseguy64]

"He has not spoken fully about his experiences at Old Trafford. I have regularly asked him to talk, but the time has never been right. A text on Monday morning confirmed he was now ready to speak — and no topics were off the table."

What point are you making here? Mitten literally said on a podcast before this week that he'd interviewed Ole recently.

 

[roseguy64]

ETH saying that there was 'no good culture' when he took over was a slight on Ole though, who retorted that loads of the players screwed him. That's how I read it from an admittedly cursory scan of the article anyway, rather than it all being Glazer-related.

Ole's comments on Rangnick disliking the culture he found don't sound like he'd disagree with ETH. He basically said whatever culture he'd built had deteriorated by that point.

 

[roseguy64]

I’ve read and reread the article and all I read is an ex-manager giving some support to your current manager.
If your reference was towards dirty washing then, from what I could make of it, Oli didn’t reveal anything that hasn’t been hung on the line, in full public view, and blowing about merrily in the wind for many years.

In fact I can’t see any sign of a boot being stuck anywhere unless you consider the talk about Utd being limited financially to be some kind of a slur?

If I’ve missed a gem then please point it out to me because I do like some juicy gossip but couldn’t squeeze so much of a droplet out of that yawn-worthy dry fare.

Yeah I agree with this.

 

[SirAF]

What point are you making here? Mitten literally said on a podcast before this week that he'd interviewed Ole recently.

My point is that the way Mitten wrote what I am quoting it sounds like OGS sent him a text is Monday saying "Let's go, I'm ready to talk!". You might be right, but it is poorly phrased in that case.

 

[Artimities]

I didnt want to believe or think it at the time, but when Ronaldo returned, there was a part of me that wondered if all the momentum the club had gained would be for nothing as he would come in and demand to lead the dressing room.
Its almost like the team didnt want him there.... or they did for his talent, but not for his desire as it made them look bad.
The way he just fell in our lap towards the transfer market close... it makes you wonder if Ole was torn about bringing him back.

 

[Jippy]

Ole's comments on Rangnick disliking the culture he found don't sound like he'd disagree with ETH. He basically said whatever culture he'd built had deteriorated by that point.

Christ, I'd almost forgotten the Rangnick interlude through a combination of selective memory, sleep deprivation and increasingly worryingly bad short-term recollection.

 

[BootsyCollins]

"He has not spoken fully about his experiences at Old Trafford. I have regularly asked him to talk, but the time has never been right. A text on Monday morning confirmed he was now ready to speak — and no topics were off the table."

He said weeks ago that he had done and interview with him. Might be another one, and if so i stand corrected.

 

[roseguy64]

My point is that the way Mitten wrote what I am quoting it sounds like OGS sent him a text is Monday saying "Let's go, I'm ready to talk!". You might be right, but it is poorly phrased in that case.

It was likely supposed to be released that same week but they delayed it. I don't remember when Mitten made the comments but it was likely delayed because of either Greenwood or some transfer news or similar.

 

[Gandalf]

My point is that the way Mitten wrote what I am quoting it sounds like OGS sent him a text is Monday saying "Let's go, I'm ready to talk!". You might be right, but it is poorly phrased in that case.

It might simply be that when he wrote it he had spoken to Ole on the Monday of that week but that does not preclude the possibility that The Athletic sat on the interview for a few weeks before choosing to publish it at the moment most suitable for their purposes. The Athletic has had plenty of headlines out of MG, Sancho etc. over the last few weeks so editorially it would make sense to hold this piece, which is not particularly time sensitive, until there was a break between dramas.

 

[skc_18]

Is he wrong about this one though?
He managed Pogba, Lingard, Ronaldo, Greenwood, Lukaku
Any manager would lose few hairs after this.

Of the players you listed I agree only about Lukaku.. Ronaldo joined in his final year, Greenwood was decent and his off-field behavior should not matter here.
Lingard was a clown and Ole should have binned him as soon as he became manager , Pogba and Rashford behavior would have been decent if he did that.

Ole tried to build to a english spine, like it was when he was a player but he picked wrong players and personalities.

 

[Polar]

ETH saying that there was 'no good culture' when he took over was a slight on Ole though,

Probably got even worse under Rangnick, who was supposed to continue in another role when ETH arrived, but suddenly was gone. Think ETH’s comment was more on Rangnick. Maybe an attempt to legitimate why he dumped or vetoed Rangnick.

 

[SirAF]

He said weeks ago that he had done and interview with him. Might be another one, and if so i stand corrected.

It was likely supposed to be released that same week but they delayed it. I don't remember when Mitten made the comments but it was likely delayed because of either Greenwood or some transfer news or similar.

It might simply be that when he wrote it he had spoken to Ole on the Monday of that week but that does not preclude the possibility that The Athletic sat on the interview for a few weeks before choosing to publish it at the moment most suitable for their purposes. The Athletic has had plenty of headlines out of MG, Sancho etc. over the last few weeks so editorially it would make sense to hold this piece, which is not particularly time sensitive, until there was a break between dramas.

