As Rob Schneider said in "waterboy": You can do it!
So toxicity is gone. Not all but I would say that there is good vibe. Surly frustrated by results but overall there is huge difference looking at last year. We know that we have difficulties winning against worse teams. That can be fixed by getting 2-3 players that can open up those teams. Looking at the bright side, what everyone loves to forget, is that we have been very good against top sides. That means that we have players that can play in certain way. Style. Tactic. Whatever people want to call it. If we can also get players that suits us playing lesser good teams we will suddenly improve as a team and normaly we will have more Points and advance in table.
We are still in hunt for the forth Place (and still in every competition). With couple of additions next month things will look little bit more bright. If we now go for players. I hope we will. At least a central midfielder and attacker.
Winning titles is a long term goal. And if we manage to win some titles this year I would be very happy. However, the club and the team are not ready if we are honest. We have big problems to fix and it can't be fixed overnight. And one year is short period fixing things in football. That is why I don't see that we should have a goal that is winning titles this year. This year should be year where we try to find our roots wich have been pulled from the ground systematicly from the moment Moyes took over to the Mourinho having small breakdown before last season. We are or at least have been broken force for a couple of years.
You are talking about 80s and football is different now. Playing for the badge is rare in football, while playing for € is more common. What you should be glad of is that Ole is trying to balance that. If you don't want to be here in the club, if you don't want to accept and be in the system then you are off. No matter what "name" you are. I hope that he keeps going the same way in the future. There are players who should be gone. If it is because of quality or attitude don't matter. But that takes time. You can't change whole team in one summer. It costs. Not just in money but as a group and a team.
Is Solskjaer manager that will take us to the glory days? I don't know. Time will tell. What I see is that he is doing things right. And as I have said milion times. Things takes time. Lets pretend new manager comes in tommorow. You couldn't say to him "go now and win it all". Because there is not quality enough. Even a new manager would need couple of years.
All these points seem to me that he doesn't know how to open up " lesser " teams with the players we have, right?
So we have some of the youngest, brightest, quickest players in Europe and
they can't open them up?
We have had the same struggles for the last few years correct?
So he has been here for a year and I will ask you again, what improvements have you seen by him? Surely you don't believe that just getting rid of deadwood and bringing in youth is the way forward for this mighty club? You even say yourself that we need more players, I agree wholeheartedly, we do need some new players but the players we may or may not get will surely look at Ole's tactical mindset and ask, " what's the alternative when teams sit back and defend?" They need a manager/coach who can adapt his game plans accordingly and I have failed to see any diversion of footballing tactics with Ole.
If we don't go and score in the first 20-25 min's of sustained attack, then we lose, simple as that. He doesn't have a clue about how to dovetail and create space for the squad to attack. Our midfield don't drive at the oppo's anywhere near as much as the top teams which would create a stronger, more forceful unit. He has them standing still, waiting for the ball and hoping the attackers will get forward. Surely he knows that in training, he can implement drills which will get the mid attacking and having the strikers running across the back line and pass into the space where the attackers can collect and attack?
He is inept.