Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion

[Bastian]

I don't think he has it in him to be a top manager, but I don't see how sacking him now makes anything better. Would any top manager with serious ambitions want to takeover a team way behind the two best teams run by people who are anything but competent and ambitious?

Best case scenario is the season continues to pan out this way, pressure builds for Woodward to step down from footballing operations, a real DoF is brought in, we buy a midfielder in January and try to offload more deadwood. Come summer, the squad would be less atrocious, the structure better and the conditions for a top manager to do good work more ripe.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Let's get it right, we came 2nd in Jose's last full season,it may an inconvenient truth for your Ole defence, but it still the truth.

He also signed Matic and Sanchez, won zero silverware, and got embarrassed by Sevilla that year. The other, uglier side of the truth.

 

[Tincanalley]

We didn't get Klopp because that joker Woody from Toy Story sold the club as an adult version of Disneyland, he just basically laughed in our faces and don't blame him one bit for doing that because after all we are a Mickey Mouse organisation.

Pep unfortunately did not understand what Fergie was trying to ask him in that infamous dinner meeting in New York way back in 2012 and then that let City in to get the Barca backroom boys into City and get their feet under the table in preparation for Pep to be eventually appointed as manager.

Great post

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

I was all for backing OgS but this start to the season & the things coming out of the guys mouth are bordering on ludicrous.

I gave him a lot of rope because I was & still am sceptical of the regime behind him but it’s time we start calling him out for what he claims are his decisions.

To allow a £70mil forward to leave & an underperforming, yet still able [at international level at least] forward to follow & claim that you don’t need replacements is lunacy.

He then claims he wants to blood youngsters yet the same youngsters aren’t actually trusted to get meaningful game time.

Chong was on the bench today, & was our most ‘attacking’ sub yet he can’t get on in a game we’re losing I don’t blame Chong for this, the construction of the squad is flawed.

We have youngsters who aren’t [yet] ready being thrust in for 10-15minute cameos when the team is struggling. I actually would consider this in contrast to what OgS claims to be doing, nurturing them. Gomes coming on in the 80-odd minute away in a game we’re losing isn’t good management; it could actually be career destroying.

If OgS went into the season with this squad by design then I honestly question whether he should manage at any level.

It’s all coming home to roost. Young starting at fullback for sustained periods cause Shaw pulls up lame, Matic getting considerable minutes, Mata playing more games than youngsters. A lack of attacking depth & coaching.

 

[Foxbatt]

Please do not forget that it may be only the elite world class players who do not want to come. There are hundreds of players apart from Pogba who are better than the current lot we have and would love to play for a bigger club than they are playing right now and obviously for bigger salaries. Yet Ole could not even get one of them. If he was up to the mark, he would have got Haarland too.
All this talk is just pure spin. I like him as a guy and a legend and I want him gone now before he spoils everything including his name. He is trying the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result. It is insanity. If it does not work, then try something else. Any one would understand that playing Matic, Mata and Pereira is asking for trouble.
SAF had played Jones in midfield too. At least he will tackle, head and has pace and has decent footballing skill too. Why didn't he play him? The team has no tactics or even a formation of play. Too many players getting in each others way and all going for the same ball too. We will get into a relegation fight soon if this goes on. It is not all on the head of Woodward.

Realistically just think about any world class players thinking about United? Who will want to come to United now? Middle of the table with a manager who has no clue and experience. Woodward cannot get them even if he throws ridiculous money. He has thrown some ridiculous money at some players.

 

[Red Dreams]

Lots of Blame to go around.

A huge part of it rests with the board who don't understand football at all and will not let people who do understand it make decisions about players.
A squad like ours should never have started the season. Short of 2 midfielders and a striker.
Ole does not have the experience to take over a club in such serious crisis.
Today his game management was poor. We made West Ham look good.

I've said it elsewhere. I believe the club has been sold and a lot of the decisions being made are cost minimising until next season.

 

[Sylar]

Im just thinking, before he got the managers job permanently, he wasnt being 'safe'
Eg the PSG game away. We were missing Pogba and Martial, so he went in with a 532. He could have easily done something similar against West Ham which would have got the best out of the players and had most of them more comfortable in terms of what you expect.

