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

sglowrider

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Yeah. even Ole hasn't faced the pressure SAF was under before that 3rd round FA Cup match vs Palace.
The kneejerkers would have won.
Dunno. I think Fergie had it easier and has had a much longer honeymoon period.

Ole has to deal with a larger, shorter attention span and patience fan base -- and social media and calls for his sacking only after 6-8 months.

Fergie was given years. Ole has to live match by match before calls for his sacking.
 

Gasolin

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They will look to counter and exploit space similar to us. Arteta has been setting his team up similarly to us where they sacrifice proactiveness for reactiveness.
I am sure he will park 2 lines of 5 players against us. Not even sure if they can counter effectively. Let’s see if they can beat our counter press.
 

Adnan

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I am sure he will park 2 lines of 5 players against us. Not even sure if they can counter effectively. Let’s see if they can beat our counter press.
Aubamaeyang would be dangerous on the counter for them if Ole decides to play a more imposing game by playing Maguire alittle higher up the pitch. I think this game will be settled by individual brilliance or a set-piece IMO.
 

Grande

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That was an interesting and tactically exciting game. Ole won the first round, surprising Nagelsmann with a diamond and high press. Then Leipzig got into their stride very well, intensive and organized, and we struggled to play out from the back, yet we kept defensive control well. Deserved lead after a tight first half. Ole then killed the game putting on Rashford and Bruno, a reminder that he was leading the game vs the Bundesliga leader and CL semifinalist hotshot Nagelsmann with our two best players on the bench ...

It was indeed a European masterclass.
 

jackal&hyde

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It's a clear pattern. Ole is very, very good tactically. Now we have the quality and the fitness of players to make everything click together.
 

Volumiza

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That other guy, the one with the high visibility jacket and the baffled face, isn't that the guy lots of people want to replace Gunnar?
It is and the jacket guy got slapped round the face with a diamond masterclass last night :lol:

Can’t help but feel that performance last night was a coming of age game for this team and Ole. I can’t remember a game where all the players performed at such a high level and did their jobs so well. It was genuinely a brilliant game to watch.
 

Trex

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I think Ole needs to harness his best qualities tactically, He is great at setting his team up to play on the counter, he isn't great at effective possession play, he should work more on set piece and counter pressing (which we are good at with fred in the side)to get the goals and probably get a offensively Rb for the smaller games(Awb is a big game specialist with his skill set)He is more a Klopp than a Pep and we should embrace that,it won't always be pretty but it would get us results
 

Berbasbullet

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Let see how he progress this season, but as you stated he did meet that standard last season, despite not being as impressive and convincing. Regardless, I have always stated that that first full season was not as black and white as you would present it. Which is why I have been critical of him. If you delve deeper into the outcome of that season, you would know that our point tally was similar to Moyes, and without the acquisition of Bruno, Ole wouldn’t be a United manager at the moment for the reason that after his purchase his goals/assist output contribution was an unusual high 50%. These metric reveals a better insight into that season than just our third places finish. If Ole meets the standards of a United manager, then I will definitely think that he is the right manager. These standards aren’t to hard to accomplish with the third most expensive team in football.
Points tally is contextual from season to season, he came through a rough first half of a season and turned it around.

So you’re saying his signing of Bruno did that, thats great! Shows he’s savvy in the market, only Spurs seemed to be the only other club in for him.

Be honest mate you’ve been hyper critical of him because his name isn’t Pochettino, if we just smashed the German leaders 5-0 with poch after Red Bull had pressed really high and made it difficult for united, and then Poch changed the game with two subs you would be praising the manager.
 

Bondi77

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Supporters of this club have been baited for months by OleOUTers that hipster coaches like Nagelsmann put our manager to shame.
Viciously ranting that Ole doesn't know tactics, how to coach patterns of play, organise a press or make timely substitutions.
And WTF does he do in coaching session?

Solskjaer's Manchester United 5 - Nagelsmann’s Leipzig 0
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: - :(


These threads are just getting too easy.
A top draw bonafide performance vs the most in form team in Europe and last seasons CL semi finalists.
Leipzig barely getting a serious shot on target. United totally dominant.

Ole is proving to be one of the best tactical brains in world football. Give him the right quality of players and a little time, and he's be spanking them all.
Great post mate!
Love your work :yawn:
 

devilish

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Supporters of this club have been baited for months by OleOUTers that hipster coaches like Nagelsmann put our manager to shame.
Viciously ranting that Ole doesn't know tactics, how to coach patterns of play, organise a press or make timely substitutions.
And WTF does he do in coaching session?

