What went wrong this year for Ole?

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Chairman Steve

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It’s damning if he refused to take on alternative coaching staff. If he’s not a coach himself then he’s somewhat handicapped himself and now has to find a really good coach to offset that. He needed a Carlos Queiroz type coach to get better.

An aged Phelan, A rookie Carrick and a McKenna whose experience has come at youth level is a hell of a gamble.

It also shows that our hierarchy are aware of these problems and possibly know we’re heavily reliant on individual brilliance. Hopefully they know that we need to appoint someone who is a very strong coaching manager.
 

Enigma_87

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He's just a crap manager. We don't really need to over complicate things.

Ever since he took over the plan was based on individual effort and hit and hope. We have the players to make a difference and sometimes in happens, sometimes it doesn't. We have been rudderless ever since he took over as permanent manager.

As it is already mentioned many times - he lacks coaching basics. No specific patterns of play, no particular plan or idea or plan B. He rotates formations to the same effect and can't really set on a specific gameplan.

Our lack of consistency and streaky form is a testament of exactly the same kick and run approach that is entirely based on a team that is devoid of particular plan on how to break teams down or to strike fear in the opposition.

Even when we were grinding results our game wasn't really convincing and the writing was always on the wall. Bruno is the main reason he stayed so long at the job and papered over the cracks, alongside with lack of consistency from some of our rivals.

Our recruitment policy continued in the same as before - chasing names, this time getting some of our first choices but then Ole didn't know how to use them.

Complete oversight in terms of taking care of the midfield issue - when Matic is starting at this age you have a big problem.

He was running players to the ground, overplaying them which results in them being jaded, out of form or injured or even playing through injuries, especially seen this season.

Generally surviving that long being so out of your depth is unreal and won't be rivaled anytime soon at a top club.
 

Oranges038

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You absolutely love him to the point he can do something with your friends or family and he would still be loved more with no problems.

The only thing that changed from last year and its not his fault.

How cute :lol:

Not a single bit of proof back, just signs, moans and orgasmic noises
Don't love him that much. I wouldn't mind if he wanted to have a go on the wife so long as he'd didn't mind me coming in on him from behind.

I think it's very baseless to say it's all Ronaldo's fault this season hasn't worked out. He's been one of the better players, sprints and runs more than guys nearly half his age.

You want to look for players that are the problem then I'd say he's well down the list behind the likes of Maguire, Shaw, AWB, McT, Fred, Rashford, Bruno etc.
 

Lentwood

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It's no great mystery - coaching progressive football is one of the most difficult tasks in the game, and is why the likes of Pep, Klopp and Tuchel have the top jobs.

Ole was frankly absolutely out of his depth, when it came to actually trying to set the team up in a more aggressive, front-foot system. The evidence was there with the 1-6 hammering by Tottenham at OT last season, which was the first time we tried it and at that point, it was quickly abandoned.

I think Ole thought it was as simple as just getting a quicker CB to partner Maguire and that Varane would instantly fix all the issues, but clearly that wasn't ever likely to be the case.

Of course, when you take a couple of hammerings and/or the players aren't comfortable in the system, their confidence in themselves, their teammates and the coaches evaporates, and you are left with results that are progressively worse
 

Idxomer

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A few things that stick out to me:

- I wonder what things would look like if we stuck to original transfer plans and bought the Defensive Midfielder we so obviously needed, rather than Ronaldo
- Arguably our 3 best players last season in Maguire, Shaw and Bruno have been absolutely rotten. Bruno seems hellbent on breaking all team structure and popping up in a centre forward's position - meaning there's a huge gap between midfield and attack. This is something Ole didn't fix for some reason
- Reluctance to use full squad when first team players weren't justifying a starting position (Maguire, Shaw, Fred, McTominay etc) when you have fine backups in VDB, Telles, Lingard...
- Moving away from counter attack / fast paced approach and not having an idea on how to control games. Especially in big games. I was pulling my hair out at seeing the lineup vs City - Ronaldo and Greenwood up top who simply aren't going to press, run the channels and play on counter. Couldn't get my head around it when Ole had so much success against Pep with players like James, Lingard, Rashford all playing fast and direct.
There was no plan to buy a defensive midfielder.

All the talk from credible sources was that our transfer activity was done after Sancho and Varane. There was only the possibility of getting Trippier if he were available on the cheap.
 

BigRon1985

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I never thought the day would come when he finally ran out of rabbits to pull out of a hat.....
 