Pereira, McT, Fred (or matic if he desired) midfield for press.
Rashford and James up top.
Then Young LB, AWB RB, Maguire, Lindelof, Tuanzebe CBs.

Since getting the job, hes been 'too safe' which in a way is costing him. Obviously we need better players and a vision going forward, but hes not taking chances any more. Hes doing that thing where he says one thing, but then does the opposite which has failed previous managers. Hes not being proactive any more.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

There are hundreds of players apart from Pogba who are better than the current lot we have and would love to play for a bigger club than they are playing right now

This really is the crux of it & needs to be drummed home until people get it.

The narrative that Longstaff or Rice are the only 2 midfielders in world football that could improve us is a lie & a dangerous narrative to go by. If our scouts are unable to find 2 midfielders win the football world that could improve our fortunes then we might aswell call it a day as a club.

It’s the same with the Sancho narrative. He’s the ‘best in class’, if the narrative is him or bust then next summer will be much like this one.

No right minded fan is calling for us to spend £70mil+ on every player but you look around the football world & see the £10/£20/£30mil signings that we aren’t even in the running for & it’s puzzling.

We aren’t after the last piece, we should be recruiting at all levels because our lowest level is a step below even our minimum requirements.

 

[Red Dreams]

We talk about the kids.
I don't know how many are on their last year of the contract.

How many can we retain?

 

[Bastian]

He also signed Matic and Sanchez, won zero silverware, and got embarrassed by Sevilla that year. The other, uglier side of the truth.

I continue to wonder about certain signings and who is ultimately responsible for signing them. Like Sanchez. Is that a Mourinho signing (I know he was pleased at the time) or a Woodward statement signing? We've heard it time and again from the last 3 managers that they have nothing to do with contracts, so that's exclusively on Woodward and his lackey.

That season where we got knocked out by Sevilla (we've also gotten knocked out by "lesser" sides in Europe before btw) we finished 2nd and got to the FA Cup final IIRC. The squad wasn't good, the first XI wasn't great, but it was relatively efficient and not as atrocious as it's been since.

I also wonder about Lukaku, is he a Mourinho signing or a Woodward statement? Terrible purchase, whoever decided on that one. Mourinho's abrasive style would have been less daunting for people to watch had we signed a target man who could also play football.

 

[Foxbatt]

This really is the crux of it & needs to be drummed home until people get it.

The narrative that Longstaff or Rice are the only 2 midfielders in world football that could improve us is a lie & a dangerous narrative to go by. If our scouts are unable to find 2 midfielders win the football world that could improve our fortunes then we might aswell call it a day as a club.

It’s the same with the Sancho narrative. He’s the ‘best in class’, if the narrative is him or bust then next summer will be much like this one.

No right minded fan is calling for us to spend £70mil+ on every player but you look around the football world & see the £10/£20/£30mil signings that we aren’t even in the running for & it’s puzzling.

We aren’t after the last piece, we should be recruiting at all levels because our lowest level is a step below even our minimum requirements.

Sancho is not going to come to a mid table club with a terrible manager. I am sure the scouts have identified many players but I guess the manager does not want them. The fact he sold Fellaini in January shows he is delusional. I mean does anyone here think our midfield apart from Pogba is better than any other midfield in the EPL? I think take him out and we have the worst midfield in the PL. Even in the Championship some teams have a better midfield than us.
Why didn't he play Jones in midfield? At least he will tackle and run and head and has a bit of pace and is not a bad footballer in general.

 

[Denis79]

Ole has started to show signs of fear/caution. Has anyone else noticed that we don't press like we did just a few games back, that less players take offensive positions when we have the ball? After we conceded the goal we went a bit gung-ho but before that we tried to play very safe, resulting in a slow and lethargic brand of football because we don't know how or maybe have the skill to break teams without countering. It's a bad sign when we see him losing faith in the press we used so well in pre season. Maybe the last two games were played like this because of injuries but it doesn't look good.

 

[He'sRaldo]

Im just thinking, before he got the managers job permanently, he wasnt being 'safe'
Eg the PSG game away. We were missing Pogba and Martial, so he went in with a 532. He could have easily done something similar against West Ham which would have got the best out of the players and had most of them more comfortable in terms of what you expect.

Pereira, McT, Fred (or matic if he desired) midfield for press.
Rashford and James up top.
Then Young LB, AWB RB, Maguire, Lindelof, Tuanzebe CBs.

