The “Ole In” Brigade

[Lash]

Always been of the opinion Ole will get us going in the right direction but essentially set up the next manager for the major honours. Feel like we are getting to that point.

It would be interesting to see if this happens, does he vanish or moves to a technical director type role and we seek out a coach to match the foundations.

 

[Ekeke]

If other teams self destruct and we get 3rd it wont be much different to when Jose got 2nd. Its a good result but going in we should have expected more... But they get another season to do better.

 

[bosnian_red]

Next year I'll be a lot harsher on him. This season there's been a lot of things he couldn't control (or I don't think he could do much about, like the lack of depth). A lot of encouraging signs, but also some very worrying signs. I don't really think he can ever take us to a title, but he's fine for now to get our feet back firmly as a CL club which I think he is on track for, making the right squad building decisions. I'm whatever about Pochettino, and not sure the right manager for us is out there anyway, so I'm ok with him until someone obvious comes along. But should be pretty much no excuse for next season to not be drastically improved, and a comfortable top 4 finish with a sense of more progression to come.

 

[Rafaeldagold]

I honestly see us losing at Leicester, perhaps even heavily 3-0.

Surely those Ole in will have to think his position has become untenable then?

 

[AshRK]

I am backing Ole but the final game against Leicester is very important. No excuses of but we were shit in the first half of the season or blaming Woodward would do. The team has done well to recover and be in 3rd and now they have to win or draw the final game. If you can't even get the jobb done against Leicester then no poiny going to CL and competing against the better sides.

 

[AshRK]

I honestly see us losing at Leicester, perhaps even heavily 3-0.

Surely those Ole in will have to think his position has become untenable then?

Change it to want.

 

[cyberman]

I honestly see us losing at Leicester, perhaps even heavily 3-0.

Surely those Ole in will have to think his position has become untenable then?

I dont understand posts like these. Are they meant to bring overly negative sentiments to validate opinions?
Theres a bad habit on here of slamming players and the manager for events that hasnt even happened yet.

 

[RUCK4444]

For me, we should spend the money , and try to improve next season, and get 10 or 15 more points , keep playing exciting football. If city get 102 PTS I'm not sacking ole if we made clear progress , it would be cutting off the nose to spite the face

This. Progress is progress, you can but only concentrate on our own club and it’s improvement.

Many will stamp feet and expect us to beat every team and win the league like the past six years didn’t happen. Thankfully I think Ed has learnt this lesson.

I will back Ole until the trajectory of the club declines.

 

[RUCK4444]

I dont understand posts like these. Are they meant to bring overly negative sentiments to validate opinions?
Theres a bad habit on here of slamming players and the manager for events that hasnt even happened yet.

Yup

 

[Rafaeldagold]

Change it to want.

No..I want us to win.

So will you answer the question? If we lose should he stay?

 

[Shaw Mee Tah Mané]

I honestly see us losing at Leicester, perhaps even heavily 3-0.

Surely those Ole in will have to think his position has become untenable then?

Turn it around:

I honestly see us getting a point or 3, and the 14th PL game in a row without a loss. Securing a top 4.

Surely those Ole out will have to think his position has become untouchable then?

 

[Rafaeldagold]

I dont understand posts like these. Are they meant to bring overly negative sentiments to validate opinions?
Theres a bad habit on here of slamming players and the manager for events that hasnt even happened yet.

The last few shite performances have happened and I’m just asking if that trend continues & we lose the Leicester what the Ole in lot would suggest should happen?
Isn’t this the Ole in thread? Football is a lot about speculation in the next game/s. So don’t really get your point I’m afraid

 

[Rafaeldagold]

Turn it around:

I honestly see us getting a point or 3, and the 14th PL game in a row without a loss. Securing a top 4.

Surely those Ole out will have to think his position has become untouchable then?
[/QUOTE\]

No him scraping 4th due to Leicester being dire & gift wrapping it for us wouldn’t convince me no

 

[arthurka]

Couple of games ago he was the best manager in the world.. Now he is junk yard material..His form since the restart is W6 D3 L1 and we are still in a shout for a cup and getting CL football as a result of this form. Adding to this is the clear and visible change in style, age and strategy from the days of LVG and Mourinho. We are on the right way and for the first time in a long time I am again looking forward to watching us play we clearly have problems with fitness and form but this team now has some flair and fun on their day.

