What the players say about Ole

Dve

Full Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2019
Messages
2,898
As the players are taking turns praising Ole in the media these days, I made a quick search so see what they have said about him recently. I think it´s safe to say Ole has the backing of his squad.

Shaw:
"I’ve seen a lot of changes during my time at United and I have to say that Ole has been responsible for a large amount of the improvements around the place. When he came in, he knew what was needed, what had to change to get things up and running again."

"He’s signed people who aren’t just good players, but also really good lads as well. They’ve integrated in the squad really well and brought a bit more energy and togetherness in the group."

“His man-management has been unbelievable for me and the whole squad. He has put a smile on everyone’s face."


Bailly:
He’s someone that will always talk to you.”

“He always communicates well. He gives you so much confidence because as a footballer, you go through moments where you feel low and he can read that and when he sees that he immediately comes over to you and talks to you.”

“He offers advice so that you can regain confidence and for me, that’s so important because we have a very young team and if we have a coach or manager like that then the team will go from strength to strength.”


Pereira:
"Ole knows we will always be there for him. The young players give our faith and do everything to protect him, as he gives all his trust to us.”

"I'm very honoured and that's why, as well, I want to stay at United. I want to fight for him, win games and win trophies."


Bissaka:
“Since day one at United, I’ve seen that Ole’s a manager who knows what he wants. You can see his intentions for the team. He wants every single player to improve and he’s given us all a steer on what we need to improve. That’s what you need, I think; a manager who will push you.”

"Personally, he’s encouraged me to go forward with confidence and express myself, and prior to the recent lockdown I think my attacking game was definitely improving.”


Williams:
"Ole is always there for me."

"He's always telling me what I need to improve on, not letting me go in after training to work on things that I need to improve on.”

"He's always there when I need an arm around the shoulder or when I need the praise and also when I need to be told something that I need to work on."


Fernandes:
"For me, the most important (reason why I joined United) was obviously the confidence of the coach.”


Lindelöf:
"He's very good. A coach that is easy to talk to and discuss with and who has a good balance when he should be tough and when he should not be tough."

“He knows exactly what it takes to be a player and how much pressure there is on us.”


Tuanzebe:
“He has an understanding of the players himself.”

“It is a lot easier. He knows how people feel when in certain times and he knows how to help the individual adapt to the circumstances.”

“For me he has been fundamental. We have had a sit down, we have talked about my future and what destinations I want to be reaching, and he has been really good to me.”


Fred:
“He is very nice, he is an extraordinary person, he talks a lot, he has a playful side and he is always smiling. The day-to-day is great and he is very important for the team, as he was as a player in the history of the club."


Matic:
“Now he knows all of the players, he knows exactly what he needs to do before the game, after the game.”


Chong:
“I think we’ve got a manager who believes in young players. It’s an exciting time at the moment."

“I speak to the manager and everyone around the club to look to what is best for you to do. I think the club is coming in with a brilliant plan and it is just exciting to see what’s going to happen."

“The club has done a fantastic job really with the young players. It’s always been a club that gives opportunities to youngsters. This year it has been amazing the faith and trust that the manager has been showing in the young players.”


Fosu-Mensah:

“He has been very positive with me. He sees I’ve been working hard, and he’s been encouraging me every single time, so I feel the trust from him."


Ighalo:
“During games… there was even a game I scored in, and he said ‘You should have scored more if you do this or do that’.

“I thought about it and I know if I would have done what Ole said, I would have scored more. He says: ‘You’re a striker, take the chance’. So I’ve learnt a lot from him, in terms of positioning and how to do one or two things in a game."

“He’s a very calm guy; he’s a good guy. Outside of football, he’s a good guy. When everybody is laughing in training, he joins in and he talks to us, but, when it’s the game, you see a serious face. We have to do this, we have to do that - then it’s business time.”


James:
"He's been unbelievable with me, I'll always thank him for that,. From the first time I met him, I never expected him to have that belief in me.”

"He's always been great with me and picks me up when I'm a bit down which he does with every player so I do thank him for that."

"Game by game I was just enjoying it more and believing in myself. The manager give me that belief and it helped me a lot."


McTominay:
"Obviously it's our duty as players to go out there and do our best for him and hopefully we can (perform well) because we love him. We love him as a group as well.”


Rashford:
"We were on the same page and wanted the same things for the club. Ole is a great guy, and he has the club's interests at heart, so there's not a better person for the job in my opinion."


De Gea:
"[Solskjaer] is part of the family. He was here for many years as a player, he knows the club well and most importantly the whole team is behind him. We will fight to the death for him. That is key, he is a good coach, and we will be with him until the end."
 