Probably right. It should have been edited for clarity though.

 

[clarkydaz]

I didnt want to believe or think it at the time, but when Ronaldo returned, there was a part of me that wondered if all the momentum the club had gained would be for nothing as he would come in and demand to lead the dressing room.
Its almost like the team didnt want him there.... or they did for his talent, but not for his desire as it made them look bad.
The way he just fell in our lap towards the transfer market close... it makes you wonder if Ole was torn about bringing him back.

He called them out in interview quite early on didnt he? That young players are given too much for nothing and consumed by themselves. Youve got Rashford on one side and Greenwood on the other, not really looking to pass to feed Ronaldo, they have their own brand to think of

 

[The-Mezzala]

Love Ole as any united fan would. Be he didn’t half buy some rubbish. Maguire, AWB, Van de Beek, , Telles, Igahalo and few others. Did he say why we didn’t get Rice absolutely painful watching him play for Arsenal. Always played out of his skin at OT. Think if we tried harder we could of had him . Bellingham one is understandable Dortmund was a smart career move and now he will probably stay at Madrid for life. Haaland I felt would never come born in Leeds and a City fan as a kid. Because of his Dad. Kane covid money is bullshit. Top clubs were making more money in the pandemic than do on match days with the streaming charge. Kane and Rice were players we definitely could of signed and missed out.

 

[Jordi Cruyff 99]

Solskjaer is a proper Man Utd man. I love the guy.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Too true. We’ve been guilty of it for years. Other players unhappy because we’ve splurged a stupid amount on wages for someone else in the team, then you’ve got the likes of Maguire happy to sit on his contract instead of playing football. Just a shit culture from top to bottom and we wonder why our team plays the way they do. Spoilt babies.

Honestly I’m not here to troll at all, but that’s United’s main problem, it’s not ETH, it’s not even the Glaziers, u pay way to much for players and then play the wages on top. I don’t get it, as in why u so it.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

I mean I don’t think Rashford is a bad player, but honestly and il argue this with anyone, how is he with £350k a week? You still don’t even know is he a striker or a wide player? But u still agree to his demands? Why? I’d take Son all day everyday over him.

how?

 

[noodlehair]

Don't think there's too much point reading between the lines when there's no names mentioned. Sounds like most of them are in the crop who got moved on either under or since Ole anyway...and three of them are obvious because they couldn't even keep their sh*t stirring away from the media.

The thing I take from this is its a quite fair and honest account from Ole, but does suggest he was trying to manage players as if it was still back in his playing days, rather than as the modern day footballers they are.

He's hit half the nail on the head I think with modern footballers basically having too much power over the club/manager, but the other side of it is no one would dare behave like that to SAF, and maybe Ole didnt quite grasp that this was part of the equation. Ole/Rangnick/Jose etc. could never command the same level of respect. Probably only Pep and maybe Klopp in the modern game who could, and even Klopp I'm not 100% sure. Pep is the only one which guarantees you success which ultimately is what it comes down to.

 

[noodlehair]

I mean I don’t think Rashford is a bad player, but honestly and il argue this with anyone, how is he with £350k a week? You still don’t even know is he a striker or a wide player? But u still agree to his demands? Why? I’d take Son all day everyday over him.

how?

He's a wide player. Watch him try to play striker for a few games and that'll settle that one for you.

The problem is he becomes a striker when the alternatives are Martial or a loan player from Burnley.

The other problem is he's as selfish as prime Ronaldo, and unless you're getting 45 goals a season AND winning your team the league that doesn't really work, because it's one of the first things people will notice/pick at when the team isn't successful or playing well.

 

[Cassidy]

Players couldnt be bothered being captain, id say thats a new low for me regarding the pits the club is in. Just take the high profile and wages, horrible spineless self absorbed wankers, who the club enable

I don’t think there is anything wrong with a player not wanting or feeling up to taking on a leadership role. Not everyone wants to lead or is capable.

 

[clarkydaz]

Honestly I’m not here to troll at all, but that’s United’s main problem, it’s not ETH, it’s not even the Glaziers, u pay way to much for players and then play the wages on top. I don’t get it, as in why u so it.

Ultimately it is the Glazers fault, as they set the tone and rules of the club. They are only concerned with making money and that has filtered down to the players. They dont care enough to change as they still get their dividends and overinflated billions sale

 

[Ted Lasso]

Ole is a legend. I was hoping he'd say something as soon as enough time had passed. You could always tell he was struggling with a combination of handcuffs from owners and an absolutely awful group of players. Remember, most of them were supposed to be gone per him when he was just interim manager. Then he got stuck with them, maybe ironically because of the same Paris night that got him the full-time job.