Bebestation

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Don't love him that much. I wouldn't mind if he wanted to have a go on the wife so long as he'd didn't mind me coming in on him from behind.

I think it's very baseless to say it's all Ronaldo's fault this season hasn't worked out. He's been one of the better players, sprints and runs more than guys nearly half his age.

You want to look for players that are the problem then I'd say he's well down the list behind the likes of Maguire, Shaw, AWB, McT, Fred, Rashford, Bruno etc.
:lol:
 

KeanoMagicHat

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There was no plan to buy a defensive midfielder.

All the talk from credible sources was that our transfer activity was done after Sancho and Varane. There was only the possibility of getting Trippier if he were available on the cheap.
This was always strange to me because a good DM is arguably more important in the modern game defensively than the centre backs. I think Ole thought that Varane would solve everything but look at Liverpool for example last season with Fabinho/Henderson DM vs Fabinho CB or injured. Fabinho on form at DM even made Williams and Phillips look alright at the end of the season. Liverpool without Fabinho were conceding like we did.
 

MuFc_1992

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One angle that has not been covered is the psychological impact of not being good enough to challenge for the title and finishing distant second last season. I feel the same thing happened in Mourhino's last season because when you're playing for Man United, finishing second isn't considered an achievement and there is an expectation that you should be challenging for titles but the gap in quality between other top teams and us is so big that it must be really demotivating for the players and they must feel like the only way is down after last season.
 

devilish

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To answer this question you need to analyze the entire journey.

Mou's last few months were horrible. He felt isolated having lost Faria, the board didn't back him, Mou's defensive tactics felt tired and outdated, he felt hated by his squad and the feeling was largely mutual. Ole came in as temp with the sole aim of bringing a smile back to our faces and his tactics showed that. We played attacking football with no thoughts of what happens next. The players loved it, the fans adored it and everyone liked seeing Mourinho, now a pundit, squirming uncomfortable on live TV. On top of that it threw other clubs in disarray. Many expected United to remain this defensive minded team which Mou built his team around. Ole released the hounds and took these teams by surprise.

The club gave Ole the permanent job which changed the dynamics of things.

A- Ole could now hire and fire people. Would he stick to the coaches he had, the same people who probably suggested his name as temporary manager or would he bring much needed experience into the coaching staff?

B- He could buy and sell players

C- For the first time since he was a player Ole had something to lose ie his job.

On top of that teams were starting to adapt to our gung-ho way of playing football

Ole took the following decisions

A- He stuck to a mix of his own Molde/Cardiff people, ex players and promising youth coaches. To compensate to such lack of experience he hired Phelan.
B- He strengthened the back by buying two EPL proven players.
C- He reverted to a more conservative system

That didn't had the effects desired. Our team looked tactically naïve compared to the other top clubs. The signings made while incredibly expensive were largely unsuited for a top side who is forced to play with a high line and United lacked the top players needed to sustain that system. Ole was in trouble throughout the early months of 2019. In late December of that year we were 5th place, 10 points behind City, 4 points behind Chelsea, just 1 point ahead of Spurs and Wolves and 24 points away from Liverpool. In comes Bruno and he bailed Ole out. United ended 3rd with 66 points.

The season an unlikely ally came in ie the board. The fans rallied around Ole as the club's reluctance to buy Sancho was interpreted as the board setting Ole to fail. This + the pandemic helped Ole a great deal. Football was played behind close doors which means that pressure to play the 'United way' was non existent and the team was able to do fairly well against smaller sides. However the cracks were already showing up in around late April early May. We drew against Leeds, we lost against Leicester and Liverpool, we drew against Fulham and we fecked the final. Ole's lack of tactics and coaching was evident as he kept relying on a small pool of players (fewer players = less need to change tactics and less need to drill players so they adapt to other teammates strengths/weaknesses)

At this point it was evident that Ole needed to change his tactics as the team was becoming predictable. Luckily for him the club was ready to open its purses again. Varane was meant to seal an eternal problem at the back which Ole failed to seal despite already spending 140m there, Sancho should have added much needed width on the right while Ronaldo was the god of individual brilliance, something Ole relied heavily upon. Ole was able to persuade many players at the fringes of the team (Lingard, VDB, Bailly, Mata etc) to remain at the club, promising them game time. That was done because his lack of tactics acumen meant that he needed experience in every position so they could step in in case a top player gets injured. What Ole underestimated was

A- Top players demands the best personnel around them especially if they are at the wrong side of their career. These sort of players would want to win as much as possible in a limited timeframe and they want to be managed correctly to avoid long term injuries that could ruin their football career + possibly their standard of living afterwards. Ole's talk of progress and his obsession in running his players to the ground probably didn't go well with these sort of players.

