Ole Gunnar Solskjaer | W15 D2 L4

[Lam]

Weird that some people keep bringing down Ole - I mean it's ok if it's only a 7/10 achievement but they find reasons to argue it is a 2/10.

First - any manager after Ole would have got us to score 5
Second - It's only the small teams
Third - We're anyway expected to win these games, let's see what happens against Spurs
Now - DDG won it, not Ole

New reasons expected going forward:
Didn't influence Ed to sign a star (End of Jan reason)
Top 4 minimum expectation (Around Feb)
CL QF minimum expectation (End of Feb)
At least 1 cup (End of Apr)


All these are fair arguments, but these are things we never expected 25 days back. Whatever happens between now and end of the season, at least Ole has reestablished the right expectations from a Man Utd team. All the above arguments point towards that. I can understand if people had an agenda against Jose/Pogba/Sanchez etc., but not sure how some want to pull down Ole of all people (not saying we should be giving a 10/10, but at least a rational evaluation instead of driving their own agenda is expected).

 

[Kapardin]

1) top 4 finish is not in Ole's hand. We were in deep sh!t when he got us. That is unreasonable and unrealistic expectation from him. Only those who don't want him to be permanent manager are setting that condition
2) players stamina for high intensity 90 min game is questionable and becoming more and more evident. Top teams are going to exploit this weakness. This will be our achilles heel in CL.
3) only realistic achievement is FA cup.

Rather than Top 4, I think we should assess his league performance on points and goals scored. If he can maintain a 2.2-2.3 point average from now on, that translates to 75-80 points which in my opinion is a decent tally considering where we were regardless of final league position. And if he can get our attack to hit 75 goals playing this style, I reckon that would be the icing on the cake.

FA Cup would be nice of course.

 

[Ish]

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Delusion.

Sure Paul. We all believe you.

 

[kouroux]

Rather than Top 4, I think we should assess his league performance on points and goals scored. If he can maintain a 2.2-2.3 point average from now on, that translates to 75-80 points which in my opinion is a decent tally considering where we were regardless of final league position. And if he can get our attack to hit 75 goals playing this style, I reckon that would be the icing on the cake.

FA Cup would be nice of course.

I agree with that. I would also watch how important players are performing till the end of the season (the signs are good so far) and how the team is playing football quality wise.

 

[midnightmare]

The only real worry I have now is the stamina and fitness of players - and that's down to Jose, not Ole. In every game, including Spurs, we've had loads more chances than the opposition till about the 65 minute mark, after which we clearly start tiring and slowing. It's nothing the manager can help, given that we need to play high-intensity football and there's no break to work on fitness right now. It's astounding that Jose allowed the squad to fall to this level, but that's where we are. The tactics therefore, are clearly to score early and repeatedly to build enough of a cushion to cover for this slacking later. Later in games, specially against high-quality opponents, we will sit back and try to soak up the pressure. I can't see anything wrong with that since there's no alternative.

For me, the fact that Ole is getting the tactics spot on so far is extremely heartening. Am increasingly confident of Top 4 too now, though I keep reminding people that we were:
1. With 26 points and a negative GD after 17 games, when he took over
2. 11 behind 4th and 8 behind fifth at that point and miles off both on GD too

Let's enjoy the ride and stop speculating.
Oh and Ince is a t*t.

 

[The Mad Manc]

Weird that some people keep bringing down Ole - I mean it's ok if it's only a 7/10 achievement but they find reasons to argue it is a 2/10.

First - any manager after Ole would have got us to score 5
Second - It's only the small teams
Third - We're anyway expected to win these games, let's see what happens against Spurs
Now - DDG won it, not Ole

New reasons expected going forward:
Didn't influence Ed to sign a star (End of Jan reason)
Top 4 minimum expectation (Around Feb)
CL QF minimum expectation (End of Feb)
At least 1 cup (End of Apr)


All these are fair arguments, but these are things we never expected 25 days back. Whatever happens between now and end of the season, at least Ole has reestablished the right expectations from a Man Utd team. All the above arguments point towards that. I can understand if people had an agenda against Jose/Pogba/Sanchez etc., but not sure how some want to pull down Ole of all people (not saying we should be giving a 10/10, but at least a rational evaluation instead of driving their own agenda is expected).

