The “Ole In” Brigade

Chesterlestreet

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Playing better in the sense we are winning games. It's that the most important thing?
Of course it is.

That's what any Manchester United manager will be judged on.

If Maureen's famous second season (which he, himself - lying through his teeth - claimed was his greatest ever achievement...or however he phrased it) had ended with us winning the league, he would have done the job and been lauded accordingly.

You're kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

But that sort of extreme argument really isn't called for here - valid though it is (it absolutely is). Because we've played a brand of football under Ole that has been obviously more in line - on the whole - with the "United way" ideal than anything served up under his predecessors.
 

CiroDiMarzio

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3 loses in the last 30 league games. We've been bloody good in the league for ages now.
This is the crux of the issue. Utd have been the best team in the league over the last calendar year. Solskjaer has taken a patchwork squad full of dross, and without spending insane money, has drastically improved the personnel, the style of football, the atmosphere in the squad and, most importantly, the results. The fact that there was even a question mark over his position because of a sluggish start to the league is a damning indictment of contemporary football, and in particular the e-fandom phenomenon.
 

Zen86

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Playing better in the sense we are winning games. It's that the most important thing? Winning games. Otherwise we could be like Leeds. He has changed the way we play. Our corners now have a variation. Our play is no better and no worse. The one thing I don't like is how our some of our players pause and stop when they have the ball. Especially Rashford, Martial and Shaw.
Hopefully Bailly won't have a brain fart. I don't think he is injury prone like Jones.
If it was Jones he would already be injured by now.
Now if only Ole gets a top class CF and a top class DM we could very well win the PL. We have the individual players who can do it.
Sunday would tell us where we are. I hope he doesn't try to do a Leipzig on Sunday.
Play two up with Rashford and Martial. Or start with James. We need a plan B. A big CF too.
We’ve been improving for 2 years and have been getting good results for over 12 months now. There haven’t been any sudden changes, we were doing set piece routines long before yesterday’s game. We’ve long shaken off the slow start to this season and are on a good run, but this is simply a continuation of the progress we’ve been making for a while. Some people have simply been slow to see it.
 

Leftback99

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We’ve been improving for 2 years and have been getting good results for over 12 months now. There haven’t been any sudden changes, we were doing set piece routines long before yesterday’s game. We’ve long shaken off the slow start to this season and are on a good run, but this is simply a continuation of the progress we’ve been making for a while. Some people have simply been slow to see it.
Yeah there has been no significant change in approach we've just been getting gradually better at what we were doing all along which many of us could see. Consistency of selection and better quality available a key factor.

Saying anything along the lines of "Ole's changed now so I'll happily back him" is nonsense.
 

Ace of Spades

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3 loses in the last 30 league games. We've been bloody good in the league for ages now.
And those loses came in the beginning when we clearly were not fully fit. We have just been a very consistent and more resilient team since Bruno arrived, and the improvement is obvious.

We are still not there yet, and we have plenty of room to improve, but that just makes me more confident that we are on the right track.

People can have their doubts, but I at least hope the hyperbolic shit about him being crap/clueless/P.E teacher stops, as he clearly a very good manager, who has won things as a manager and has decent experience in being a manager.
 

GoldTrafford99

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so he’s been doing a decent job for how long?

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been doing a stellar job from the moment he walked back into Carrington.

Anyone even remotely suggesting he hasn't must be living on a planet that has never learnt anything about Manchester United's history.
 
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been doing a stellar job from the moment he walked back into Carrington.

Anyone even remotely suggesting he hasn't must be living on a planet that has never learnt anything about Manchester United's history.
i agree. But I’m interested in when the naysayers think he started to do a good job @Foxbatt
 

Zen86

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Yeah there has been no significant change in approach we've just been getting gradually better at what we were doing all along which many of us could see. Consistency of selection and better quality available a key factor.

Saying anything along the lines of "Ole's changed now so I'll happily back him" is nonsense.
Yep, it’s the new line with a few on here. Tell themselves they were justified in undermining and dismissing the manager all this time, and we’ve now appeared at the top of the league because he’s suddenly become a good manager in the last few weeks.
 