B- A player's career is short, they don't want to spend most of it on the bench and they absolutely hate being lied to. Ole started losing the dressing room as soon as it became evident that Bailly, Jesse, Sancho and VDB had no space in Ole's team.

C- Players hate toxicity. They hate being criticized in public, something Ole's mates in the media were doing on a regular basis in a very biased way (its always the players fault not the manager). At one point the situation became so ridiculous that club legends started bashing other club legends. The Robson vs Keane bash would be hilarious if only we supported a club that is not Manchester United.

D- Complex tactics require
- top tactical people
- good coaches to drill such tactics to perfection
- time.

United lacked all three.

The last month or so was a parody, with the manager suddenly switching tactics, training Sancho to become a wingback only for Ole to go AWOL to Norway in the middle of a crisis. The rest is known and is now history
 

Idxomer

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This was always strange to me because a good DM is arguably more important in the modern game defensively than the centre backs. I think Ole thought that Varane would solve everything but look at Liverpool for example last season with Fabinho/Henderson DM vs Fabinho CB or injured. Fabinho on form at DM even made Williams and Phillips look alright at the end of the season. Liverpool without Fabinho were conceding like we did.
I agree with that. I would have sacrificed Sancho who I rate highly for a good DM.

The central midfield is the one area Ole has neglected for three years, he brought players in every other position except there. People will say he bought VDB but he was talked about as Bruno's backup more than anything else.
 

Bebestation

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This was always strange to me because a good DM is arguably more important in the modern game defensively than the centre backs. I think Ole thought that Varane would solve everything but look at Liverpool for example last season with Fabinho/Henderson DM vs Fabinho CB or injured. Fabinho on form at DM even made Williams and Phillips look alright at the end of the season. Liverpool without Fabinho were conceding like we did.
For me he did want a CDM. But he wanted Rice who was not only expensive but arguably when Lingard didn't want to move to West Ham - it made the whole transfer even harder.
 

Ikon

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His insitance of a midfield 2 and 424 when we really, really do not have the players for it.
This^
I said on here at the beginning of the season that failing to address the MF would likely cost Solskjaer his job, and I got shouted down for it.
But here we are, and I'm not gloating..!!

Solskajer just wouldn't even acknowledge there was a problem, let alone develop a plan to fix it.
Even now, I heard him say that he played too attacking and he should have been more cautious....WTF...?!?

I've also heard that he point blank refused help, and wouldn't consider new coaches or ideas, because his coaching team were "World Class"......!!
 

dal

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VDB, Ronaldo, midfielder.

We were not that far away and still aren’t. If a player doesn’t work hard then they don’t play I think .
 

Drainy

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The same way we all lost faith in his decision making in the Europa league final to varying degrees, the players would have too.

Plus so many players losing form and keeping their places. It disrupted the team spirit.

Also no plans for the press with Ronaldo up front.
 

NewUser777

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It might be easy for some on here to point the finger. But I think it is very hard. Our players didn’t preform, that is the cold hard truth. It’s not easy to explain why we go from top premier league defensive stats to the worst etc. So slow, so little intensity and so many personal mistakes. Ole had the responsibility, but I don’t think it is a quick fix.
 

GlasgowCeltic

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One angle that has not been covered is the psychological impact of not being good enough to challenge for the title and finishing distant second last season. I feel the same thing happened in Mourhino's last season because when you're playing for Man United, finishing second isn't considered an achievement and there is an expectation that you should be challenging for titles but the gap in quality between other top teams and us is so big that it must be really demotivating for the players and they must feel like the only way is down after last season.
i think the players (pre Ronaldo and Varane) and especially the manager were quite comfortable in that space, progress but not enough to ever expect to compete, intangible targets, happy to accept the underdog role at all times. The performances collapsed last season at the mention of a title race, and then collapsed again when Ronaldo raised expectations sky high... and the EL final performance was shocking.
 

Roane

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It might be easy for some on here to point the finger. But I think it is very hard. Our players didn’t preform, that is the cold hard truth. It’s not easy to explain why we go from top premier league defensive stats to the worst etc. So slow, so little intensity and so many personal mistakes. Ole had the responsibility, but I don’t think it is a quick fix.
Don't you feel/think Ole is part off the problem with that? I do agree with you the players (and coaching staff) didn't perform.