Amen brother

 

[Ish]

That’s a bizarre fecking post.

Poch gets credit for Spurs second half performance (when they didn’t score) but you won’t give Ole any credit for the first half performance (when we did score) that forced Pocchetino to change his opening formation/tactics.

Have a word with yourself.

Spot on.

 

[Ban]

Pogue covered it but I need to too. @sunama saying Ole shouldn't get a credit. Cafe darling Poch needed to change tactics to counter Ole tactics which worked like a charm in the 1st and he should get the credit while Ole not.
Sure maybe he should have intervened in the 2nd but these things happen, one team being better in one part and the other in the rest of the game. Sometimes a manager reads a situations and makes changes sometimes don't. Given it's was the 1st test vs top 6 I'd say he passed it.
Rashers, Martial and Lingard interfered their passing, Lingard played a false nine, our FBs were high up the pitch and we looked to go in the counter as soon as we win the ball with quick passing.

 

[Revaulx]

The only real worry I have now is the stamina and fitness of players - and that's down to Jose, not Ole. In every game, including Spurs, we've had loads more chances than the opposition till about the 65 minute mark, after which we clearly start tiring and slowing. It's nothing the manager can help, given that we need to play high-intensity football and there's no break to work on fitness right now. It's astounding that Jose allowed the squad to fall to this level, but that's where we are.

Jose didn’t do anything to rectify it, but he isn’t solely to blame. There’s been a lackadaisical attitude to fitness at the club for years. Look at what Anderson was allowed to get away with.

 

[KM]

I was listening to John Giles and he was saying that this could just be the honeymoon period after Jose's sacking and that the players are just reacting to being happy again.

We really have to judge Ole at the end of the season.

The patronising of Ole by these so called pundits is fecking bizzare. They can feck right off.

Ole has done a tremendous job and the players are also keen to point it out. Both lingard and herrera pointed out Ole's tactical tweaks which led to our first goal.

Majority of the pundits have just put down Ole's reign as if he hasn't done or changed anything.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

The patronising of Ole by these so called pundits is fecking bizzare. They can feck right off.

Ole has done a tremendous job and the players are also keen to point it out. Both lingard and herrera pointed out Ole's tactical tweaks which led to our first goal.

Majority of the pundits have just put down Ole's reign as if he hasn't done or changed anything.

Well that's because the majority of pundits, especially British ones, are dogshite. They're absolutely right that it's still early days to judge if Solskjaer is the right man for the long-term and that he should be judged at the end of the season, but what for example Paul Ince has said is ridiculous. Solskjaer has done great so far and they should give him some credit. Luckily there's some decent ones around like, and I didn't think I'd ever say this, Carragher, who at least gives him the credit he deserves.

 

[Kapardin]

Well that's because the majority of pundits, especially British ones, are dogshite. They're absolutely right that it's still early days to judge if Solskjaer is the right man for the long-term and that he should be judged at the end of the season, but what for example Paul Ince has said is ridiculous. Solskjaer has done great so far and they should give him some credit. Luckily there's some decent ones around like, and I didn't think I'd ever say this, Carragher, who at least gives him the credit he deserves.

Carragher slammed Ince's comments. Atleast hope that shuts him up.

 

[midnightmare]

Well that's because the majority of pundits, especially British ones, are dogshite. They're absolutely right that it's still early days to judge if Solskjaer is the right man for the long-term and that he should be judged at the end of the season, but what for example Paul Ince has said is ridiculous. Solskjaer has done great so far and they should give him some credit. Luckily there's some decent ones around like, and I didn't think I'd ever say this, Carragher, who at least gives him the credit he deserves.

Yeah. Carragher has shocked me as well. He was spot on when he said Jose needed to go and he's been spot on about Ole as well. Wish Neville hadn't been so t*attish about the Jose situation.

 

[clarkydaz]

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Delusion.