Foxbatt

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`you are a bunch of twats. You want us to support him and now when I think he is doing a good job now you want me to say what? Did you say the same thing when Moyes was appointed and got us to the 7th? Did you all support him and say he was a brilliant manager? Or when LVG was playing dross at the end of his time? Or when Jose was getting us almost relegated? When any manager does well I will say so. When he is cack I will say so. If he is at the bottom of the league I will not say he is doing a good job. When he is on top of the league it is bloody obvious that he is doing a good job.
 

TrustInJanuzaj

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`you are a bunch of twats. You want us to support him and now when I think he is doing a good job now you want me to say what? Did you say the same thing when Moyes was appointed and got us to the 7th? Did you all support him and say he was a brilliant manager? Or when LVG was playing dross at the end of his time? Or when Jose was getting us almost relegated? When any manager does well I will say so. When he is cack I will say so. If he is at the bottom of the league I will not say he is doing a good job. When he is on top of the league it is bloody obvious that he is doing a good job.
Sorry but you can’t play the victim here. There are fans on this forum that have preached for a long time about the positives that Ole has brought to this team and club and we have pleaded with people on here to see those very clear improvements yet been shouted down. It’s only fair that when we really start to kick on, those very same people who have backed the process, are the first to reap the rewards and go back to the doubters and question why they didn’t see what was in front of their eyes for a long time.

If you only base a manager on his latest game, streak, performance then frankly you will always be set up for disappointment and you’ll never come to logical decisions.
 

Robbie Boy

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The very worst of the great Ole divide reside here. Should be shut just like the Ole out thread. Some of you need to chill the feck out.
 

Crustanoid

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Ok let’s just assume the Ole Outers, who have all of a sudden changed their tune, are genuinely behind him now. Please can you stop and think next time a match isn’t going our way before you spread more negativity and cry about PE teachers/lack of coaching? It’s not constructive.
 

Halftrack

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Sorry but you can’t play the victim here. There are fans on this forum that have preached for a long time about the positives that Ole has brought to this team and club and we have pleaded with people on here to see those very clear improvements yet been shouted down. It’s only fair that when we really start to kick on, those very same people who have backed the process, are the first to reap the rewards and go back to the doubters and question why they didn’t see what was in front of their eyes for a long time.

If you only base a manager on his latest game, streak, performance then frankly you will always be set up for disappointment and you’ll never come to logical decisions.
As much as I hate it when it's done, I'm going to say: This! For nigh on two years, we've heard all about how Ole has no plan, Ole is clueless, there's no patterns, Ole relies individual moments of brilliance, he's a PE teacher. Literally no credit has been given, and then, when we go on a good run and start actually looking like a proper team, all the people that were slamming him as a clueless idiot up until mid-December has suddenly decided that he might be decent and deserves time. Nothing has changed, mind, it's just that the work he, the coaching staff and the players have been putting in for two years is finally starting to pay off, but they're all acting like he's just randomly stumbled upon something that works.

You don't get to just pretend like you weren't calling him a shit manager up until four weeks ago.
 

Plymouth Red

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There's an interesting read in today's Daily Telegraph which I have pasted below. It describes SAF's journey alongside Ole's and as such I think it provides a different perspective on what has become a completely polarised debate here.
Reading it won't change hearts and minds necessarily but it might make people in both camps think about their choice of words a bit more, which would make reading some threads a bit less frustrating.