After listening to Oles farewell interview, I was initially emotional but after thinking about it, I just felt he was the problem for being a nice guy and friend to all. His "friends" then took liberties. He is so full of praise for them yet it's not clear why? The players weren't performing and the staff weren't changing anything.

Ole is a legend but after that interview, and based on my own experiences, he is a guy who would be great to work for as he isn't going to pressure you, but I'd hate for him to be managing my company.
 

KingCavani

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Some of the stuff coming out now (as it always does when we sack a manager) is just brutal. Ole delegating everything, doing very little work with the team to the point where players actually wondered what he was doing.

The players felt the training and preparation was very basic and very "British" - It is just laughable to compare this setup to our rivals and it's astounding how this wasn't obvious to our fans earlier. Did people really think the staff that relegated Cardiff + Carrick/McKenna would compete with the likes of Pep and Klopp? Do people just think that stuff isn't important? Genuinely embarrassing for a club this size.

Unsurprisingly it seems he alienated much of the squad with his loyalty to underperforming players. I imagine Bailly, Telles and Donny were just furious watching the three players ahead of them falter every week. It was ironic that VDB get the goal that nearly saved him because lord knows it was his own favourites who sank him. Maguire and Shaw have been as bad as any player in the league in their position. They couldn't get dropped if they tried.

The squad is far too bloated though and has been overdue a purge for a long time. This is where I think him being too nice came into it, apparently he was getting club lawyers to contact players instructing them to get surgery because he wasn't up to it. If that's how he is with that then you can just tell he wasn't calling them into his office to tell them they're not wanted. We need someone utterly ruthless to get some of this trash out the door regardless of what we get for them.

Ultimately a lot of things went wrong but it all comes back to the simple fact that was way, way in over his head and should never even have been considered for the permanent job.
 

MuFc_1992

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i think the players (pre Ronaldo and Varane) and especially the manager were quite comfortable in that space, progress but not enough to ever expect to compete, intangible targets, happy to accept the underdog role at all times. The performances collapsed last season at the mention of a title race, and then collapsed again when Ronaldo raised expectations sky high... and the EL final performance was shocking.
But how can the rest of the players motivate themselves when the best they could've done was already done last season? I think the same thing also happened after Spurs reached CL final under Poch and feel like this is a recurring phenomenon in football but hardly gets talked about. Another example I can think of is Liverpool under Rodgers after the Slippy G season.
 

Mick1

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First off, after reading my previous post, it might seem
I think Ronaldo did some pressing. The press was just not organised, which is on Ole.



This is a very good point I hadn’t thought of.
" Some " pressing is not enough when you re speaking about the top level of world football, where margins are Lazer thin.

My post sounded too much like a CR7 criticism, which it wasn't meant to be. He s still one of the most productive players in world football but stats don't lie, he runs half as much as other players in his position. No one in Europe except Messi even compares, outrunning the 2 by at least 2 miles per game.

Now that is not much of a problem when your team is dominant enough to minimize the defensive actions needed per game, the amount of pitch length transitions, sustained defensive periods and maximise your time on the ball and your time camped in the opposition half.

We are not that team. The team runs around a lot, and whilst the press might not be the most organized, we did very well against big teams in seasons gone by because we could press them out ( how much better we did With Cavani in for Martial is a case in point, Martial is better in the build up but Cavani s front foot defending eases pressure on our defense. Martial and Lukaku have been hammered for not covering enough grounds defensively, and rightly so, but both outrun Ronaldo by about 4 kilometers a game, nearly twice as much.

Now running stats, in isolation, are useless. But fact is this season we have been the worst in the league and Ronaldo is the primary reason for this. The team has to cover about 4 more kilometers a game due to one player. For context Lingard outruns Martial by about 0.8 kms per 90. That means asking about 5 players to cover 1 more km per game, every game( considering defenders and the goalkeeper should not run around more). That s a 10% increase per player. You ask the likes of Pogba, Greenwood, Rashford, Martial, and, most crucially of all, your 2 central midfielders to just about double their efforts in terms of pressing and covering ground both in defense and in offense, and you are asking for trouble.

This is why McFred is more important than ever in this formation. They cover the most ground out of any of our Cms and they are being asked to cover even more. No wonder we can't get a foothold in the game.

We use runners instead of passers in midfield to compensate, and even then those runners are outstretched and more prone to mistakes.

The team was barely finding an identity in the last 2 years. We are not at a place where we can instantly become prime Barcelona and suffocate premiership teams. City are closer to that in terms of style of play, so are Bayern and PSG in terms of dominance. Juventus aren't and they crumbled.