 

[AshRK]

No..I want us to win.

So will you answer the question? If we lose should he stay?

To answer your question it will be extremely difficult to back him or trust him. Read my above post. I wouldn't want to hear any bs excuses if we don't get the job done. Not even the excuse of ohh we still have europa.

But truth is he is not getting the sack irrespective of what happens.

 

[cyberman]

The last few shite performances have happened and I’m just asking if that trend continues & we lose the Leicester what the Ole in lot would suggest should happen?
Isn’t this the Ole in thread? Football is a lot about speculation in the next game/s. So don’t really get your point I’m afraid

Losing 3-0 v a side as bad Leicester doesnt fall into any sort of trend.
Its plucked out of thin air so the goalposts paint Ole as inept as possible.
It doesn't ignite discussion, its just thrown out there because you have actual little losses to go on so you pluck out imaginary losses to validate your pov.
I think tonight will be harder than Sunday, theyre conceding goals at an alarming rate and have 3/4 of their first choice defence missing

 

[DRJosh]

Despite the last 2 results, we have more purpose in our attacking play. We are seeing shades (maybe short glimpses) of our potential. The backline needs tweaking and we need a few more strong squad players.

An effective squad rotation policy shouldn't feel like a transition between 1st and 2nd string sides, which is what is currently feels like at United. Sort that out, and we are in for a rosier future.

 

[RyRy11]

Next year I'll be a lot harsher on him. This season there's been a lot of things he couldn't control (or I don't think he could do much about, like the lack of depth). A lot of encouraging signs, but also some very worrying signs. I don't really think he can ever take us to a title, but he's fine for now to get our feet back firmly as a CL club which I think he is on track for, making the right squad building decisions. I'm whatever about Pochettino, and not sure the right manager for us is out there anyway, so I'm ok with him until someone obvious comes along. But should be pretty much no excuse for next season to not be drastically improved, and a comfortable top 4 finish with a sense of more progression to come.

Unless our youth team produces another 3-5 players in keys areas and we have a huge transfer window the depth issue isn’t going to go away next year

 

[always_hoping]

Don't get these posters complaining about scraping 4th. Man City finished 4th in 2016 on GD, 66 points they got that season. And I might add
Leicester were only so far ahead earlier in the season because of Uniteds form back then and not helped by injuries.

 

[bosnian_red]

Unless our youth team produces another 3-5 players in keys areas and we have a huge transfer window the depth issue isn’t going to go away next year

I think he needs to trust the squad a lot more. He seemed to earlier. Since the restart though, it's been the one set of players and that's it. There was plenty of ways to rotate the squad with what we have and keep everyone more fresh, but he persisted and now it might cost us. Fred and McTominay are perfect examples. They are both good players and worth their place in the squad, and had very good seasons. Ole hasn't used them at all since the restart. Yes Matic, Bruno and Pogba are better, but now their level has dropped due to tiredness, and that was easily preventable. We could've used them as a base in midfield with Bruno as the 10 once, Pogba as a 10 once, and then used the matic/bruno/pogba trio for the others to give some more rotation in the league. More than good enough and it puts faith in the players. Ok in attack the depth isn't amazing, but still, Ighalo and James could've been used more to at least rotate each of Rashford, Martial, Greenwood out of the starting 11 at least 1 time in the league (couldn't have asked for nicer fixtures). Fullback as well, Williams didn't get a look in until Shaw got injured, even though he can play left or right back. All it would've taken was a start once at left back, once at right back to break up a big run of games to keep Wan Bissaka and Shaw more fresh. Instead, Shaw is injured, AWB looks knackered.

Rotation not only keeps main players fresh, but it keeps squad players engaged, and keeps the main players on their toes! Instead, they barely get a look in and when they do, they aren't in form and are probably not happy with their playing time and that usually doesn't bring out their best level.