Since getting the job, hes been 'too safe' which in a way is costing him. Obviously we need better players and a vision going forward, but hes not taking chances any more. Hes doing that thing where he says one thing, but then does the opposite which has failed previous managers. Hes not being proactive any more.

Ole has started to show signs of fear/caution. Has anyone else noticed that we don't press like we did just a few games back, that less players take offensive positions when we have the ball? After we conceded the goal we went a bit gung-ho but before that we tried to play very safe, resulting in a slow and lethargic brand of football because we don't know how or maybe have the skill to break teams without countering. It's a bad sign when we see him losing faith in the press we used so well in pre season. Maybe the last two games were played like this because of injuries but it doesn't look good.

This is it right here.

 

[croadyman]

He is starting to make excuses and it's painting him in a really bad light, if he isn't careful he will end up wrecking his management career before it's even got off the ground. This squad is beyond diabolical and he knows that not replacing what we sold in the summer could well result in him paying the price.

Only reason he got the job was because he's a Utd legend and Woody from Toy Story was deluded when he thought that this appointment would appease the fans, all we have had these last six years is a combination of defensive managers or cheap managers not one of them has had an attacking mindset and until that happens we are going to put up with this garbage every single week.

The only other option is for him to move upstairs,he should have been moved to a DOF role at the end of last season.

 

[Hawks2008]

It's really just appalling the state we're in. After Mourinho was sacked we had a good 5-6 months to plan our transfer window and look for the right fit as manager, maybe do some restructuring behind the scenes. It was great opportunity to take our time and highlight the right needs to be filled in the team and get in the best man for the job. And the culmination of all that is this..

Ole stepped in to help us as caretaker in a tough time and when he didn't need to. I will always admire him for that but no one expected that hot run at the start, Woodward thought he struck gold and gave him a contract which dashed any hopes of that holistic overhaul of the way the club is run.

We know what happened next. I know Woody is a grub and incompetent but I refuse to believe Ole and his staff didn't play an equal part in our calamitous window. By all accounts the 3 signings were made after praise from people the manager knew personally, they have all been decent thus far but is that seriously what our scouting has come to? It also makes no sense that the only midfielder we targeted was Sean Longstaff, a player no better than McTominay and when it became clear it wasn't going to happen that was it for our midfield business. Because surely he is the ONLY midfielder who could have improved us..

Have a go at Woodward all you want but he wont try sign a player without the managers ok so yeah, the lack of investment is on the coaches heads as much as the board. A shame Phelan or McKenna didn't have history with Bruno Fernandes, we could have used him today.

I think Ole has definitely misjudged lots of these young players. He is putting lots of faith in McTominay and Andreas to be good enough to start when really they should be squad players, and hinging your job on Martial and Rashford to finally become something resembling a first team striker for Manchester United after 170 games each for the club isn't smart.

I have a lot of time and respect for Ole but can't help but feel we're in for another wasted year.

 

[vivaronaldo]

never the right man for the job...you cant have apprenticeships being served as Manchester united manager... in saying that the glazers and woodward are the real creators of this mess

 

[Denis79]

It's really just appalling the state we're in. After Mourinho was sacked we had a good 5-6 months to plan our transfer window and look for the right fit as manager, maybe do some restructuring behind the scenes. It was great opportunity to take our time and highlight the right needs to be filled in the team and get in the best man for the job. And the culmination of all that is this..

Ole stepped in to help us as caretaker in a tough time and when he didn't need to. I will always admire him for that but no one expected that hot run at the start, Woodward thought he struck gold and gave him a contract which dashed any hopes of that holistic overhaul of the way the club is run.

We know what happened next. I know Woody is a grub and incompetent but I refuse to believe Ole and his staff didn't play an equal part in our calamitous window. By all accounts the 3 signings were made after praise from people the manager knew personally, they have all been decent thus far but is that seriously what our scouting has come to? It also makes no sense that the only midfielder we targeted was Sean Longstaff, a player no better than McTominay and when it became clear it wasn't going to happen that was it for our midfield business. Because surely he is the ONLY midfielder who could have improved us..

Have a go at Woodward all you want but he wont try sign a player without the managers ok so yeah, the lack of investment in on the coaches heads as much as the board. A shame Phelan or McKenna didn't have history with Bruno Fernandes, we could have used him today.