Web of Bissaka

Full Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2017
Messages
8,553
Location
Losing to Comeback Winning!
What are the common things here?

1. They are current players still with the first team squad generally, few are youth that are around the first team.

2. Most of 'em are not the players that dare to say bad things openly about their managers and club. Eg. Shaw similarly said good things about Mou, as does Bailly and De Gea.

3. Most of 'em are regulars, given plenty of games and chances.The few are either youth eg. Chong who is still given more than others chances, or injuries yet still within perceived manager's plan eg. Axel and TFM.

4. Generally this is around our most latest run of great form. So the atmosphere has positive influences. Wonder how it'll be when we're losing.

---

It's so easy to say good things about the manager when things are going your way and going well. Interested to see what Matic may say during the early season (easy now because he's back to being given plenty of games), or even what Gomes may want to say. And didn't Fred say something bad about Ole last season when he was being basically "outcasted" around Jan to March ?

Remember that there are other bad apples eg. Lukaku and Sanchez that said bad things about Ole. And I still remember the players under LVG and Mou said basically good things about them, in the press, except for the hidden-identity "backdoor" revealing to the press or "backstabbing" behaviors eg. Matic or Valencia liking certain posts against their managers at that time.

Saying bad things about current manager in press/interviews is irrational. But likely to happen when a player is having problems with the manager, ambitious player in a team that is not doing well, or the player is either the honest type or problematic type.


EDIT: :nervous: Apologies if those ^ sounds like downers but I just don't see the need to get way too excited about what our players say about Ole during this time.
 
Last edited:

IrishGlen

Full Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2018
Messages
194
Lingard: “He’s nice to everyone. They say he’s the nicest man you could meet but he shouts at me.”

van Dijk: “For sure Ole has a nice guy reputation but he wasn’t so nice the day he evicted me”

Pep: “2 times Ole has been invited to my home and two times he has left with something he wasn’t supposed to take. That’s not a nice guy”

Frank: “Up and coming managers are supposed to help each other. Ole gave me nothing in our three meetings with him. Said it was tough love”.
 

jem

Full Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
9,257
Location
Toronto
What are the common things here?

1. They are current players still with the first team squad generally, few are youth that are around the first team.

2. Most of 'em are not the players that dare to say bad things openly about their managers and club. Eg. Shaw similarly said good things about Mou, as does Bailly and De Gea.

3. Most of 'em are regulars, given plenty of games and chances.The few are either youth eg. Chong who is still given more than others chances.

4. Generally this is around our most latest run of great form. So the atmosphere has positive influences. Wonder how it'll be when we're losing.

---

It's so easy to say good things about the manager when things are going your way and going well. Interested to see what Matic may say during the early season (easy now because he's back to being given plenty of games), or even what Gomes may want to say. And didn't Fred say something bad about Ole last season when he was being basically "outcasted" around Jan to March ?

Remember that there are other bad apples eg. Lukaku and Sanchez that said bad things about Ole. And I still remember the players under LVG and Mou said basically good things about them, in the press, except for the hidden-identity "backdoor" revealing to the press or "backstabbing" behaviors eg. Matic or Valencia liking certain posts against their managers at that time.

Saying bad things about current manager in press/interviews is irrational.


EDIT: :nervous: Apologies if those ^ sounds like downerr but I just don't see the need to get way too excited about it.
Not sure about Sanchez, but I seem to recall Lukaku having good things to say about Ole. And I'm pretty sure that McTominay quote came from a few months back, during a very dire run of form for the team. I'm not completely sold on Ole as the coach to lead us to glory, but I'm fairly certain that he has the strong backing of the squad, and after Mourinho, that is no small thing.
 

el3mel

Full Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2016
Messages
43,735
Location
Egypt
What are the common things here?

1. They are current players still with the first team squad generally, few are youth that are around the first team.

2. Most of 'em are not the players that dare to say bad things openly about their managers and club. Eg. Shaw similarly said good things about Mou, as does Bailly and De Gea.

3. Most of 'em are regulars, given plenty of games and chances.The few are either youth eg. Chong who is still given more than others chances, or injuries yet still within perceived manager's plan eg. Axel and TFM.

4. Generally this is around our most latest run of great form. So the atmosphere has positive influences. Wonder how it'll be when we're losing.

---

It's so easy to say good things about the manager when things are going your way and going well. Interested to see what Matic may say during the early season (easy now because he's back to being given plenty of games), or even what Gomes may want to say. And didn't Fred say something bad about Ole last season when he was being basically "outcasted" around Jan to March ?