Solskjaer's Manchester United 5 - Nagelsmann’s Leipzig 0
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: - :(


These threads are just getting too easy.
A top draw bonafide performance vs the most in form team in Europe and last seasons CL semi finalists.
Leipzig barely getting a serious shot on target. United totally dominant.

Ole is proving to be one of the best tactical brains in world football. Give him the right quality of players and a little time, and he's be spanking them all.
TBF Nagelsmann would probably dream of having Ole's 'lack of financial backing'. Last season it was a busy transfer window for them and yet they still spent less then we spent on Maguire alone. This year they lost Werner and yet they still spent less to what we spent on Pellistri and Traore. But hey let's trash a 33 something manager whose doing so well with a small club on limited resources.
 
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The holy trinity 68

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TBF Nagelsmann would probably dream of having Ole's 'lack of financial backing'. But hey let's trash a 33 something manager whose doing so well with a small club on limited resources.
So if Ole gets beat everyone starts firing shots at him for not being very good, but when he wins he can’t even get any praise? The excuse is always going to be ‘but but Ole has spent more money blah blah’

I have not always been happy with Ole but have never been a vocal Ole outer. The Ole out agenda of some people is pathetic, always bash him for poor performances but never praise him got good performances.
 

Berbasbullet

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TBF Nagelsmann would probably dream of having Ole's 'lack of financial backing'. Last season it was a busy transfer window for them and yet they still spent less then we spent on Maguire alone. This year they lost Werner and yet they still spent less to what we spent on Pellistri and Traore. But hey let's trash a 33 something manager whose doing so well with a small club on limited resources.
They’re trashing him because of posters who consistently moan about Ole.

If you were to believe some Ole would literally have 0 ideas about football, but look he came across the cafes favourite manager and thoroughly embarrassed him.
 

roonster09

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People might think Ole isn't good enough to win us big trophies but one thing they can't deny is his tactical set up, especially against big teams. Our record is very good since last season, it was also good in half the season he was in charge.
 

devilish

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So if Ole gets beat everyone starts firing shots at him for not being very good, but when he wins he can’t even get any praise? The excuse is always going to be ‘but but Ole has spent more money blah blah’

I have not always been happy with Ole but have never been a vocal Ole outer. The Ole out agenda of some people is pathetic, always bash him for poor performances but never praise him got good performances.
What about being a bit realistic instead? It was a great result indeed. However it was one game, at home, against a well run but smaller club who operates on a limited budget. This year Leipzig lost Werner and yet the still spent less then what we spent on Traore AND Pellistri. Last year they had a busy summer and yet they still spent less to what we spent on Maguire ALONE. These guys tend to spend less money then Everton or even West Ham do.

I have concerns about having Nagelsmann as our manager. I think that he's too young for the job however I don't believe its necessary to compare Nagelsmann's record with smaller clubs to that of Ole.
 
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hmchan

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The one thing that delights me most isn't the scoreline. It's that we're finally able to successfully high press after two years of trying.
 

devilish

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They’re trashing him because of posters who consistently moan about Ole.

If you were to believe some Ole would literally have 0 ideas about football, but look he came across the cafes favourite manager and thoroughly embarrassed him.
Some people overrate him, others underrate him. I think he's here on merit having managed to come 3rd place. However there's many question marks surrounding his transfers and tactics at time.
 

rollingstoned1

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Its clear which side accounts for most of it.

When you have people relentlessly calling the manager a PE teacher, tactically inept and unable to coach, when that is force fed to posters they are bound to react.

We’ve listened to how superior Nagelsmann is to Ole for over a year now.

You don’t see posters on match day calling Ole the next Fergie or better than Klopp etc do you? No. And that would be the equivalent opposite of what we have to listen to.
agreed, this pseudo political dichotomy that has been sustained is a con job for the caf annals. when you claim that you support a team there is no moral high ground to be had in sitting on the fence cynically and pretending to be a voice of reason, never mind that the evidence is strongly against these apprehensions. I can't take people who say that Ole hasn't improved the team seriously even if it's a knee jerk reaction, the fact that they even enjoy playing for him is a big improvement from the Mourinho and lvg days without even getting into how his big game record has put a lot of other managers to shame.
Better a shill pe teacher than a badly dressed hipster i guess. @sammsky can continue his naming and shaming, it is one of the things i enjoy about the caf nowadays.
 

