Solskjaer won first 5 games scoring 16 goals and conceding just 3 goals but played down as we didn't play against any strong teams (even though we played Newcastle away who won against ManCity at their home and narrowly lost vs other big teams)
Spurs was the first big test, won that game but it didn't count as De Gea made more saves. Spurs barely created any chance in first half and using caf's famous method, they had xG of less than 1 and less than Manutd till 65th min. As a home team they just went all out attack in the last 20-25 mins.
Next big test was vs Arsenal, won 3-1 and it was comfortable. But for some reason it didn't count as it's Arsenal.
So the actual test was vs Chelsea at Stamford bridge, place where we haven't won since SAF retired and won only couple of times in last 15 years. Played one of the most complete performance of the season but again that didn't count as they lost 6-0 to City and 4-0 to Bourenouth.
Only loss was vs PSG but that was the only big game that counted for some reason.
Instead of all the mental gymnastics, few can just come out with "feck whatever is done by Ole, I just want Poch as manager".
This is extremely unfair on a lot of posters here. Just because people point out caveats to our good performances, doesn't mean they don't want Ole as a manager, or want someone else.
I have been accused of being an "Ole basher" and a "Poch lover" on here for no reason other than that I've wanted to wait at least 3 months before deciding if I'm 100% behind Ole as a permeant manager over other candidates. People are so quick to box others into the Ole camp or Poch camp, and are seemingly never allowed to say: "I'd like more time before making my decision".
Our start was amazing, no doubt. But we were riding a wave of positivity, and anyone who denies that is kidding themselves. It was perfectly reasonable to be cautious then; look at Sarri's first 2 months at Chelsea, compared to where he is now!
Spurs was the first big test, and we did pass it. Ole won the tactical battle in the first half. But Spurs changed it up in the second, and lets be honest, they were very lucky not to get a point. At this stage, it was perfectly reasonable to be cautious.
Arsenal was an amazing result. I really didn't have anything negative to say about it. Lukaku was man of the match! The problem is that our last 2 managers, who have been widely critized on here, both won at Arsenal in almost exactly the same way. So forgive me if remain cautious at this stage.
Then came 3 more league games: a 2-2 fight-back against Burnely, a tight, 1-0 win against Leicester, and a comfortable 3-0 win against Swansea. The Burnley result showed a lot of character, and it was great to see us come back from a losing position for the first time under Ole. But many forgot we had the EXACT SAME result against Burnley at home last season: 2-0 down at half time, before coming back to rescue a point. So there wasn't really anything new here. The Leicester and Fulham performances were very impressive: the former a very difficult game where we produced a professional performance, the latter a comfortable victory where we probably could have scored more.
The PSG game was our first defeat. A weakened team, but still a quality one. And we actually started really well; if Martial and Lingard had stayed on the pitch I genuinely believe we could have won that game. However when we lost them, Ole didn't change our approach, even though we all could see we didn't have the players to play the same game anymore. And we got beaten. It may sound strange, but I was excited after that game. I have said from the start I want to see how Ole responds to a bad result, and I was excited to see whether we would bounce back. And boy, did we. An emphatic performance against Chelsea, who despite their poor form, started the game really well. But it's also worth remembering that their fans turned on them in the second half, and the atmosphere became toxic for them to play in. We defended well, and Chelsea's performance level dipped.
Notice throughout this, I've only actually criticised Ole once; for the PSG game. In all the other cases, I haven't criticised him at all. Your suggestion that people say "X result doesn't count because of reason Y" is a gross mischaracterisation of most people's comments, which can better be stated as "X was a great result, but we should also remember Y". Looking at results without their proper context is irrational, and you shouldn't criticise those who take a measured and balanced approach to their analysis of our performances.