Hardly suprising from an ex liverpool captain

 

[Eric's Seagull]

I was listening to John Giles and he was saying that this could just be the honeymoon period after Jose's sacking and that the players are just reacting to being happy again.

We really have to judge Ole at the end of the season.

Feck them fecking pundits.
I can understand when they say judge Ole at the end of the season.
Although if we were losing these games there would possibly be a few people judging Ole as sh!te now.
Just enjoy the ride

 

[11101]

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Delusion.

Tactically Solksjaer probably hasn't done too much yet, he hasn't had time. All he's done is remind everyone what it is to play for Manchester United and sent them out to play as though they expect to win. The only people who could do that are the ones whose names still ring out in the hallways of Old Trafford, not some footnote in our history.

 

[roonster09]

The patronising of Ole by these so called pundits is fecking bizzare. They can feck right off.

Ole has done a tremendous job and the players are also keen to point it out. Both lingard and herrera pointed out Ole's tactical tweaks which led to our first goal.

Majority of the pundits have just put down Ole's reign as if he hasn't done or changed anything.

Pogba pointed that out too after Spurs game. I mean all players repeated the same thing, that Spurs fullbacks push very high so they have to play pass early and to wide areas.

Pundits are just clueless, especially few like Ince who think Hughes and Bruce should become ManUtd manager.

 

[roonster09]

Good one by Carragher. Says ManUtd play without fear now and wingers are not defenders anymore. Also these "pundits" saying anyone could have done the job is absolute nonsense. Praised Ole for his tactical work and also that Manutd lost against 3 promoted teams last season, so "easy games" are not really that easy.

https://www.skysports.com/football/...d-fear-factor-at-man-utd-says-jamie-carragher

 

[Ban]

Good one by Carragher. Says ManUtd play without fear now and wingers are not defenders anymore. Also these "pundits" saying anyone could have done the job is absolute nonsense. Praised Ole for his tactical work and also that Manutd lost against 3 promoted teams last season, so "easy games" are not really that easy.

https://www.skysports.com/football/...d-fear-factor-at-man-utd-says-jamie-carragher

Carragher is one great pundit. Says it like it is, a lot better than Neville.
What to say about Ince, he's one of those managers who doesn't hack it but thinks big if himself and that he's on the verge of becoming a Barcelona or Madrid manager. He should watch his food too if seems.

 

[roonster09]

Carragher is one great pundit. Says it like it is, a lot better than Neville.
What to say about Ince, he's one of those managers who doesn't hack it but thinks big if himself and that he's on the verge of becoming a Barcelona or Madrid manager. He should watch his food too if seems.

Yeah, the way some of the pundits played down solskjaer's work is ridiculous. I mean first few games might be easy but considering how low on confidence players were before his arrival and how we lacked any cohesion, it was very good job.

Neville has changed his tune too, like how ManUtd shouldn't change it's philosophy. I agree with that point, if not completely. Expectations should be very high, so should be the standards.

Also it's good to see Liverpool legend is making or made more sense in last 3-4 months than any pundit. He made few very good points in that time.

Lastly, I think Ince is just jealous. He can't be that dumb.

 

[Ban]

Yeah, the way some of the pundits played down solskjaer's work is ridiculous. I mean first few games might be easy but considering how low on confidence players were before his arrival and how we lacked any cohesion, it was very good job.

Neville has changed his tune too, like how ManUtd shouldn't change it's philosophy. I agree with that point, if not completely. Expectations should be very high, so should be the standards.

Also it's good to see Liverpool legend is making or made more sense in last 3-4 months than any pundit. He made few very good points in that time.

Lastly, I think Ince is just jealous. He can't be that dumb.

Must be that. I mean he would do the same thing. Well Paul you wouldn't cause you're a twat. And you're a completely shit manager.

As for Carragher yeah, Liverpool legend but speaks sense about United more than most. And isn't biased as Souness, McManaman and other shit ex Liverpool pundits.
As for Neville, he likes to be controversial and that affects his punditry. And sometimes he speaks bollocks.