Berbasbullet

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Some people overrate him, others underrate him. I think he's here on merit having managed to come 3rd place. However there's many question marks surrounding his transfers and tactics at time.
Course he still has questions to answer, until we’re challenging for the league he will need to answer questions that’s for sure.

But we’re allowed to enjoy last night, was a huge win, let’s be real, if you asked most united fans after the spurs game would we go unbeaten in the following 4? You’d get laughed at.
 

devilish

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Course he still has questions to answer, until we’re challenging for the league he will need to answer questions that’s for sure.

But we’re allowed to enjoy last night, was a huge win, let’s be real, if you asked most united fans after the spurs game would we go unbeaten in the following 4? You’d get laughed at.
I think that's we're taking it to the other extreme now. Ole is not yet in a position to compete for the League, not yet anyhow. However its also ridiculous to trash Nagelsmann for losing with his team at home with United. Sure Leipzig are a well run club, probably far more then we are. However they do spend less then Everton or even West Ham. Money does matter.

What I am referring to is issues like spending 80m on a CB with no pace, playing with Matic and Pogba as the deep midfield line of a 4-2-3-1 system or go full Bolton with McT, Fred, Mata and James. These sort of things.
 

Kopral Jono

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People might think Ole isn't good enough to win us big trophies but one thing they can't deny is his tactical set up, especially against big teams. Our record is very good since last season, it was also good in half the season he was in charge.
I agree. I personally belong to this group of people and this is one of the few things that Ole has going for him.
 

Berbasbullet

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I think that's we're taking it to the other extreme now. Ole is not yet in a position to compete for the League, not yet anyhow. However its also ridiculous to trash Nagelsmann for losing with his team at home with United. Sure Leipzig are a well run club, probably far more then we are. However they do spend less then Everton or even West Ham. Money does matter.

What I am referring to is issues like spending 80m on a CB with no pace, playing with Matic and Pogba as the deep midfield line of a 4-2-3-1 system or go full Bolton with McT, Fred, Mata and James. These sort of things.
Ultimately united need to be challenging, that’s where we should be and until then of course there will be question marks regarding any manager we have. That’s the point I’m making, it’s an innocuous point anyway so let’s move on.

People are taking in this win more because the narrative was that Nagelsman was a better manager who was going to school united, and to be fair they’re clearly a very good side.

Why would playing Mata be full Bolton?
 
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georgipep

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That our success is down to having an amazing crop of players rather than the quality of the manager. These players are good enough to win and challenge for the highest honors, not just be content with top four. We are being held back with the quality of our current manager.
So, instead we should hire a manager who hasn't won anything ever?
The first thing he has to do is show some consistency. We can be world class one time and our bottom level is that of a championship team. I don’t expect, attractive football from ole as that isn’t his philosophy, so I just have to learn to like his counter attacking football.

The next thing is to become a United standard manager where winning trophies is important and we are always in the top four at least. Some fans on here lowers United standard for Ole, which shouldnt be the case.

The last one is not having his success defined by spending more than our rivals/ a lot of cash. This window, was in the right direction even though we still spent a lot compared to previous windows. I don’t want to see fans say we didn’t sign Sancho, etc., that our expectations is only top four. A good manager with this team, can easily get top four, challenge for the title, and win important trophies with or without those world class signing.

These are some of the main points that Ole needs to do to believe he is the right manager.

Glad those fans that wants to block me, block me. I don’t have to waste time responding to their post.:) They will feel the impact of an Amadaeus moment.
Ole’s tactics work well when we don’t dominate in possession.

As soon as we get significantly get more the ball, we are still clueless.
I think that's a fair question to ask. Consistency is an issue with this team. I want that ruthlessness that Liverpool have that still picked up points when they're not at their best.
Players looked very sharp though in the last couple of matches. Hopefully we win on Sunday
Let see how he progress this season, but as you stated he did meet that standard last season, despite not being as impressive and convincing. Regardless, I have always stated that that first full season was not as black and white as you would present it. Which is why I have been critical of him. If you delve deeper into the outcome of that season, you would know that our point tally was similar to Moyes, and without the acquisition of Bruno, Ole wouldn’t be a United manager at the moment for the reason that after his purchase his goals/assist output contribution was an unusual high 50%. These metric reveals a better insight into that season than just our third places finish. If Ole meets the standards of a United manager, then I will definitely think that he is the right manager. These standards aren’t to hard to accomplish with the third most expensive team in football.
To all of you asking for consistency and beating the teams that sit back and defend.

