Yet another Tactical Masterclass from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Whoop whoop!

[GameOn]

Can you tell me when he hasn't done this?
Surely you admit that our team is now fundamentally different in terms of personnel, capability and tactical prowess since January 2020?
Because since March, we have been the most consistent team in the Premier League.

The start of this PL season really hasn't been anything special.

Lost to Palace, should've lost to Brighton, got annihilated by Tottenham, played a really dire game against Chelsea etc.

I will give him the benefit of the doubt right now (short preseason etc.), but let's not act like this place has been really optimistic up until the PSG game.

 

[sammsky1]

The start of this PL season really hasn't been anything special.
Lost to Palace, should've lost to Brighton, got annihilated by Tottenham, played a really dire game against Chelsea etc.
I will give him the benefit of the doubt right now (short preseason etc.), but let's not act like this place has been really optimistic up until the PSG game.

'This place' has a very noisy minority of people who want Ole sacked, come what may.
My strategic views are not so easily changed. I've been optimistic since end of lockdown and that was not affected in any way by very understandable early season blips.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Yeah, squad now has the bit between its teeth for CL. I think we'll win both, dishing out a thrashing in one of the games.

Yep. And I totally forgot to put 'win' in my post, thanks for clearing it up

 

[POF]

If you look at the average locations maps in the second half, or just watch the game you'll have noticed Fred dropping in as the centre DM once Matic went off, McTominay to the right of him, Pogba until he got subbed was on the left of him.

I'm not sure what else you'd like me to say really.

That you're wrong.

If you watch the game (rather than an average positions pitch map, which includes the 15 minutes before the change), McTominay is to the right of Fred but in a midfield 2 and Pogba is to the left but wide left of the 3.

If Fred is sitting at the base of a diamond, how is he winning the ball back so high up the pitch for the 3rd goal?

 

[sp_107]

He may not be the best and not sure how many more days he will at the helm but I am sure he will leave a better team for next manager unlike Moyes/LVG/Jose.

 

[Tyrion]

In Solskjaer's defence, a lot of our more notable slip ups came in the first half of last season. We lost Pogba early on so we had to rely on a McTominay and Fred midfield with Lingard or Pereira (sometimes both) in front of them, since we got Pogba back and added Fernandes we've been infinitely better at breaking down smaller teams, we still have off days but they're become increasingly infrequent.

Yeah fair. And so far this season, Klopp and Pep have had their own horror shows too.

 

[UDontMessWith24]

A bit left field here... Seeing as Ole has been fantastic with man management so far, not just these tactical victories, I wonder if he'd consider giving Hendo a game against Basaksehir. Heck, maybe even both games against them. The goalkeeper department isn't somewhere we should be worried about for those games. Give the heir apparent a run out...

He’s been fantastic with one aspect of man management, which is he knows how to relate to the players and they enjoy playing for him. He’s yet to show he can put a boot up their arse when necessary and refocus them. Not saying he’s not capable, but it’s a big reason we look so lethargic and casual in certain fixtures.

 

[sglowrider]

Let's hope Ole's managerial career was like his playing career. Nobody heard of him at the start and then went on to prove the doubters wrong over the season.

 

[sglowrider]

He’s been fantastic with one aspect of man management, which is he knows how to relate to the players and they enjoy playing for him. He’s yet to show he can put a boot up their arse when necessary and refocus them. Not saying he’s not capable, but it’s a big reason we look so lethargic and casual in certain fixtures.

He would never bollock the players in public. So we will never know.

 

[UDontMessWith24]

He would never bollock the players in public. So we will never know.

We know whatever he is doing hasn’t worked so far because it’s the one thing holding him back. If we pick up half the points we dropped to the bottom 10 last season we finish with what around 75 points? I don’t buy in to the nonsense that he’s completely inept, but if he doesn’t find a way to fix this issue he’ll most likely be gone.