We aren't and we will too.

That aside I love CR7, I'm glad he came back but he needs better management and more bench time, not more pressing time.
He is a weapon, and should be used as such. But also he needs to realize that there is a sacrifice to be made : If he wishes to win anything of nite, he can't start every game against opposition where the margins are so tight that the aforementioned few kilometers are an absolute handicap
 
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The signs were there throughout his reign. Every seasons there’s been bad form that’s sees him “one match away from getting sacked” but then we go on a run.. people then look at results act like performances don’t matter or give an indication of the future. When the few came on and say “yes we beat relegation battling team 3-2, but we got outplayed and this is a pattern that is not going to lead to success, we can’t rely on penalties or freakish individual moments from the same one or two players to keep saving us” we get ridiculed and called ‘Ole haters’

Remember also from the first summer there was also leaks about players feeling the training and coaching was not up to standard.
 

MattyLT

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His downfall is imo mainly down to what's been happening (or not happening) on the training ground on a daily basis since the very beginning. This thing never felt sustainable to me. During his entire reign, it's been my feeling that the team was running on strength of will and belief. Those are good things, vital things, and credit to him for instilling that for as long as he did.

But those things can only get you so far, and when watching United for these last three years, I've never felt like the team really controlled anything on the pitch. The closest they got to that was when playing counter-attacking football. At times, that did feel like United were controlling games (out of possession), but it was always a now-and-again thing.

The minute they've tried to do anything more expansive than that, the gaps and distances between lines have been clear for all to see, and it always felt like even mediocre opposition could carve through this team like a hot knife through butter. Also, there's been a sustained impression of mine that the team have lacked ideas going forward in possession.

This is all down to coaching. I don't believe for a second that Ole and his staff haven't been able to spot these problems like the rest of us, but they haven't been able to drill anything successfully on the training pitch over time. And that's what it comes down to in my eyes. One thing is knowing what needs to be done, which I have no doubt the entire staff know better than any of us commenting here. But another thing entirely is knowing how to coach these things day in and day out, and actually get to where you know you have to be.

I wanted him to succeed. He's a good bloke, and I was never in doubt that this was all about the club for him all along. But sadly, he made a monumental error in going for an inexperienced coaching team as an inexperienced manager himself (at this level).

Best of luck to him.
 

NewUser777

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Don't you feel/think Ole is part off the problem with that? I do agree with you the players (and coaching staff) didn't perform.

After listening to Oles farewell interview, I was initially emotional but after thinking about it, I just felt he was the problem for being a nice guy and friend to all. His "friends" then took liberties. He is so full of praise for them yet it's not clear why? The players weren't performing and the staff weren't changing anything.

Ole is a legend but after that interview, and based on my own experiences, he is a guy who would be great to work for as he isn't going to pressure you, but I'd hate for him to be managing my company.
Of course he is part of it. It’s his job to do something about it. Still a bit easy explanation for how bad we have played.
 

AFC NimbleThumb

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You absolutely love him to the point he can do something with your friends or family and he would still be loved more with no problems.

The only thing that changed from last year and its not his fault.

How cute :lol:

Not a single bit of proof back, just signs, moans and orgasmic noises
I’ve not stated my opinion on Ronaldo lad, go on ask me my view because it won’t be what you’d hoped.

Your ridiculous wall of text blaming Ronaldo for OgSs failure was ‘sigh’ worthy. Remind me what role Ronaldo played in the way we buckled under pressure last season?

Ronaldo can be a panic buy & OgS can be a poor manager, the 2 aren’t mutually exclusive. I don’t have to be in love with Ronaldo to understand his signing isn’t ‘the’ issue. Is it an issue? Yes probably but we weren’t successful at any point under OgS so your claim is quite simply, dumb.

Back to last year, did we not lose 4-1 to Liverpool? How about that performance against Leicester in the FA Cup? Ronaldo was the reason we couldn’t break down low block sides?

We can look at the whole OgS reign & see ‘proof’ that he’s a serial loser who relied on massive penalty luck & individual performances. In fact, as Ronaldo draws your ire, who saved OgSs job multiple times this season?

The infantile; ‘you love Ronaldo blah blah’ can’t fly here. The ‘proof’ is in the pudding & OgS spun the tires on an expensive car for 3 years.
 