 

[roonster09]

Must be that. I mean he would do the same thing. Well Paul you wouldn't cause you're a twat. And you're a completely manager.

As for Carragher yeah, Liverpool legend but speaks sense about United more than most. And isn't biased as Souness, McManaman and other shit ex Liverpool pundits.
As for Neville, he likes to be controversial and that affects his punditry. And sometimes he speaks bollocks.

Neville tries to be too unbiased and ends up at other end. Souness, McManaman are just useless. Tbh all these pundits are just useless with few exceptions. Souness is just bitter old fool, he is like twitter parody account now.

 

[Ban]

Neville tries to be too unbiased and ends up at other end. Souness, McManaman are just useless. Tbh all these pundits are just useless with few exceptions. Souness is just bitter old fool, he is like twitter parody account now.

Yeah, Souness' hate of Pogba will be his undoing.

 

[Gomes]

Neville pointed out Ole's tactics in Tottenham game straightaway. Funny how actual insight is rated lower than whether you call managers' heads or not.

 

[Shez]

What really annoys me is that had United lost 2-6 of the first six games, the hyenas would have been circling and blaming Ole. Now that he has won the games, it is all the players rebounding from the post Mourinho joy. Sheer disrespect. It is really impressive to get players to put in the shift that they are, considering that it would have been just as easy for them to not care about results and take a bye on this season. Tactically far as I am concerned he has been spot on with some decisions I disagreed with, but then again I disagreed with some of Fergies' decisions so what do I know. 9/10 replacement managers coming in would not have been playing the system he has played, and had Mourinho still been here, no way would we have seen the lineup we have had recently. Fellaini and Lukaku would definitely have started against Tottenham for instance

 

[Lam]

The fact that some pundits (read Neville) have gone from Man Utd should think long-term before sacking Mou to "this is minimum expected from Man Utd" proves Ole has done a good job.

We should ignore these people and enjoy the run. We are definitely going to lose a few between now and May. There is a good chance (more than good in fact) that we'll get knocked out of both CL and FA Cup in the next round. Top 4 is still not in our hands. But imagine what the situation was 25 days back - the only thing we expected from the team was intent - not style, not results, not catching up on points, not cup wins.

Edit: I changed my vote in this thread today from No to Yes. I genuinely did not expect 6/6 after that Liverpool game. I am sure most of the No voters would be happy if Ole proves them wrong.

 

[Sultan]

Rather than Top 4, I think we should assess his league performance on points and goals scored. If he can maintain a 2.2-2.3 point average from now on, that translates to 75-80 points which in my opinion is a decent tally considering where we were regardless of final league position. And if he can get our attack to hit 75 goals playing this style, I reckon that would be the icing on the cake.

FA Cup would be nice of course.

That's a very good point.

Ole cannot be held responsible for other teams accumulation of points, and the fact we were low on points prior to him taking over.

 

[POF]

Does Ince have something against Solskjaer? Winning 6 games in a row at this level is impressive no matter what opposition you face.

Losing respect to Paul Ince now.

Well done for keeping respect for him until now!

 

[bond19821982]

Starting to like Carragher as a pundit than G.Neville

 

[Adisa]

Paul Ince is a fool.

 

[gajender]

Ole has done a great job till now , any body suggesting otherwise need to check how many times have United won 5 consecutive league games post Sir Alex retirement it won't be many even last season which was our best league position since our last title I don't think we wo five on the bounce.

 

[RepardReece]

Starting to like Carragher as a pundit than G.Neville

Agreed. Never liked Carra, but as a pundit he's really fair and not biased, also not an idiot like Souness.

 

[Sunny Jim]

Agreed. Never liked Carra, but as a pundit he's really fair and not biased, also not an idiot like Souness.

Agreed.