 

[Strelok]

He’s been fantastic with one aspect of man management, which is he knows how to relate to the players and they enjoy playing for him. He’s yet to show he can put a boot up their arse when necessary and refocus them. Not saying he’s not capable, but it’s a big reason we look so lethargic and casual in certain fixtures.

Not true.

 

[zenith]

He's got the team to be comfortable in playing a variety of formations, including 4-2-2-2, diamond, 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2. This too I believe is an incredible feat.

Not to mention, the squad has amazing depth now and there is no reason why we cannot push oh under him.

 

[Withnail]

A bit left field here... Seeing as Ole has been fantastic with man management so far, not just these tactical victories, I wonder if he'd consider giving Hendo a game against Basaksehir. Heck, maybe even both games against them. The goalkeeper department isn't somewhere we should be worried about for those games. Give the heir apparent a run out...

I'm not sure that's very left field. I fully expect Henderson to come in for that game. I think it'll be a weakened side. If it's not going well and we need a goal we can empty the bench with the 5 subs.

 

[Withnail]

Best thing for me is not the result (same with PSG) or goals scored, but those kept out. We've defended expertly, keeping shots to a minimum and holding a solid structure as a team. Bar a freak/clumsy OG from Tony in Paris, we'd be top of the "group of death" with 7GF 0GA and 6pts against last season's runners-up and semi-finalists.

The key now is to bring this solidity into the league to avoid more Spurs results and Brighton defensive performances. But I am made up for Ole - deserves a ton of praise.

Agreed if we can back this up by getting at least 4pts, preferably 6 from Arsenal/Everton and winning in Turkey we can say we've turned a corner.

It's all well and good being motivated for big european nights but we need to kick on and get results in the league.

 

[MadDogg]

We know whatever he is doing hasn’t worked so far because it’s the one thing holding him back. If we pick up half the points we dropped to the bottom 10 last season we finish with what around 75 points? I don’t buy in to the nonsense that he’s completely inept, but if he doesn’t find a way to fix this issue he’ll most likely be gone.

We only really dropped those points in the first half of last season, so there's already a fair indication that he has improved that aspect massively. He saw what we needed (a proper #10) and went and got him. Indeed, Ole wanted Bruno before the season even started but we weren't able to push it through at the time, something that quite obviously was a mistake in hindsight. Once we fixed that mistake we weren't having too many problems against the lower teams.

 

[032Devil]

Love seeing Ole celebrate the goals. Looks delighted. Not bad for a PE teacher.

Who first called him a PE teacher?

 

[cptkeane1993]

The start of this PL season really hasn't been anything special.

Lost to Palace, should've lost to Brighton, got annihilated by Tottenham, played a really dire game against Chelsea etc.

I will give him the benefit of the doubt right now (short preseason etc.), but let's not act like this place has been really optimistic up until the PSG game.

I have been optimistic about Ole ever since he came in and revamped the culture at the club - getting rid of mercenaries and deadwood, getting the right players in with the correct attitude who want to play for the badge and put the team first, getting us to play front-foot attacking football again, not to mention the vast improvement in players previously folks had given up on (Fred, Shaw, Martial, etc).

1. The run of games as caretaker manager was amazing but not sustainable given very different fitness regimes under the previous coach (Mourinho) for 2.5 years. At least the spiralling down the table under Mourinho stopped, the toxicity around the club disappeared and Ole learnt more about the players which helped him decide who he wanted to keep in the squad.
2. 2019/20 was his first season - it was very inconsistent in the first half because we couldn't win the 'small' games which wasn't surprising when we had Lingard/Pereira as our chief creators with Pogba out injured forever and also Martial / Rashford having lengthy injuries; Post-lockdown, we were one of the most consistent teams in Europe and we were undefeated in the league, yet at the tail-end we were knackered because by now he had put together a strong XI but our squad wasn't deep with quality; ultimately, he managed to finish 3rd in the table behind City and Liverpool when most pundits had him at 6th - 8th.
3. This season, the anomaly due to Covid meant teams that played in Europe while the rest were resting / preparing for the 2019/20 season, meant that our start to the season was slow and the 5 games before international break effectively preseason games required to get back in shape (Won 3 Lost 2); the consistency is now slowly but surely coming back

I don't understand why folks would believe the media crap about Ole / United, knowing the amount of ABU bias out there but not believe in Ole? Case in point: most of the media / pundits had us being knocked out of the Champions League because we got PSG / Leipzig but we beat them both and now have a very good chance.
This is Ole, he bleeds United more than any of us - he's not a self-serving manager in the mould of Mourinho or to a lesser extent LvG.