Anyway, next season if we sign Sancho, I think we'll be much better with depth. Or should be. We can rotate and use 3 of Rashford/Martial/Sancho/Greenwood, and then further depth with James and Ighalo for full rotation games. There's not loads that we need, but a big part is the manager using them properly. I'm not sure Ole can trust the team if he doesn't put his absolute best 11 out there.

 

[RyRy11]

I think he needs to trust the squad a lot more. He seemed to earlier. Since the restart though, it's been the one set of players and that's it. There was plenty of ways to rotate the squad with what we have and keep everyone more fresh, but he persisted and now it might cost us. Fred and McTominay are perfect examples. They are both good players and worth their place in the squad, and had very good seasons. Ole hasn't used them at all since the restart. Yes Matic, Bruno and Pogba are better, but now their level has dropped due to tiredness, and that was easily preventable. We could've used them as a base in midfield with Bruno as the 10 once, Pogba as a 10 once, and then used the matic/bruno/pogba trio for the others to give some more rotation in the league. More than good enough and it puts faith in the players. Ok in attack the depth isn't amazing, but still, Ighalo and James could've been used more to at least rotate each of Rashford, Martial, Greenwood out of the starting 11 at least 1 time in the league (couldn't have asked for nicer fixtures). Fullback as well, Williams didn't get a look in until Shaw got injured, even though he can play left or right back. All it would've taken was a start once at left back, once at right back to break up a big run of games to keep Wan Bissaka and Shaw more fresh. Instead, Shaw is injured, AWB looks knackered.

Rotation not only keeps main players fresh, but it keeps squad players engaged, and keeps the main players on their toes! Instead, they barely get a look in and when they do, they aren't in form and are probably not happy with their playing time and that usually doesn't bring out their best level.

Anyway, next season if we sign Sancho, I think we'll be much better with depth. Or should be. We can rotate and use 3 of Rashford/Martial/Sancho/Greenwood, and then further depth with James and Ighalo for full rotation games. There's not loads that we need, but a big part is the manager using them properly. I'm not sure Ole can trust the team if he doesn't put his absolute best 11 out there.

I do agree, what we saw at the start of the post lockdown games was Ole playing the first team getting a decent margin and then taking the big guns off around the hour mark. This worked until we started playing poorly/chasing the game after an hour and Ole felt he couldn’t take off his main creative outlets and rest them. The Norwich game really jolted him, the wholesale changes completely destroyed any continuity of form from the first team and I don’t think he can trust them. I honestly think other than Bruno the main player that needs a rest is Maguire but there is absolutely no chance he could have been benched at any point.

 

[ivaldo]

I dont understand posts like these. Are they meant to bring overly negative sentiments to validate opinions?
Theres a bad habit on here of slamming players and the manager for events that hasnt even happened yet.

He's slagging Ole off in every thread. Ignore him.

 

[Zlatan 7]

No..I want us to win.

So will you answer the question? If we lose should he stay?

Yes

 

[Zlatan 7]

The last few shite performances have happened and I’m just asking if that trend continues & we lose the Leicester what the Ole in lot would suggest should happen?
Isn’t this the Ole in thread? Football is a lot about speculation in the next game/s. So don’t really get your point I’m afraid

What trend? Playing shit but still picking up 3 or 1 point, I’ll take that trend for this final match.
it really comes across as some people although not wanting us to lose would find joy in it by being proven ‘right’

 

[Ali Dia]

I like Ole a lot but If he doesn’t fight hard to improve the squad this summer and we dip badly again next season then he deserves to go. Ed Woodward too. Woodward should be long gone by now. In any other job....

 

[dave1956]

Ole is just an employee whose position is first team manager / coach, he I am sure can recommend to his senior managers his requirements for the coming season but if those recommendations are not accepted, really he has only 2 options accept the judgement of his senior management team or resign.
Net result we end up with players who are not his choice and may not be able to play to the systems he requires or we end up near to the start of the season with a new manager and coaching staff who will then have little time to either (a) bring in their own players or (b) be unable to bring their playing systems into the present squad.
Both situations are damaging to the club.