Not sure what your definition of 'teams sit back' is but let's say every team that is not Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, is that fair? (I'm not counting Everton, Leicester or Wolves as 'big' teams) If so, since the Burnley debacle on the 22nd of January (we lost 0:2 at home), this is our record:
  • Watford at home, 3:0 win
  • Everton away, 1:1 draw
  • Derby County away for the FA Cup, 3:0 win
  • Sheffield United at home, 3:0 win
  • Norwich, neutral for the FA Cup, 1:2 win after extra time
  • Brighton away, 3:0 win
  • Bournemouth at home, 5:2 win
  • Aston Villa away, 3:0 win
  • Southampton at home, 2:2 draw (the game we lost Shaw to injury)
  • Crystal Palace away, 2:0 win
  • West Ham at home, 1:1 draw
  • Leicester away, 2:0 win
  • Crystal Palace at home, 1:3 loss (new season)
  • Luton away for the Carabao, 3:0 win
  • Brighton away, 3:2 win
  • Brighton away for the Carabao, 3:0 win
  • Newcastle away, 4:1 win
Well, not sure what do you see as inconsistency but to me a record of 13 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss is not one.

Please tell me more about consistency and beating the sitting back team...

I criticise ole when warranted, and praise him when warranted.
That is the whole point though, isn't it? You expect a team to win 100% games. That's not realistic. Real life is not FIFA or Football Manager. Premier League is not La Liga, Ligue 1 or Bundesliga. What Klopp and Guardiola did with Liverpool and City took either 5 years (in Klopp's case) or buying a sh!t ton of class players on top of a very good squad that were champions (in Guardiola's case). But apparently Ole needs to win non-stop while being criticized for the club buying Maguire for £80m?

He clearly has a vision, and it's perfect for our club. We know why that is, and while it doesn't mean he'll be half as good as SAF, it's important that we appreciate the changes. It's not the easiest way to do what Ole does, but since he came he was clear on it. I do it this way now or it's no point doing it. I've never felt Ole has done something selfish, every decision in detail is made thinking it helps the club. Can't get every decision right, but he has done a lot of cool things.

We seem united. The way we have gotten straight back into form after the Spurs defeat is direct proof of mental strength and togetherness we haven't seen since SAF.

Also, not with the same success yet, but if it weren't for his injuries then trusting a player like Tuanzebe might have payed off too. Look at Rashford and McTominay and how vital they have become. Look at Martial who has stepped up after the trust given to him. Even Fred and Shaw who struggled for game time for a while is now showing personality on the pitch. Ole have probably the youngest PL team and took them to 3rd place, and he is building something and is proving it with results and performances like these.

Him trusting certain players gives us the attacking edge we have lacked since SAF, and he is getting the whole team to work their ass off defensively to earn those attacking privileges so we're both dangerous and balanced, I'm enjoying the ride like ever before and frankly I'm impressed with Ole.
I agree completely. Love to see the confidence in the players and it's clear that it is a result of Ole's trust in them. However, you see that approach praised with other coaches, not Ole:


Not a word about Solskjaer transforming Fred, Rashford, Martial, McTominay, even Shaw and giving Greenwood the time and platform to be the lethal weapon we now have at our disposal. Anyway, I'm just glad we have them to cherish.

No more excuses. No more the players aren't good enough or we need to "rebuild"

This team can win the league this season and even possibly the Champions League. Nothing stopping us
 

devilish

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Ultimately united need to be challenging, that’s where we should be and until then of course there will be question marks regarding any manager we have. That’s the point I’m making.

People are taking in this win more because the narrative was that Nagelsman was a better manager who was going to school united, and to be fair they’re clearly a very good side.

Why would playing Mata be full Bolton?
I read some posts prior to the game and I thought that they were silly. They thought that leipzig at home were going to be a far more difficult opponent to PSG away. Leipzig are a well run team but they are a small club who operate on an often shoestring budget. They also play an attacking football with a high defensive line which play massively to our strengths. Surely they can't be compared to PSG of Mbappe, Neymar and co.

Regarding the second comment, I think that a midfield made up of McT-Fred-James and Mata is very defensive and is typical of a small EPL club whose trying to close the quality gap with old fashioned hardwork.
 

Berbasbullet

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I read some posts prior to the game and I thought that they were silly. They thought that leipzig at home were going to be a far more difficult opponent to PSG away. Leipzig are a well run team but they are a small club who operate on an often shoestring budget. They also play an attacking football with a high defensive line which play massively to our strengths. Surely they can't be compared to PSG of Mbappe, Neymar and co.