 

[hungryhippo]

Ole has strong tactical acumen. Always felt he's been misunderstood. His weaknesses are transfers, overall judgment and perhaps lack of a distinct philosophy and independence.

He needs to start coaching soon, find himself as a manager and free himself from the United and Ferguson heritage.

 

[Polar]

Ultimately it is the Glazers fault, as they set the tone and rules of the club.

….. and the lack of strategy (directors responsibility), example style of play and transfer strategy.

Seem to change every time we change manager.

LVG «take it all approach»
Jose «exotic world approach»
Ole «build British core approach»
ETH «Eredivisie approach»

 

[Smithy89]

This goes back to the Jose era, the players are absolutely rotten.

 

[ti vu]

I hate interviews like this. It's very easy as a failed manager to point and say "yeah I wanted these players but was told I couldn't get them" and stuff similar, Ole isn't the first to do this. And I do agree he wasn't as backed as ETH (some of that could be his fault too though). But he also brought a lot of issues on himself. His lack of authority has been well documented at this point, and he failed to ever implement any sort of system of proactive play in game. Our build up structure was so bad that teams like Southampton could make life hell for us just with a simple high press, and the only time we really thrived as a team was as a transitional/direct team against better sides.

Ole was not backed less than ETH have. Arguably more if considering the context of singing.

People who said otherwise didn't account for the insane inflation with teams from the same league wemt on spending rampage (with mean to balance the book by sale while we're shire at selling), since ETH took over. We're not the only teams paying big fee signings in recent windows. While under ETH we had made some expensive (overpaying) signings, we didn't exactly pay world record fee for a position. The Ronaldo, Cavani may look cheap when it comes to transfer fee, but the outlay of wage, sign on fee are mot cheap. The very same reason Ronaldo couldn't find an European suitors when he wanted out, nor no one picked up Cavani until we picked him up on deadline day. If we compare to Weghorst, Sabitzer, even Amrabat; Cavani short contract is a different kettle of fish. Trippier was available in 20mil ish region in the same window, we signed AWB instead. Sancho, VDB may be cheaper, but in a sense they're yesteryears equivalent of Antony, and Mason Mount. Bruno impact over the years may make his signing a hit, but squad building wise it's not very different than Casemiro where the manager had to fill a position to survive without long term vision for fluidity of the teams.

Just like the rest of failed managers post SAF, Ole is trying to absolve his failure where as he did leave issues for his successors, just as he implied Mourinho did for him. Ultimately the structure and higher management at this club is rotten, leading to a player power culture. If this is a disease of modern football, then no point of self pity where there seem to be clubs out there who have a vaccine for this disease. They're doing fine enough.

 

[Mainoldo]

no he isn't, it's the owners

christ how many years of failed managers, players, coaches and everything else do you need to figure this out?

All them failed managers got new jobs. This bhum ain’t getting a new job of worth because he’s crap.

Don’t care what he says he’s a liar anyway. players turned down the captaincy wtf. He got in the club we had a captain and a vice captain. Just give it the vice captain until the end of the season. No-one would have bat an eyelid. But him and everyone at the club thought it was imperative to publicise their “third choice” as the new captain?

Not buying it.

 

[Zen86]

Weird to think it was only Ole that talked to Sancho for 2 years.

Didn’t you know Ole pretty much ran the club while he was here? While simultaneously being a Glazer stooge.

 

[ti vu]

Matic would be my guess. He seemed to want away once Jose was gone

Not really. Ole benched Matic for almost the first half of his first full season as manager (after Maguire signing). It would be even more insane for offering Matic to become the captain like that.

It's likely DDG and Pogba.

 

[ti vu]

Is this not similar to what Mourinho said?

It is. The issue is when Ole was still at the wheel, he seemed to be Okay with the squad the culture, unlike outspoken Maureen, Wreck it Ralf, or to much lesser Dutch Pep Guardiola is my idol. Everyone of them may add to the issues to some extend, but it's difficult to symphatize when there is this inconsistency for the odd one out.

 

[Jeffthered]

The whole club lacks humility, and has done since Ed Woodward took over from David Gill. Manager's coming in and just 'wanting players' rather than investing and really backing young players and scouting credentials. Man Utd players have been treated like prima donna's ...Sanchez, Pogba (who I love as a player), Lukaku, Lindgard, Depay, Martial.. now look where we are. It becomes the culture.. Sancho personifies what ETH is trying to get rid off.

OGS was neither strong nor decisive enough to do what was neccesary. And he awarded daft contracts to rubbish players, which we are still dealing with now.

We still need a clear out, and get a full reset of the right culture there. Thing is, the manager sets the tone, both Klopp and Pep are, in their own ways, demanding and can be v ruthless with players.. but they are also managers who the players can warm to, and respect. Players want to play for those two. I think (it seems) the Spurs manager has this, Brentford too with Thomas Frank, and of course, look at Brighton. It's rare you have such public player dramas at these clubs.