 

[croadyman]

I will be honest I didn't like him sounding like he was happy with a point after the game last night

 

[SteveW]

In the last couple of weeks the teams with a few days extra rest have dominated those that haven't pretty much across the board. We've come up against a few of these in a row and struggled. You can see the players are running on fumes. So I think all the vitriol being sent towards Ole and the players is a bit stupid and reactionary. They didn't just battle their way into the top 4 shake up to suddenly lose hunger and urgency at the finishing line.

They are just finding it tough to match the energy of fresher teams. A problem that gets compounded when you meet fresher teams in 2 or 3 games on the bounce as they are consistently having to work harder than the opposition to get the same output. The fatigue build from game to game. I see a lot of tired bodies and minds now which is showing in poor touch, decision making etc.

We all know the fringe players aren't good enough and we saw the two FA cup performances when Ole has rotated so attacking him for not rotating more is pretty fecking stupid and pointless. When we don't rotate they get tired, when we do rotate we play shite and half the fanbase has a pop at Ole for costing us the FA cup by picking the wrong team. There's only so much you can get from limited resources.

Keeping that in mind it would be nice if instead of looking for scapegoats and turning on the manager and players that people might just give them some needed support. The moaning and scapegoating helps nobody and it quite frankly isn't deserved. They've made heaps of progress this season playing so fantastic stuff over the last 20 games or so. And they've overturned a 15 point deficit on Leicester. Hopefully they can get some decent recovery for the weekend and scrape out a draw. If not assuming they rest the first team against Lask they will have a couple of weeks to freshen up for the EL quarter final and there's absolutely no reason why they can't win it and get to the CL that way. So have some fcking faith and support your team and manager.

 

[Andersonson]

I honestly see us losing at Leicester, perhaps even heavily 3-0.

Surely those Ole in will have to think his position has become untenable then?

I can honestly see us beating Leicester and see us made a fantastic top 3 finish considering how our season started. Thats a sign of clear progress. If we get top 4 and win the EL its a fantastic season for Ole. And it will be much easier to sign top quality players.

Nobody thought it was realistic for us to be top 4 at the end of the season. We're now 3rd with one game left. Why everybody is whining is beyond me.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Don't get these posters complaining about scraping 4th. Man City finished 4th in 2016 on GD, 66 points they got that season. And I might add
Leicester were only so far ahead earlier in the season because of Uniteds form back then and not helped by injuries.

My point is, City then built on this and won the league. So next season we need to push on and enhance expectations slightly.

 

[rotherham_red]

I think he needs to trust the squad a lot more. He seemed to earlier. Since the restart though, it's been the one set of players and that's it. There was plenty of ways to rotate the squad with what we have and keep everyone more fresh, but he persisted and now it might cost us. Fred and McTominay are perfect examples. They are both good players and worth their place in the squad, and had very good seasons. Ole hasn't used them at all since the restart. Yes Matic, Bruno and Pogba are better, but now their level has dropped due to tiredness, and that was easily preventable. We could've used them as a base in midfield with Bruno as the 10 once, Pogba as a 10 once, and then used the matic/bruno/pogba trio for the others to give some more rotation in the league. More than good enough and it puts faith in the players. Ok in attack the depth isn't amazing, but still, Ighalo and James could've been used more to at least rotate each of Rashford, Martial, Greenwood out of the starting 11 at least 1 time in the league (couldn't have asked for nicer fixtures). Fullback as well, Williams didn't get a look in until Shaw got injured, even though he can play left or right back. All it would've taken was a start once at left back, once at right back to break up a big run of games to keep Wan Bissaka and Shaw more fresh. Instead, Shaw is injured, AWB looks knackered.

Rotation not only keeps main players fresh, but it keeps squad players engaged, and keeps the main players on their toes! Instead, they barely get a look in and when they do, they aren't in form and are probably not happy with their playing time and that usually doesn't bring out their best level.

Anyway, next season if we sign Sancho, I think we'll be much better with depth. Or should be. We can rotate and use 3 of Rashford/Martial/Sancho/Greenwood, and then further depth with James and Ighalo for full rotation games. There's not loads that we need, but a big part is the manager using them properly. I'm not sure Ole can trust the team if he doesn't put his absolute best 11 out there.