I have not been more excited about United and our future since Sir Alex left. I wish more of us can see the progress and can get excited too.

 

[Gator Nate]

Not true.

That was when he ripped Lingard a new one, wasn't it? That was my first thought when he said that about Ole.

 

[Strelok]

That was when he ripped Lingard a new one, wasn't it? That was my first thought when he said that about Ole.

Yep according to the comments it was Lingard because he lost the ball. And he was subbed right after that. Guess we won't see much of Lingard this season unless there's a hell of an injury storm. Thanks God.

 

[windco]

Every Tom , Dick and Harry can tell how Ole is setting up his team yet Nagelsmann , an elite tactician , one of the best upcoming manager in the world, couldn't. That Rashford first goal he conceded was criminal.

 

[AltiUn]

Yep according to the comments it was Lingard because he lost the ball. And he was subbed right after that. Guess we won't see much of Lingard this season unless there's a hell of an injury storm. Thanks God.

Bit off topic but one of the replies was "whatever Jesse did, I am sure he deserved it.", made me chuckle

 

[Massive Spanner]

Yet another one today. Whoop whoop!

 

[Pace Abuser]

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

 

[Bubz27]

He's at it again. Oozing out of him at the moment.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

Whoop whoop..

 

[Paxi]

Masterful substitutions today.

 

[dwd]

Whoop whoop! What a tit.

 

[pratyush_utd]

Another tactical masterclass by not creating a single chance against Arsenal defence?

 

[Machine Elements]

Masterclass

The guy doesn't know other than counter attacking and has no clue how to beat high press.

 

[Stadjer]

Whoop whoop.

This is why why topics based on one match are very high risk... now it just looks stupid.

 

[hobbers]

Prediction: this thread is not going to age well.

Whoop.

 

[El Zoido]

This is the future, every time we win with Ole-in knobheads bumping the thread, when we lose we have the Ole-out knobheads bumping the thread. Forever and ever and ever.

 

[Woziak]

1 point in 12 get rid in the morning give a proper coach the chance to work with this group of players and CL He’s clueless and must go !!!

 

[BlueHaze]

This is a parody thread. Just impossible to take it serious.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Mediocrity. Enjoy it, guys.

 

[pratyush_utd]

This is the future, every time we win with Ole-in knobheads bumping the thread, when we lose we have the Ole-out knobheads bumping the thread. Forever and ever and ever.

No it is not. This thread was created to mock people who question Ole tactics. So it is getting what it deserves. We sat back against Arsenal 2nd team defence at home

 

[Amadaeus]

Yet another one today. Whoop whoop!

I was going to bump this... I deserved this much at least.

Anyway, Fans on here will soon understand not to question my post. As I stated before, some fans on here will never learn.

 

[soapythecat]

Another amazing tactical master class from Ole. Moyes got a few games right in Europe and his record in the league is almost the same as Ole’s.
Worst manager since SAF.

 

[Gazza]

Ole deserved praise for Tuesday. Deserves critique for today. Posts like the OP are actually quite unhelpful for Ole, as they suggest he is some kind of tactical genius which he evidently is not (and would probably admit that himself). His acolytes have actually set him up for a fall, unfortunately. The joke here is on posters like Samssky, not Ole, tbh.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

9 points in 6 games. What a manager. Manchester United is the only big club that will not only tolerate the manager in charge of that but celebrate him because he beat an "elite hipster choice" manager. Will managerial appointments like Ole it will definitely be 20 years as Giggs said.