An affable man in a disagreeable world, there is a moment in almost every briefing or television interview given by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when he reluctantly sees no alternative but to play the role of the managerial archetype – the eyes narrow, the brow furrows, and the tone changes.
He is fooling no-one of course, the needle on Solskjaer’s mood barometer is naturally set to somewhere between last day of school term and chips for tea. One can understand why he tries though, the great managers stretching back through time were always capable of bringing the darkness when they needed to do so. None more so than his mentor Sir Alex Ferguson who could freeze the window panes on a pre-season summer tour if he felt the moment required it.
A little over a year ago, the January defeat to Liverpool at Anfield precipitated the memorable Sky studio head-to-head of Jamie Carragher and Roy Keane, the latter demanding time for his former team-mate in charge at Old Trafford. It turned out that Solskjaer did get time, in spite of the availability of others, and indeed his position has never been in serious doubt since then through some improvements, setbacks and now an unexpected position atop the Premier League. To his great credit, he has survived.
The questions that beg themselves now, as his team again face Liverpool, the sternest test for reasons that require no explanation, are more fundamental. What does Solskjaer the manager represent? What would long-term Oleism look like? The side that beat Burnley on Tuesday had just four starters signed by Solskjaer, albeit costing the best part of £190 million in fees alone, and that may not change much for Sunday. Neither did last summer yield Solskjaer the signings he hoped for yet experience tells us that by the end of a second full season we should be nearing the moment when the manager’s influence should feel pervasive. Full Solskjaer is approaching. Give him another year, Keane said - one year ago.
The key to triumph for successive title-winning managers in the Premier League over the post-Ferguson years has been an unmistakeable strategy and its meticulous prosecution. Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp’s teams’ recent dominance has been about monopolising the ball and doing just about everything in the opposition half. It was a different style with Jose Mourinho, and then Antonio Conte, and clearly so with Claudio Ranieri, but all of them managed it for a period of time long enough to win.
What United’s might be is not yet clear. They were still a team significantly more out of possession than in during the defeat to Manchester City at home in the League Cup semi-final, just as they were in the 6-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in October, and also the win over Paris Saint-Germain the same month. They had more of the ball in their defeat to Arsenal in November and much less of it in the 6-2 win over Leeds United the following month. Beating Everton three days after that, United dominated the ball. Different approaches for different opponents but hard to say there is a definitive style.
Neither is there a cult of personality with Solskjaer, the common thread that runs from Ferguson through to Arsene Wenger, Mourinho, Guardiola and Klopp. At its most successful it presents the alternative to the manager’s ideas as a catastrophic career choice that will place a player on the wrong side of history. However he might be in private, there is a lot to be said for the cheerfully reasonable public-facing Solskjaer, although whether a reasonable man has ever won the Premier League as a manager is a question for the ages.
At the same stage of his United life, Ferguson was going through the first of two bad winters that nearly finished him. In December 1988, United were around 10th in the first division, bewilderingly inconsistent and Norman Whiteside and Paul McGrath were to embark on a new year drinking spree around their favourite Cheshire pubs that almost sent Ferguson over the edge. To look back over the pages of Ferguson’s life it was clear he was fighting a war against two decades of mediocrity, a race against time to impose his will on a failing institution before it spat him out.
The modern United has been no less mediocre for periods over the past eight years, and serious questions have been posed as to whether, like most great European clubs of today, they had the infrastructure to be successful. But rebuilding that piece by piece, as Ferguson once did obsessively from the top to the bottom is not what anyone is asking of a United manager in 2021. There are hundreds of staff to do that now and the decisions made by Solskjaer, as with other managerial peers, should be the very last adjustments to the machine.
That is to say the selection of one high-quality international signing over another, the bespoke plan for a certain game, the substitutions to rescue a strategy gone awry. There is so much to get right at a club like United and at the elite end of the game all available options can look very plausible. Each small decision contributes to the bigger picture of competency, a way of playing and a growing mood of success being within reach. The challenge is to get so much more right than wrong until the answers present themselves more naturally.
That was what Ferguson did for so long, until United became the obvious destination for the best players, the richest and the most powerful. So much has changed since then but if Solskjaer is in charge of United at the start of next season he will be the longest serving of all Ferguson’s successors. By then he will justifiably be expected to have developed something – a tangible way of playing, a squad, a team, a status of his own in the game that looks like it can deliver success.
 

Crashoutcassius

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Playing better in the sense we are winning games. It's that the most important thing? Winning games. Otherwise we could be like Leeds. He has changed the way we play. Our corners now have a variation. Our play is no better and no worse. The one thing I don't like is how our some of our players pause and stop when they have the ball. Especially Rashford, Martial and Shaw.
Hopefully Bailly won't have a brain fart. I don't think he is injury prone like Jones.
If it was Jones he would already be injured by now.
Now if only Ole gets a top class CF and a top class DM we could very well win the PL. We have the individual players who can do it.
Sunday would tell us where we are. I hope he doesn't try to do a Leipzig on Sunday.
Play two up with Rashford and Martial. Or start with James. We need a plan B. A big CF too.
his first real test?
 