Remember that there are other bad apples eg. Lukaku and Sanchez that said bad things about Ole. And I still remember the players under LVG and Mou said basically good things about them, in the press, except for the hidden-identity "backdoor" revealing to the press or "backstabbing" behaviors eg. Matic or Valencia liking certain posts against their managers at that time.

Saying bad things about current manager in press/interviews is irrational. But likely to happen when a player is having problems with the manager, ambitious player in a team that is not doing well, or the player is either the honest type or problematic type.


EDIT: :nervous: Apologies if those ^ sounds like downers but I just don't see the need to get way too excited about what our players say about Ole during this time.
Agree. Rational and good post overall. Players should and are supposed to talk well about their manager in the press anyway regardless of the team situation doing well or not. I will find it pretty hard to respect any player who goes on attacking his manager in public anyway and there's no one who's that stupid I guess.
 

RUCK4444

New Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2015
Messages
9,553
Location
$¥$¥$¥$¥$
Nothing but positives to take from those comments. There will be posters (and are already are in the above posts) who will shoot it down as nothing to write home about, but regardless of what your opinion on the player comments it's clear to see that the whole squad back him and believe in him.

It can't be understated how important it is that the squad buy into the managers vision and style of play. If they don't believe in what he is trying to achieve then it will fall apart, as we've seen under previous managers post SAF.
 

Dve

Full Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2019
Messages
2,898
What are the common things here?

1. They are current players still with the first team squad generally, few are youth that are around the first team.

2. Most of 'em are not the players that dare to say bad things openly about their managers and club. Eg. Shaw similarly said good things about Mou, as does Bailly and De Gea.

3. Most of 'em are regulars, given plenty of games and chances.The few are either youth eg. Chong who is still given more than others chances, or injuries yet still within perceived manager's plan eg. Axel and TFM.

4. Generally this is around our most latest run of great form. So the atmosphere has positive influences. Wonder how it'll be when we're losing.

---

It's so easy to say good things about the manager when things are going your way and going well. Interested to see what Matic may say during the early season (easy now because he's back to being given plenty of games), or even what Gomes may want to say. And didn't Fred say something bad about Ole last season when he was being basically "outcasted" around Jan to March ?

Remember that there are other bad apples eg. Lukaku and Sanchez that said bad things about Ole. And I still remember the players under LVG and Mou said basically good things about them, in the press, except for the hidden-identity "backdoor" revealing to the press or "backstabbing" behaviors eg. Matic or Valencia liking certain posts against their managers at that time.

Saying bad things about current manager in press/interviews is irrational. But likely to happen when a player is having problems with the manager, ambitious player in a team that is not doing well, or the player is either the honest type or problematic type.


EDIT: :nervous: Apologies if those ^ sounds like downers but I just don't see the need to get way too excited about what our players say about Ole during this time.
A couple of the quotes are from late last year (Rashford, De Gea), when United indeed were struggling. Fred did not say anything bad about Ole (actually in the contrary, but he criticised the other players (clicks inside the squad, too many dandies). He shouldn´t have. Where are your quotes of Sanchez saying bad things about Ole? I will give you Lukaku, although he hasn´t criticise Ole directly, more indirectly by describing Conte as someone who "really knows how to motivate" (meaning: letting him play).

But congratulations on being able to make something negative out of it. Must have been hard.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

New Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2018
Messages
13,127
Supports
Erik ten Hag
If player can make improvement, why can't manager? This is not something you are getting excited now because if you can actually knew, the sign positive was already growing since the Liverpool game in Old Trafford.
 

Dve

Full Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2019
Messages
2,898
No need to take it like that, it's supposed to be a discussion innit.
Yes, but when people start making things up, I can´t help the feeling they are negative just for the sake of it.
 
Last edited:

BestRed

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jun 19, 2019
Messages
354
Great to see this unity & respect between the squad and manager now. It will go a long way to getting us back up where we want to be. Seems night & day to where we were prior to Ole getting the job.
 

romufc

Full Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2019
Messages
12,555
It's so easy to say good things about the manager when things are going your way and going well.
Are they? We are 5th in the league.

By the looks of it, seems like the players have noticed an improvement in Ole as a coach. We all know Ole is a good man manager, that was never in question. The thing that we have to look at is his tactics in game.
 