Adisa

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I will try to be as articulate as possible.
What went wrong this year? The short answer is nothing. What was wrong is something that has never been right since Ole took over. The team has no tactical identity. We have no philosophy, no way of playing.
Look at Chelsea, Liverpool City...you have a rough idea of how they are going to set up on any given day. It might not work but the attempt is there. Those teams have been working towards a tactical blueprint from the first moment their coaches arrived. We never had a blueprint.
Why did it go tits up this year?
Again, nothing went tits up. The form we have shown in the last few months is not new. We have had several stretches where we win about one every 3/4 games. Our current record was nothing new under Ole. What was different this year was the expectation.
Our previous numerous bad patches were often attributed to the team lacking "this of that". That excuse shielded the coach and players from scrutiny and the toxicity that follows.
This year, there was none of that. Manchester United were expected to have arrived. The team looked stacked with talent and was expected to challenge. The shield from scrutiny evaporated and the coach and players fell apart under the expectation. The worsening confidence brought worsening performances and produced a vicious cycle.
I repeat, what was wrong with Solskjaer's team this season was never right in the first place.
 

RuudTom83

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Since SAF retired the mental strength of the various squads has always been questionable...they just seem to fold under the pressure of playing for Manchester United.

Adding Ronaldo into the mix this season increased the media circus around the club tenfold and the increased scrutiny and then criticism was too much for them to cope with.

Plus having crowds back, meant the now trademarked going 2-0 behind before they start trying tactic no longer works with the away fans cheering them on.
 

lex talionis

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Ole ran his top players into the ground, he foolishly relied on McFred, and he believed in individual greatness over tactical cohesion.

Ole’s hands came off the wheel last season, but club management allowed themselves to be deluded into thinking he was still the right man for the job this season.
 

Rajma

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I’m still surprised that in his relatively young age (in the coaching world) he tried replicating final years SAF where he would fully delegate the training sessions to other first team coaches. I mean at that age you have to have fire in your eyes as you try to implement your ides through a hands-on approach. I’m still not sure if it was just laziness or incredible complacency? What was it all about? Truly mind boggling stuff for me to comprehend.
 

GazTheLegend

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https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/man-united-news-solskjaer-sacked-21959851

New article by Luckhurst.

I can't remember the cafs opinion on Luckhurst but it seems that now the cats away the mice shall play. It's all coming out. Some interesting insights but nothing that anybody familiar with the zeitgeist here would be necessarily -surprised- by, but it would be interesting to hear guesses as to who the Manchester United player is that was "made to look like shit" by someone next to them, and interesting that they weren't happy with the Henderson / de Gea resolution (or lack thereof, it was 'solved' when Henderson got covid, but given how poor de Gea has been in some games you have to wonder if that was really solved to our benefit).
 

Livewire1974

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Ronaldo and the epic declines of Maguire and Shaw.

Its also been obvious that we need some kind of defensive coach.
 

Gilad

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The stats speak for themselves. The number of goals scored against us shows that Harry should not be captain and is not the person to hang the clubs hopes on. You simply cannot be that slow in the Premier League. It's as simple as that. A master and commander is needed in one of the centre back rolls and we simply don't have that defender at this moment in time. I understood why Harry was purchased. A shocking situation was improved upon but in no way whatsoever was he worth what was paid. Harry is not able to galvanize and motivate the players during crisis moments in the game and so the captaincy should be stripped from him. He's a nice guy but England, nor any club that is looking to reach the top 4, will not make it happen with this level of ability. It's all about the milliseconds and if you are slow to turn up, you get shown up. Also, the defenders in general have a problem of being attracted to the ball and we often see 3 defenders trying to shut down a single opposition player, leaving wide space, unmarked players and too much time on the ball for the opposition as a result. Ole, unfortunately, does not understand the finer points on defending.
 
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Djemba-Djemba

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Before Ronaldo arrived this season we had already put in two absolute dogshit displays away to Southampton and Wolves.

We should have lost both games comfortably, the writing was the wall there. Something had already gone wrong.

Its way too easy, and wrong, to just blame Ronaldo.
 
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lex talionis

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We were poor at the end of last season, well before Ronaldo arrived.

But even if we were brilliant at the end of last season, thus leaving open the possibility that Ronaldo ruined the squad, we cannot blame Ronaldo for our poor defending.
 

shinpad

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Oct 25, 2021
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lets put an end to this Ronaldo rubbish after all Pep [one of the best managers going} wanted to sign him. you can't blame Ronaldo cause half the team is not up to it.
 

MancunianAngels

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14 years before he became manager, the Glazer family bought the club.

No manager (aside from Fergie) can succeed with them running things.
 
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