 

[cyberman]

Good one by Carragher. Says ManUtd play without fear now and wingers are not defenders anymore. Also these "pundits" saying anyone could have done the job is absolute nonsense. Praised Ole for his tactical work and also that Manutd lost against 3 promoted teams last season, so "easy games" are not really that easy.

https://www.skysports.com/football/...d-fear-factor-at-man-utd-says-jamie-carragher

I'd say this is a bit outdated. We never really sat back v big sides at home and we did start regularly beating them in 2018.
Its a decent point to make but Ole shouldn't be shy of changing it up away v big sides. Klopp, Poch and Chelsea have poor away records in the league v top sides while Pep has always struggled away in CL games for a reason
Offering yourself up for the slaughter isn't the Sir Alex way if that is how Ole views himself.

 

[Nr.7]

The last few months of Jose’s reign I wasn’t looking foward to our games and I wasn’t confident before matches no matter who we had next.
All the pundits say we would have won those first 5 games Ole took over, but I’m not so sure.

Ole has done a lot more than just “brought a smile on the players face”.

 

[Verminator]

When you look at some of the points we dropped under Jose, I can't for the life of me, understand why some people think he'd have got maximum points from those other games. He had 27 from a possible 51, suggesting 8 from 15 would be in keeping.
I also don't know how good Poch's record would be without Harry Kane. Would he have won all those games?

Having said all of that, I don't think the board should rush to a decision regarding Ole.
Get a DOF in place between now and May, and see if they compliment each other.
We have not done well with premature showings of faith in recent years.

I hope Ole gets fair consideration, not forgetting Phelan, Carrick and McKenna.
If you discover the right formula, even accidentally, it would be foolish to change for change's sake.

 

[Eric7C]

Having said all of that, I don't think the board should rush to a decision regarding Ole.
Get a DOF in place between now and May, and see if they compliment each other.

Or get a DoF who compliments Ole? Ole is already cut from the United cloth, we need a DoF who has a similar vision for how the team should play.

More than anything I think we need an assistant coach like Queiroz who comes and sorts out the defense for us the way he had done for Fergie in the big games.

 

[pondus]

Ole is a highly underrated manager. Just look what he achieved with Molde. They beat Celtic, Ajax and Fenerbache in Europa League where they won their group. Molde as a city only have 28 000 inhabitants.. quite impressive

 

[redDNA]

It is not only annoying that people are playing down Ole's efforts,it is disrespectful.

Anybody who thinks that Ole came to Old trafford,shined his teeth like father christmas and told the lads 'be happy and play football' has no rudimentary knowledge of football .

First Eleven: From the first came Ole had an idea of his first eleven and has been quite consistent with it (except the reading game).We have a settle midfield and attack .For 2.5 years or more nobody knew what our first eleven was,not even mourinho.

Pattern and set up:Now we have a definite pattern,we play fast and high tempo football,press collectively and higher up the pitch.Our full backs are higher up the pitch and a high line central defense.

What new Manager bounce?This is not a new manager bounce,it would have been if we were playing the same pattern,same players,and unattractive football but getting results.

Weren't Spurs the Litmus Test? Before the Spurs game,the narrative was that we were beating 'small' teams (not that we didn't lose to Brighton,West ham,drew Southampton,Newcastle and Palace).Ole won the Spurs game playing attacking football and was tactically better for about 60 minutes(that's 2/3 of the game).It could also be argued that Spurs dominated the last 30 minutes because our players got tired and lack of squad depth to reshuffle our midfield.Instead of praising the manager that dominated 2/3 of the game,some people are praising the one that dominated 1/3 of the game and making excuses for him.

Top 4,CL and FA cup should not be the benchmark for Ole:By this time last month most of us had written off this season and were already discussing next season .After five games we are now talking about top 4,that is enormous progress(for this season).It is unfair to judge Ole based on the aforementioned because of the state of the team,the stage of the season and the gap between us and teams above us.Ole has done well so far,we may likely lose games etc.How he manages set backs and keep the team motivated and playing well should rather be the parameters.

Show some respect,respect,respect(with three fingers raised)

 

[Verminator]

Or get a DoF who compliments Ole? Ole is already cut from the United cloth, we need a DoF who has a similar vision for how the team should play.

More than anything I think we need an assistant coach like Queiroz who comes and sorts out the defense for us the way he had done for Fergie in the big games.

I honestly don't know what you added there.
You can hope they're compatible but there is no guarantee.