Pavl3n

Full Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2015
Messages
1,899
Agree. Rational and good post overall. Players should and are supposed to talk well about their manager in the press anyway regardless of the team situation doing well or not. I will find it pretty hard to respect any player who goes on attacking his manager in public anyway and there's no one who's that stupid I guess.
Erm... Pogba suggesting we should play attacking football?
I know it was Mou, everything was so toxic and we all thought as Pogba did. But there are the cases even at our club.
 

Tom Cato

Godt nyttår!
Joined
Jan 3, 2019
Messages
7,565
Not sure about Sanchez, but I seem to recall Lukaku having good things to say about Ole. And I'm pretty sure that McTominay quote came from a few months back, during a very dire run of form for the team. I'm not completely sold on Ole as the coach to lead us to glory, but I'm fairly certain that he has the strong backing of the squad, and after Mourinho, that is no small thing.
Lukaku went out of his way to praise Ole in an interview from his home in Italy a few weeks ago for the way he handled his wish to leave. Said he had his eternal respect for the way he was treated.

I think the important thing to take away from this is the apparent praise of the man management skills. There's standard quotes as "we fully back the manager. We have a plan". Another is to give concrete examples of what he actually DOES 1 on 1. That is honest praise, not camera fodder.
 

Tom Cato

Godt nyttår!
Joined
Jan 3, 2019
Messages
7,565
What are the common things here?

1. They are current players still with the first team squad generally, few are youth that are around the first team.

2. Most of 'em are not the players that dare to say bad things openly about their managers and club. Eg. Shaw similarly said good things about Mou, as does Bailly and De Gea.

3. Most of 'em are regulars, given plenty of games and chances.The few are either youth eg. Chong who is still given more than others chances, or injuries yet still within perceived manager's plan eg. Axel and TFM.

4. Generally this is around our most latest run of great form. So the atmosphere has positive influences. Wonder how it'll be when we're losing.

---

It's so easy to say good things about the manager when things are going your way and going well. Interested to see what Matic may say during the early season (easy now because he's back to being given plenty of games), or even what Gomes may want to say. And didn't Fred say something bad about Ole last season when he was being basically "outcasted" around Jan to March ?

Remember that there are other bad apples eg. Lukaku and Sanchez that said bad things about Ole. And I still remember the players under LVG and Mou said basically good things about them, in the press, except for the hidden-identity "backdoor" revealing to the press or "backstabbing" behaviors eg. Matic or Valencia liking certain posts against their managers at that time.

Saying bad things about current manager in press/interviews is irrational. But likely to happen when a player is having problems with the manager, ambitious player in a team that is not doing well, or the player is either the honest type or problematic type.


EDIT: :nervous: Apologies if those ^ sounds like downers but I just don't see the need to get way too excited about what our players say about Ole during this time.

I'll happily reply to this. In my own words.


What are the common things here?

1. They are current players still with the first team squad generally, many are youth that are around the first team. Brandon Williams, Marcus Rashford, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Daniel James, Tahit Chong, Scott McTominay, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Axel Tuanzebe are all developing talent currently part of the Manchester United squad. The only youth players that have seen first team action this season I have not seen a quote from is Angel Gomes and James Garner who both play for the U23 team day to day with the occasional callup.

2. Football players don't say bad things about their managers, period. You have to look at what's actually being said if you want to discount the actual relationship between boss and player. You see several players here going out of their way to describe actual events and examples of what OGS actually do individually. These aren't empty platitudes. They did not need to go beyond the "we believe in the manager" schtick if they did not have a solid relationship. The key common factor here is that several players note how Ole talks to them individually. Under Van Gaal, you barely had anyone who actually spoke to the manager, the dynamics are completely different. Shaw has said solid praise about Mourinho after he was fired as well. Believe it or not, Jose actually has a record of inspiring some pretty loyal followers from his managerial career. Hell, Marco Materazzi is filmed CRYING on Joses chest when he left Inter.

3. There are extremly few players in Manchester United's first team squad that do NOT see regular minutes. From what I can recall, I have not seen any bad press from Lee Grant yet. Nearly every single player in Manchester United have seen regular playtime this season out of players around the frist team sphere.

4. Several of these quotes are from the bad run. Scott Mctominay went out in December 2019 to urge the board to keep Soskjær on the job. Citing that a combined player group "Love Solskjær" and urge the board to show patience.
 

el3mel

Full Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2016
Messages
43,735
Location
Egypt
Erm... Pogba suggesting we should play attacking football?
I know it was Mou, everything was so toxic and we all thought as Pogba did. But there are the cases even at our club.
Well I hardly like Pogba myself anyway. IMO Players should always support the manager in the media even if we're in our worst period and even if the manager deserves to go.