Regarding the second comment, I think that a midfield made up of McT-Fred-James and Mata is very defensive and is typical of a small EPL club whose trying to close the quality gap with old fashioned hardwork.
You think Mata is the epitome of old fashioned hard work? I agree with the rest but Mata doesn’t fit that category, especially when he’s played well.

But you’ve chosen a small sample size and when you think back to the spurs game he’s clearly done what fergie did after our big city thump, and go back to being a bit more defensively sound. Also you literally criticised him for playing Pogba and matic, and now criticised him for playing the only other two central midfielders we have? Also, since doing that we are unbeaten against a tough set of teams may I add too, whilst barely conceding.

No they can’t be compared to Neymar and co, since we’ve only beaten Neymar and co at their ground twice and not beaten red bull twice yet. :p
 

devilish

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You think Mata is the epitome of old fashioned hard work? I agree with the rest but Mata doesn’t fit that category, especially when he’s played well.

But you’ve chosen a small sample size and when you think back to the spurs game he’s clearly done what fergie did after our big city thump, and go back to being a bit more defensively sound. Also you literally criticised him for playing Pogba and matic, and now criticised him for playing the only other two central midfielders we have? Also, since doing that we are unbeaten against a tough set of teams may I add too.

No they can’t be compared to Neymar and co, since we’ve only beaten Neymar and co at their ground twice and not beaten red bull twice yet. :p
He's not. However that midfield is. You have 3 hardworking players doing all the leg work paired to a sober intelligent play maker doing the thinking and the passing for them.

Regarding Matic and Pogba I think its the worst match to play as the base of a 4-2-3-1 system. Pogba is a defensive liability by his own admission while Matic is slow and static. Add that to two slow CBs and a goalkeeper who refuse to leave the line even if his own goalpost is on fire and you're asking for trouble. I wonder why Ole took so long to acknowledge that. In my opinion we can either go diamond or else we should play Fred/McT, VDB, Bruno/Pogba.

Finally its a known thing that we can deal serious damage to teams who play with a high line. That was explained by Mou on sky in his day 1 as a pundit. Our issue come when dealing with teams who defend deep against us and with numbers. Hundreds of millions had been spent by LVG, Mou and Ole and yet that problem still persist.
 

Berbasbullet

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He's not. However that midfield is. You have 3 hardworking players doing all the leg work and an intelligent play maker doing the thinking and the passing for them.

Regarding Matic and Pogba I think its the worst match to play as the base of a 4-2-3-1 system. Pogba is a defensive liability by his own admission while Matic is slow and static. Add that to two slow CBs and a goalkeeper who refuse to leave the line even if his own goalpost is on fire and you're asking for trouble. I wonder why Ole took so long to acknowledge that. In my opinion we can either go diamond or else we should play Fred/McT, VDB, Bruno/Pogba.

Finally its a known thing that we can deal serious damage to teams who play with a high line. That was explained by Mou on sky in his day 1 as a pundit. Our issue come when dealing with teams who defend deep against us and with numbers. Hundreds of millions had been spent by LVG, Mou and Ole and yet that problem still persist.
Interesting! I gotta go do some work now, but thank you for the conversation, I’ll make one last post on this before I gotta go.

Oh yeah for sure, to be fair I think Ole (wrongly) thought James could make an attacking difference but honestly I’d rather play lingard off the left now.

To be fair we have been in good form since playing with Pogba and matic, we were excellent after the restart and many of the cafe were praising matic and Pogba.

I like the diamond too it gets our best players in their best positions, we don’t even have any wingers outside James so I think we should carry on with it, fair play to ole for trying it and long may it continue.

Yeah I agree about the deep line thing, I think we’ve gotten better at that to be fair, but can use some work for sure.

He isn’t perfect but ole is still a young manager himself and still finding his way, we should stick by him.
 
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Nou_Camp99

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For a PE teacher he sure is schooling some world class managers over last 18 months. Pep 3 times, Tuchel twice, now Nagalesmann.
 

Crustanoid

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Ole needs to really prove himself. If he went up against a managed team with the combined tactical nous and intelligence of red cafe Ole out brigade posters, he would soon come unstuck. This fictitious hybrid manager, a gestalt entity made, up of the brains of these posters would school Ole, especially as they would have the FM functions to underpin their tactical prowess.