I think we need to disregard the lack of rotation issue here. This is very much an atypical run-in.

Even so, both McTominay and Fred started the game against Spurs, and both have had two further starts since the restart, which accounts for around a quarter of the matches we've played thus far - a reasonable amount considering they are squad players.

Like you say, Ole has in the past been able to rotate players, it's just that the situation with the Top 4 race, and the squad players lack of sharpness and form, has meant he hasn't had much chance to. I think he has tried to rotate, and tbf to him, he did sub off the likes of Bruno, Pogba, Martial, Rashford et al after c.60 mins in all the games we've had until the Palace match. The problem has been that the players he's replaced them with just haven't been able to keep things ticking over to the extent that when it came round to the FA Cup SF, he was caught between a rock and a hard place.

He tried to rotate en masse against Norwich as well, and they almost fecked it up for him and he's been spooked ever since. This is not to say that the squad players are shit and need replacing. They're not. Some of them are damn good players who have played a crucial role in getting us anywhere near Top 4, but the issue is that they have come back from a 3 month layoff lacking in sharpness and form, and with our situation vis-a-vis Top 4, we simply were never in a position to allow for dropped points in those initial games.

I do agree though, that he should have looked at changing the template of the midfield, with Pogba pushed further up in place of Bruno from time to time.

 

[rotherham_red]

Next year I'll be a lot harsher on him. This season there's been a lot of things he couldn't control (or I don't think he could do much about, like the lack of depth). A lot of encouraging signs, but also some very worrying signs. I don't really think he can ever take us to a title, but he's fine for now to get our feet back firmly as a CL club which I think he is on track for, making the right squad building decisions. I'm whatever about Pochettino, and not sure the right manager for us is out there anyway, so I'm ok with him until someone obvious comes along. But should be pretty much no excuse for next season to not be drastically improved, and a comfortable top 4 finish with a sense of more progression to come.

I'm pretty much in this boat also. Though, depending on who he signs and how they adapt, I do think he could get us challenging for the title at the very least.

However, if by the end of next season (providing he actually gets properly backed in the summer) we're still scrapping around for Top 4, then I'll have to reluctantly be looking for us to cut the chord.

 

[rotherham_red]

In the last couple of weeks the teams with a few days extra rest have dominated those that haven't pretty much across the board. We've come up against a few of these in a row and struggled. You can see the players are running on fumes. So I think all the vitriol being sent towards Ole and the players is a bit stupid and reactionary. They didn't just battle their way into the top 4 shake up to suddenly lose hunger and urgency at the finishing line.

They are just finding it tough to match the energy of fresher teams. A problem that gets compounded when you meet fresher teams in 2 or 3 games on the bounce as they are consistently having to work harder than the opposition to get the same output. The fatigue build from game to game. I see a lot of tired bodies and minds now which is showing in poor touch, decision making etc.

We all know the fringe players aren't good enough and we saw the two FA cup performances when Ole has rotated so attacking him for not rotating more is pretty fecking stupid and pointless. When we don't rotate they get tired, when we do rotate we play shite and half the fanbase has a pop at Ole for costing us the FA cup by picking the wrong team. There's only so much you can get from limited resources.

Keeping that in mind it would be nice if instead of looking for scapegoats and turning on the manager and players that people might just give them some needed support. The moaning and scapegoating helps nobody and it quite frankly isn't deserved. They've made heaps of progress this season playing so fantastic stuff over the last 20 games or so. And they've overturned a 15 point deficit on Leicester. Hopefully they can get some decent recovery for the weekend and scrape out a draw. If not assuming they rest the first team against Lask they will have a couple of weeks to freshen up for the EL quarter final and there's absolutely no reason why they can't win it and get to the CL that way. So have some fcking faith and support your team and manager.

Fully agreed. Top post.

 

[gerdm07]

I honestly see us losing at Leicester, perhaps even heavily 3-0.

Surely those Ole in will have to think his position has become untenable then?

Not at all. First, there is little chance we will lose 3-0 because both teams will be pretty conservative with an eye on Chelsea vs Wolves. Two, you don't judge a manager on one match. Ole has made very good progress this year and I see no reason to think the progress will not continue next season.