GoldTrafford99

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`you are a bunch of twats. You want us to support him and now when I think he is doing a good job now you want me to say what? Did you say the same thing when Moyes was appointed and got us to the 7th? Did you all support him and say he was a brilliant manager? Or when LVG was playing dross at the end of his time? Or when Jose was getting us almost relegated? When any manager does well I will say so. When he is cack I will say so. If he is at the bottom of the league I will not say he is doing a good job. When he is on top of the league it is bloody obvious that he is doing a good job.

I think you totally miss the point of what being a 'SUPPORTER' is all about.

Shame, that.
 

CiroDiMarzio

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An affable man in a disagreeable world, there is a moment in almost every briefing or television interview given by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when he reluctantly sees no alternative but to play the role of the managerial archetype – the eyes narrow, the brow furrows, and the tone changes.
He is fooling no-one of course, the needle on Solskjaer’s mood barometer is naturally set to somewhere between last day of school term and chips for tea. One can understand why he tries though, the great managers stretching back through time were always capable of bringing the darkness when they needed to do so. None more so than his mentor Sir Alex Ferguson who could freeze the window panes on a pre-season summer tour if he felt the moment required it.
This is absolute fantasy writing. This image of Solksjaer as all sunshine and roses is just nonsense and it plays in to all the PE teacher shite.
 

Zen86

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The key to triumph for successive title-winning managers in the Premier League over the post-Ferguson years has been an unmistakeable strategy and its meticulous prosecution. Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp’s teams’ recent dominance has been about monopolising the ball and doing just about everything in the opposition half. It was a different style with Jose Mourinho, and then Antonio Conte, and clearly so with Claudio Ranieri, but all of them managed it for a period of time long enough to win.
What United’s might be is not yet clear. They were still a team significantly more out of possession than in during the defeat to Manchester City at home in the League Cup semi-final, just as they were in the 6-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in October, and also the win over Paris Saint-Germain the same month. They had more of the ball in their defeat to Arsenal in November and much less of it in the 6-2 win over Leeds United the following month. Beating Everton three days after that, United dominated the ball. Different approaches for different opponents but hard to say there is a definitive style.
Possession has become the idiots' be all and end all barometer of football.

It's becoming increasingly pervasive in football; You're either Guardiola and Klopp, or you're Mourinho and Conte. You're either high % possession thrill-a-minute attacking football, or you're low possession 10 men behind the ball football. Anything in-between is winging it, not having a plan. The guy writing this may well have watched none of the games he mentions, such is the level of insight he offers, but he quite easily summarises them with a game of higher or lower possession.
 

Counterfactual

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Possession has become the idiots' be all and end all barometer of football.

It's becoming increasingly pervasive in football; You're either Guardiola and Klopp, or you're Mourinho and Conte. You're either high % possession thrill-a-minute attacking football, or you're low possession 10 men behind the ball football. Anything in-between is winging it, not having a plan. The guy writing this may well have watched none of the games he mentions, such is the level of insight he offers, but he quite easily summarises them with a game of higher or lower possession.
Exactly.

What if Ole's strategy is to mix and match formations and personnel to negate the other teams advantages and attack their weaknesses, rather than do a constant Mourinho or Pep?

What if flexibility and subtlety is the new "tiki taka" or the new "go one up and hold on for dear life"?

Just because Ole's football doesn't fit into an easily described stereotype doesn't mean he doesn't have his own way of getting results.
 

Plymouth Red

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Exactly.

What if Ole's strategy is to mix and match formations and personnel to negate the other teams advantages and attack their weaknesses, rather than do a constant Mourinho or Pep?

What if flexibility and subtlety is the new "tiki taka" or the new "go one up and hold on for dear life"?

Just because Ole's football doesn't fit into an easily described stereotype doesn't mean he doesn't have his own way of getting results.
Which makes complete sense, but maybe from a coaching and scouting perspective, it will mean having a squad that's capable of adapting pretty much match by match. We have some very football-wise players in the squad, but I think we have others who aren't as capable of taking on this challenge.
 

Mattzo

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Exactly.

What if Ole's strategy is to mix and match formations and personnel to negate the other teams advantages and attack their weaknesses, rather than do a constant Mourinho or Pep?

What if flexibility and subtlety is the new "tiki taka" or the new "go one up and hold on for dear life"?

