This guy
.Why so many knee-jerk reactions and negativity 7 games in?
- Thread starter UnitedSofa
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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It's not 7 games, we have watched 3 years of his reign and enough games this season to confidently conclude that - this shit ain't going anywhere good.
We only lost to Real because of a dumb referee who's still fondly remembered to this day. Ferguson had so much magic that comparing OGS to him should be a footballing crime.
It was a legit red card, Nani studded a guy while jumping. At the time Real were not one of the best teams.
I hope you’ll forgive my late reply to this, but I’ve taken time to really given it some thought and hopefully I can give a coherent response.
From when he was linked to the vacancy originally, I never really wanted Ole as manager, it seemed such a strange rushed appointment at the time, almost a rebound from Mourinho. I’m not sure I ever really considered him a legend either. He was a good player, and scored lots of goals - important goals too (I’ll never not get goosebumps for the ‘99 commentary) but he was never the star, hardly ever a starter and I just didn’t think he fitted the mould for that title, and if I’m honest knowing so little about him (I had no idea of his story with Molde) I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t just see out the season with a whimper and slope off back to Norway.
However, former players started coming out backing him, saying he was manager material, that he was tactically minded and could be harsh if necessary, that he wouldn’t stand any messing and would sort things out and steady the ship so I gave him a chance. By the time he was appointed full time because of his fantastic results I was fully onboard the Ole bandwagon much like everyone else on this forum. So many ‘give him the job’ posts. It was hard to argue against him tbh.
Since then I’ve seen him build the squad, replacing bad apples like Lukaku and Sanchez, championing young talents like Mason, and signing great talents like Bruno. He’s been pragmatic and measured waiting to sign players at a reasonable cost like with Sancho (and Bruno) and has stuck to his main targets but has been flexible enough to work with last minute impromptu signings like Ighalo and Cavani to the betterment of the team. I’ve seen him improve squad morale, and his man management has meant the likes of De Gea and Martial have U-turned and signed new contracts rather than pushing to leave. I’m hopeful Pogba will follow suit. The whole feel around the club has lifted and improved.
As for the football, I genuinely feel it’s more entertaining to watch this side than a Mourinho or LVG side. Think of the great nights we’ve enjoyed against PSG, Leipzig, and City. We were the first team to take points off the title winning Liverpool side. Ole has schooled Pep consistently in the derby. For all the negativity currently another result like that is just around the corner, at any time. I love the romance and excitement of that. That feeling had gone previously and Ole has given us it back. We can dream again. Just the fact that we expect to challenge is a testament to Oles vision and hard work.
I‘m not claiming everything is perfect, far from it - but you can see the progress under Ole. Our league position has improved season on season, we’ve come close in cups and made a European final. It’s not about Ole personally, nor is it blind loyalty because of his history as a player but the process he has put in place has built to this point and it feels like this season is a make or break, I feel he has to win a trophy this season. That said he should be given the whole season on the strength of last season and we can assess in May. Things are not dire, and whilst I don’t think the criticism is knee jerk I also don’t feel the need for all the negativity at this early stage of the season. There is still time to turn it around and have a very good season. For those reasons, and the fact that there doesn’t appear to be an obvious replacement who will take us to glory immediately I still believe Ole is the man for the job and that he will deliver the silverware this season.
I’m also loathed to see United become the sort of club that swap manager every 5 minutes and get stuck in a perpetual cycle of change, upheavals and rebuilding. I don’t believe this to be a viable way forward,
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It was not a red card. He jumped to control the ball in a very contentious 50/50 except unlike the usual 50/50s (that end up in reds) where a player clearly has vision of the opposing player charging in, there was no such vision to have a decision on whether or not to take the risk of a lunge.
And yes, Madrid were one of the best teams that year.
Red cards are given for dangerous plays, jumping, studs up is dangerous play. Deserved the red card, and referees at the time agreed with it.
Real madrid beat no top team and got beaten by Dortmund, they were not a top team.
It was not a straight red and would not be given as one today.
Real got to the semis and barely lost against Dortmund, so results and facts disagree with your opinion.
He would have gotten a straight red any time.
Real beat no top teams, they had an easy run until the semi's. They came 2nd in their group and were 15 points behind Barce in the league.
I think in classic Ole fashion, he will go into this run of game that everybody is worried about looking better and then feck it up against minnows. It seems to be the modus operandi of his management at United. He gets under pressure, there's a big run of games coming, he gets some key wins to get some pressure off him, then back to losing to teams they should be winning against.
Personally I have felt this way since he got appointed permanently so definitely not a kneejerk after these early games
The modern game has changed though. You can bring in the right manager and coaching team and win stuff right away. We don't need a rebuild now (thanks to Ole). With this squad and any decent manager we could challenge on all fronts immediately and then they could add a few of their own players in summer to bolster the squad when a few leave. Hell, get the right man in and a few that want out may just stay. Ole is done. He steadied the ship and now its time to step down.
As for legend status, I suspect a lot of fans don't even remember 1999 and will only remember Ole for this tenure. If he leaves now he can leave with some dignity. I really don't think this is going to be pretty from here on in. Most fans want him gone and have run out of patience. I think this team will implode with no direction.
Not this time. We've never been this disjointed and all over the place. The balance is terrible and despite the 3 signings we look a lot worse than last season.