If we make top 4 I would give him an extension.

 

[gerdm07]

I like Ole a lot but If he doesn’t fight hard to improve the squad this summer and we dip badly again next season then he deserves to go. Ed Woodward too. Woodward should be long gone by now. In any other job....

I think all pro-Ole posters think this too. Pretty obvious.

 

[The Brown Bull]

I like Olé a hell of a lot like most fans.
In fairness he's an easy guy to like.
I believe he's making progress.
I really hope his players put a shift in for him next Sunday.

 

[AshRK]

I'm pretty much in this boat also. Though, depending on who he signs and how they adapt, I do think he could get us challenging for the title at the very least.

However, if by the end of next season (providing he actually gets properly backed in the summer) we're still scrapping around for Top 4, then I'll have to reluctantly be looking for us to cut the chord.

I share the same sentiments. If come next season we are still fighting for top 4 even after adding the likes of sancho then we have to look for other options. Right now it is very important we do the job against Leicester.

 

[Gator Nate]

I think we need to disregard the lack of rotation issue here. This is very much an atypical run-in.

Even so, both McTominay and Fred started the game against Spurs, and both have had two further starts since the restart, which accounts for around a quarter of the matches we've played thus far - a reasonable amount considering they are squad players.

Like you say, Ole has in the past been able to rotate players, it's just that the situation with the Top 4 race, and the squad players lack of sharpness and form, has meant he hasn't had much chance to. I think he has tried to rotate, and tbf to him, he did sub off the likes of Bruno, Pogba, Martial, Rashford et al after c.60 mins in all the games we've had until the Palace match. The problem has been that the players he's replaced them with just haven't been able to keep things ticking over to the extent that when it came round to the FA Cup SF, he was caught between a rock and a hard place.

He tried to rotate en masse against Norwich as well, and they almost fecked it up for him and he's been spooked ever since. This is not to say that the squad players are shit and need replacing. They're not. Some of them are damn good players who have played a crucial role in getting us anywhere near Top 4, but the issue is that they have come back from a 3 month layoff lacking in sharpness and form, and with our situation vis-a-vis Top 4, we simply were never in a position to allow for dropped points in those initial games.

I do agree though, that he should have looked at changing the template of the midfield, with Pogba pushed further up in place of Bruno from time to time.

Excellent summary. Had he not made the push like he did (and how many people believed, prior to the start of the season, that we'd be in third place with one match to go?) and tried rotation, we'd have failed and the moaning here would have been out of control going into the next season. Your observation that he got spooked with the Norwich game is spot-on, too.

I think part of the problem is that the Bruno-Pogba combination works with a certain style of play that the McTominay-Fred combination does not, and Ole's going to have to iron out the differences so he can rotate people in and out and shift tactics from game-to-game and in-game as needed for rotation and opponents (as long as Lingard and Mata are not on the pitch simultaneously, which is disastrous every time). With the games coming so hard and heavy, I don't know that he's had time to work on that in training. Unfortunately, with the short break and Europa league finishing up, he may not get the luxury, but at least the fixture congestion should slow and give them a bit more time to work (and recover).

 

[lysglimt]

Next year I'll be a lot harsher on him. This season there's been a lot of things he couldn't control (or I don't think he could do much about, like the lack of depth). A lot of encouraging signs, but also some very worrying signs. I don't really think he can ever take us to a title, but he's fine for now to get our feet back firmly as a CL club which I think he is on track for, making the right squad building decisions. I'm whatever about Pochettino, and not sure the right manager for us is out there anyway, so I'm ok with him until someone obvious comes along. But should be pretty much no excuse for next season to not be drastically improved, and a comfortable top 4 finish with a sense of more progression to come.

For me that depends on what players we get in the summer - if we get a Grealish and a Sancho - yes there is no excuse for not being a lot closer to the top

 

[bosnian_red]

For me that depends on what players we get in the summer - if we get a Grealish and a Sancho - yes there is no excuse for not being a lot closer to the top

I think at this point there's not any excuse to have a squad filled with holes after this summer. He plays his part in pushing for signings, so we have to do whats needed otherwise we'll fall further behind.