Just because Ole's football doesn't fit into an easily described stereotype doesn't mean he doesn't have his own way of getting results.
If Ole really prepare the squad to adapt against every other team's weaknesses, I think he is a very smart strategist. And also this strategy should be more deepened by counter strategy if the other manager read his strategy. The question is, will he find smart players that can easily change strategy for more than once in the middle of the game?
 
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Lentwood

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Ole clearly sets the team up differently depending on who we are playing, which you imagine is exactly how it should be. Few examples being -;

Burnley 0-1 - Ole opted for aerial prowess by opting for Matic and Pogba at the base of the midfield and Bailly next to Maguire. I believe Ole also saw this as an opportunity to rest Fred and McTominay, who I imagine will play at Anfield.

Chelsea/Liverpool - Ole often sets up in a 5-3-2 formation to combat their attacking wing-backs and to utilise 'split-strikers' to run into the gaps they leave behind. This formation also means we have three CBs, to combat the outside-in runs of the opposition wide forwards AND we have three men in CM to go like-for-like in terms of numbers.

Leeds - Ole clearly opted for athletic players and fast players who would be able to match Leeds' work-rate and drag their opposite number out of position, given Bielsa's tendency to ask his players to man-mark

City - In the past we have gone for the low-block, the two holding midfielders, split-strikers and wing-backs. At OT in the League Cup, we were confident enough to line-up in a more positive, attacking shape and broadly matched City, who played well themselves, apart from the obvious issues we had at set-pieces!

Arsenal 0-1 - This is the one I feel Ole really got wrong this season. We went with that daft diamond, which I really don't like as a formation, and entrusted Greenwood and Rashford to operate as split strikers. This didn't work for two reasons, one, the lack of width invited a strong, high press which plays into Arsenal's hands. Furthermore, Greenwood and Rashford where not good enough at holding the ball up, so we struggled to get out first half. Second half, we went 4-5-1 and began to control the game, only for Pogba to give away a nothing penalty.

So I am sure there are far more examples than that, but these are just some of the obvious examples that spring to mind. For me, it shows flexibility and the fact that we generally switch between formations fairly easily even mid-game shows that we are far from 'poorly coached' as some have argued.
 

romufc

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Ole clearly sets the team up differently depending on who we are playing, which you imagine is exactly how it should be. Few examples being -;

Burnley 0-1 - Ole opted for aerial prowess by opting for Matic and Pogba at the base of the midfield and Bailly next to Maguire. I believe Ole also saw this as an opportunity to rest Fred and McTominay, who I imagine will play at Anfield.

Chelsea/Liverpool - Ole often sets up in a 5-3-2 formation to combat their attacking wing-backs and to utilise 'split-strikers' to run into the gaps they leave behind. This formation also means we have three CBs, to combat the outside-in runs of the opposition wide forwards AND we have three men in CM to go like-for-like in terms of numbers.

Leeds - Ole clearly opted for athletic players and fast players who would be able to match Leeds' work-rate and drag their opposite number out of position, given Bielsa's tendency to ask his players to man-mark

City - In the past we have gone for the low-block, the two holding midfielders, split-strikers and wing-backs. At OT in the League Cup, we were confident enough to line-up in a more positive, attacking shape and broadly matched City, who played well themselves, apart from the obvious issues we had at set-pieces!

Arsenal 0-1 - This is the one I feel Ole really got wrong this season. We went with that daft diamond, which I really don't like as a formation, and entrusted Greenwood and Rashford to operate as split strikers. This didn't work for two reasons, one, the lack of width invited a strong, high press which plays into Arsenal's hands. Furthermore, Greenwood and Rashford where not good enough at holding the ball up, so we struggled to get out first half. Second half, we went 4-5-1 and began to control the game, only for Pogba to give away a nothing penalty.

So I am sure there are far more examples than that, but these are just some of the obvious examples that spring to mind. For me, it shows flexibility and the fact that we generally switch between formations fairly easily even mid-game shows that we are far from 'poorly coached' as some have argued.
I am told by every Ole Outer that he only has one way of playing and no tactics though?

You have clearly highlighted 5 different ways we have played under him. Obviously you are not going to be successful on every occasion.

It really bugs me when fans say we have no style of play but in honesty, I would prefer a manager who is flexible than one who only has one way of playing.