The only way I see this happening is if we go back to 5 at the back for the next run of fixtures but that would mean dropping one or two of Sancho, Pogba, Bruno and Ronaldo and considering Ronaldo is Ronaldo and Sancho cost 70 mill it's gonna look really bad if he's dropped for the next 6 prem fixtures. Therefore I think he'll stick to his guns and he's gone by the Arsenal game. Not to mention Liverpool are on form and Atlanta are very strong and the prime example of a team we struggle to play against under Ole. Don't see him coming out of this one.
He will beat Liverpool convincingly and buy another 2 months of mediocrity with the fans and board. Liverpool will have a go and we will have them on the counter. It's Oles only tactic. It seems to work against City and PSG too.
I actually hope this doesnt happen as its another false dawn but I really think it will.
You know it's all slowly coming to an end when even @UnitedSofa is losing hope.
TBF to the poster - SAF didn't have the best time against Pep when they met. That being said, even if not straight away, he would of eventually figured it out and adapted to win over them both. His ability to adapt to the sport was probably his best asset.He won the fecking league in his last season
Hello Cunyt Cakir.
Exactly, PSG is in the same boat, unless teams are going after them, they look like they have no clue what to do together for the most part, and Pochettino is supposed to be a better manager. I think Ole will put a rabbit out of his ass on this run of games, and it will be to the dismay of many seeing all these threads but I don't see him gone by the Arsenal game like @thecliff said unless the fans keep getting louder and they won't with a good performance against Liverpool.
You're right, but this time around things are a bit different. We have both Ronaldo and Varane who won't be content just to challenge and they will let the board know about this. Also I imagine some of the teammates might share the sentiment as well. This might unfold a lot quicker than you think.
The only thing that would keep Ole in his job is a result both against Atalanta and Liverpool. And knowing Ole this is what I expect to happen. Pull a couple of victories and we are back on this merry go round again.
You haven't been paying attention to how we play this season, have you?
It is we who are vulnerable on the counter. Not just that. We are liable to concede from our own set-pieces!
We've kept only one clean sheet in the league all season, and I don't back us to keep one against a rampant Liverpool. If they score first, it's over for us, really.
My feeling since I saw this run of fixtures is this is the end for Solskjaer. Last season, we didn't really do well in the corresponding first set of fixtures, for one thing. It was obvious that teams had him figured out (we did much better in the previous season). For another thing, this run of difficult games extends all the way to round the end of November (I'd like to say excepting Watford, but we all know that's too much to ask for with this United side). That's a long, long run compared to all the others he's managed to come through unscathed. He will need to find consistency, which he's never shown an ability to.
And for another, if things snowball, there are players and personalities in the squad now that may kick up a fuss. I for one can't see Ronaldo stomaching mediocrity.
It's also telling that de Gea said a couple of weeks ago words to the effect that 'we have the team, we have the fans, now we have to win', conspicuously neglecting to mention the manager. And then Pogba coming out after the game last night talking about these problems being a constant theme the last couple of years. I'm thinking some of these players aren't onboard.
We could be 7th after today if Spurs win and Everton at least get a draw.
The furore for Oles head is entirely online. The fans in the stadium were singing his name after yesterday’s match. Olé is going nowhere.
The away fans left before the end which is unheard of.
I don't think so either, unless results completely collapse. However, as things stand now, that unfortunately seems like a possibility.
On the other hand, he's been up against it before and managed to find solutions. But there's no question a major adjustment of some sort is needed. The team as currently set up just does not function, and every game that passes without the solution being found will eat into their confidence in themselves and in the manager.
Great post. I believe the board has similar position on Ole.
A question that proves that under Ole we have become a EL/Top4 Strugglers side.
Because we are already 5 points behind the leader and only 1 point ahead of freaking Arteta if he wins on Monday.
That's why.
Because we are already 5 points behind the leader and only 1 point ahead of freaking Arteta if he wins on Monday.
That's why.
Leicester fans or Utd fans ?
For all those saying we are only 5 points away from the leaders, well we are closer to 14th place than 1st.
Are people really saying that?
We're also 11 games into the season now not 7/8. Can''t sweep the terrible performances against Young Boys and Villarreal under the carpet.
We have the same record 11 games in to Jose's record 11 games into his last half season by the way.
We have the same record 11 games in to Jose's record 11 games into his last half season by the way.
Yes, it's amazing what you'll find here.
11 games deserved to win 2 games. Leeds and Newcastle, let that sink in.
We been out done by every other team in we have played. So, i dont exactly get where people coming from with knee Jerk. Nothing I have seen shows me improvement or things will improve.
He needs to be sacked ASAP.
The last 20 games we have performed worse than what Mourinho did when he got sacked. 1.50 vs 1.45 points pr match.
It's not a knee-jerk when its so bad so far into a managers reign, especially taking into account the money spend and the absolute disorganized mess we see on the pitch.
It's not a knee-jerk when its so bad so far into a managers reign, especially taking into account the money spend and the absolute disorganized mess we see on the pitch.
We're within 1 win/3 points of the bottom half the table but don't worry we'll be clear when we smash Liverpool and City.
As a team we haven't progressed from the Jose era. Jose got more wins, points and trophies in his 2 full seasons then gave up due to his personality defects. Our team is one that struggles with the level of champions league competition still, but we have much better players. that is the progression. We have a far better squad
We are now behind Tottenham and Brighton and tied on points with Everton and West Ham. How many more games do we need then?
As a team we haven’t progressed but we have a better squad. Is that not a touch contradictory? We’re either better or we are not, and we are so that’s progress.
United have better players, that are worse at playing together as a team. That is not a contradiction, just a damning verdict on the coaching.