Pep realised this last season, having one way of playing can get you stuck, he has changed it up this season with 2 DM's.

Klopp after a couple seasons realised he cannot play gung ho football for a whole season without getting knackered.

Jose hasn't realised that you can't play park the bus every week, which is why people say his tactics are outdated.

In that way, Ole plans for the opponents, to stop their main attack but still use our attacking play to our advantage.

Playing a tall team was a tactical decision v Burnley.
 

Striker10

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I never got this ole in brigade. We live in such an intentionally divisive world. And as a result, we lose the ability to be rational. It's not worth losing your head over. We should ALL be Ole in at this point in time. Winning trophies, you need support. If we had Sancho, our potential would be very strong right now but as it is we have a few wild cards who can help us win a trophy this season. I know defensively we're awkward but I think this season we're still waiting to see Martial (goals) and Greenwood hit the heights. If they do? That''s great but to think we're where we are despite that is good.

We are far removed from our bipolar days in terms of results. We can go on runs. Our exceptional away forms covered the cracks (thus far) at home. Bailly staying fit is so important right now. He's looking like the guy we bought but there's always a worry about him because he's a good honest defender. There is plenty that we can improve on but again if you want the top trophies, there is no divine right.But Sancho (at a time our defense is improving) could have made a difference and offer support. Hopefully our forwards can push on to last seasons standards because then we'd have an excellent chance

And perhaps we'd still be short. It's hard to say. I think we could have done more in big games. We were very passive against City at home and Arsenal but Ole is doing very well and this league right now, is as hard as it's ever been. We can't look at players from even the lower half without dealing with rich owners or crazy prices so we need perspective. Ole isn't a stepping stone. It's easy to forget some of the absolute DROSS....we've experienced over the last 7 years. When it was bad, it was painful. Would have games barely registering a shot on goal.....

Think about that. That's not even an exaggeration. We WERE that bad. So the general improvement isn't a needle in a haystack. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. Peps not won a champions league since Barcelona/Messi right? Oles not a mug or a pe teacher. So people need to calm down and enjoy! Because if we continue this way, it won't be a slog to qualify for the champions league again but let's see what we can do.
 
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BR7

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Ah. You see, the point is that we should’ve signed a CB with bags of pace, great in the air, physically dominant, good with the ball, doesn’t make rash decisions, second to none positional sense, and a leader, for cheap! They’re ten a penny.
Dunno, I think someone’s had a word with bailly he actually isn’t making regular rash decisions, lindelof shouldn’t get back in this team
 

Mainoldo

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What I think is worth noting is that most of the team who started last night vs Burnley are players who have previously been languishing in mid-table under LvG and Jose.

De Gea - SAF, Moyes, LvG, Jose
Shaw - LvG, Jose
AWB - Ole
Maguire - Ole
Bailly - Jose
Matic - Jose
Pogba - Jose
Fernandes - Ole
Rashford - LvG, Jose
Martial - LvG, Jose
Cavani - Ole

It’s not as if Ole has come in and signed 15 new players. Yes we have added a bit of quality but most of the lads who start regularly have significantly improved since Ole took over.

Not bad for a PE teacher who oversees a “poorly coached side”
Didn’t Jose’s team finish second? Like 2 years ago? So you could say he’s brought in 4 players to a second placed team and now they are top? Half glass empty/half glass full.
 

wolvored

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We turned a corner with the Bruno transfer and since then we have done well, but not won anything yet. My fly in the ointment would be if Bruno missed a few games. Are we a one man team or would we cope? I still have doubts.
 

Tom Cato

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Not for an year. Not since the season started. Now we are winning games where in the past we would have lost. I give him credit when it's due.
We've gone a full calendar year where no team in the Premier League have gathered more league points Manchester United.

I'm sorry but how big a sample size do you need? The Tudor Dynasty?
 

MasterCode

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Always knew Ole would do well, people were shortsighted and unfairly pointed to his time at Cardiff, however, for me, it was his time as a Man Utd reserve team manager during one of our most successful periods (2008-2011) and what he achieved after that (may sound silly but remain objective).

Taking that experience to a team who had never won their respective league and built a structure there where he was able to reverse engineer whatever he had observed and learned while at United as part of the coaching staff and winning back to back titles (in a less competitive league admittedly) it indicated to me that he had learned something and was able to reverse engineer whatever he had learned at United and implement it in Molde.

IMO - Pep had far fewer credentials as a first-team coach when he took over Barcelona in comparison to when Ole took over at United (he had successfully Managed first-team football for over something like 400 games) and people seem to think Pep's a top coach. Between Moyes getting rid of our backroom staff and Woodward selling out by appointing Jose - Ole was exactly what we needed.

I was really nervous when it seemed sections of the fanbase wanted Ole out honestly, people have no idea how far back ANY new manager IMO will take us back - For me, people should be really patient with Ole. Admittedly he'll continue to make some howler mistakes (e.g. I cannot understand how Maguire is on the pitch let alone our captain) but he will get it right in the end IMO.

People haggle over philosophers and tacticians our greatest manager was none of those - I recall Naglesman back during his time at Hoffenheim when I first came across him (2011 I believe) he said in an interview back then that football was 20% tactics and 80% social skills - as someone who has managed staff for half of my career you'll be surprised how motivation often trumps strategy. Don't believe me? Ask Arteta.

Ole In
 

Dominos

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We turned a corner with the Bruno transfer and since then we have done well, but not won anything yet. My fly in the ointment would be if Bruno missed a few games. Are we a one man team or would we cope? I still have doubts.
To be fair the pre-Bruno form last year was with Pogba injured and Rashford/Martial both having time out injured, and we had no replacements.

We were playing Periera/Lingard as number 10 who contributed nothing, if we'd had Pogba fit and given him that free attacking midfield role instead of Lingard/Periera we'd have been much better off. If we'd have had Cavani to come in when Rashford/Martial were injured that would have been a big difference too. We've also signed VDB so again a lot more covered in cases of injuries which we weren't last year.
 

jem

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Sorry but you can’t play the victim here. There are fans on this forum that have preached for a long time about the positives that Ole has brought to this team and club and we have pleaded with people on here to see those very clear improvements yet been shouted down. It’s only fair that when we really start to kick on, those very same people who have backed the process, are the first to reap the rewards and go back to the doubters and question why they didn’t see what was in front of their eyes for a long time.

If you only base a manager on his latest game, streak, performance then frankly you will always be set up for disappointment and you’ll never come to logical decisions.
What rewards are those exactly? Still, on the whole I agree with you. I don't think Ole has been consistently stellar as some have claimed, but he rightfully deserves credit for our form over the last few months.
 

pav1790

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My word, it's been a while hasn't it? I was in this thread more than a year ago - a wee newbie. I'd had few contributions here and there, but generally I kept myself from commenting much. With Ole outers, came my desire to contribute. And with that, came my elevation to the hallowed halls of full membership. So, of course, Ole in. May be in a few seasons I will be part of the admin team.

 

meamth

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`you are a bunch of twats. You want us to support him and now when I think he is doing a good job now you want me to say what? Did you say the same thing when Moyes was appointed and got us to the 7th? Did you all support him and say he was a brilliant manager? Or when LVG was playing dross at the end of his time? Or when Jose was getting us almost relegated? When any manager does well I will say so. When he is cack I will say so. If he is at the bottom of the league I will not say he is doing a good job. When he is on top of the league it is bloody obvious that he is doing a good job.
It's not all about the results...there are other things managers should be measured.

I wanted Moyes sacked in his first season because of his squad building and backroom changes,

LVG was so dire I wanted him go immediately due to his boring football,

Mourinho fiasco in his 3rd season.

Solskjaer is different. What he did with the team you can see it's for the better and the long term.
 

meamth

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To be fair the pre-Bruno form last year was with Pogba injured and Rashford/Martial both having time out injured, and we had no replacements.

We were playing Periera/Lingard as number 10 who contributed nothing, if we'd had Pogba fit and given him that free attacking midfield role instead of Lingard/Periera we'd have been much better off. If we'd have had Cavani to come in when Rashford/Martial were injured that would have been a big difference too. We've also signed VDB so again a lot more covered in cases of injuries which we weren't last year.
This will always be overlooked by the outers. Always.
 

hobbers

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Solskjaer is different. What he did with the team you can see it's for the better and the long term.
Signing AWB and Maguire still doesn't look like it's going to be much of a boon in the long term.