I think Ole has definitely misjudged lots of these young players. He is putting lots of faith in McTominay and Andreas to be good enough to start when really they should be squad players, and hinging your job on Martial and Rashford to finally become something resembling a first team striker for Manchester United after 170 games each for the club isn't smart.

I have a lot of time and respect for Ole but can't help but feel we're in for another wasted year.

You make good points but I simply can't believe that Ole felt happy with the squad. It might be the case but I don't believe it. Us fans who know nothing essentially saw that our midfield is thin and weak after Herrera left, Ole didn't? Don't buy that. But I do agree that he puts a excessive faith in Rashford and Martial.

 

[Revaulx]

How uninspiring is Carrick. Sits like a gormless wimp on the bench. How can he possibly motivate anyone

Why go there. Why start attack people´s personality. Everyone is charming when you´re winning.

Unfair to single out Carrick, though he does seem to turn in on himself the most when things aren’t going well. But the contrast in the behaviour of the entire bench now and in Ole’s early days is massive; they all seemed involved and animated and there was constant discussion between them to start off with. There certainly isn’t now.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

This is it right here.

I don't thinks it has anything to do with being safe. If we're being honest, our football quality wasn't great during that run especially the second half of it. Many wins were plucky - I mean PSG should have beaten us 3-0 really. We were punching above our weight and riding a wave of good feeling. The fundamentals were not actually that strong. And now, ever since that wave passed, were performing as per the fundamentals that he has put in place which are nothing great after all.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Unfair to single out Carrick, though he does seem to turn in on himself the most when things aren’t going well. But the contrast in the behaviour of the entire bench now and in Ole’s early days is massive; they all seemed involved and animated and there was constant discussion between them to start off with. There certainly isn’t now.

Hard to be critical of the staff. They work under the manager. And I'd expect Phelan to be the most influential anyway. If I recall McKenna got our youth teams playing slick and sexy football.

At the end of the day, the manager is the person in charge. It's his team. Not the coaches.

 

[He'sRaldo]

I don't thinks it has anything to do with being safe. If we're being honest, our football quality wasn't great during that run especially the second half of it. Many wins were plucky - I mean PSG should have beaten us 3-0 really. We were punching above our weight and riding a wave of good feeling. The fundamentals were not actually that strong. And now, ever since that wave passed, were performing as per the fundamentals that he has put in place which are nothing great after all.

Things like a very high line, positional rotation, forward runs, and a genuine high press with a solid high block are all missing from our game currently, and were present at that time.


Once the hard fixtures started and we got those injuries, we got quite cautious and defensive, and understandably so. Unfortunately, the trend continued into this new season, something I didn't see coming at all.


You're right that some wins were plucky, but the fundamentals we started with are not there anymore. Like I said I didn't see that coming; I expected that with a full preseason, Ole would have gone back to what worked at the start. I think that's the only way he can survive.

 

[hungrywing]

One thing I've wondered is if he severely over-rated our players after being at Molde for however long.

 

[Revaulx]

Hard to be critical of the staff. They work under the manager. And I'd expect Phelan to be the most influential anyway. If I recall McKenna got our youth teams playing slick and sexy football.

At the end of the day, the manager is the person in charge. It's his team. Not the coaches.

Oh I quite agree. But the change in their demeanour from animated and constantly communicating to passive and silent is striking. In the early days they gave off a strong impression of collective leadership. Looks like Ole has turned into a control freak.

 

[He'sRaldo]

Oh I quite agree. But the change in their demeanour from animated and constantly communicating to passive and silent is striking. In the early days they gave off a strong impression of collective leadership. Looks like Ole has turned into a control freak.

Hope it's not the case, but if true it would explain the stark change in style over time.

Speculation of course, but worth considering nonetheless.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Oh I quite agree. But the change in their demeanour from animated and constantly communicating to passive and silent is striking. In the early days they gave off a strong impression of collective leadership. Looks like Ole has turned into a control freak.

I don't think he's a control freak. Demeanour and perception of it doesn't change once results go sour. They're probably just struggling with their inability to produce the football everyone wants to see - becuase management /coaching and team building is not an easy task.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Things like a very high line, positional rotation, forward runs, and a genuine high press with a solid high block are all missing from our game currently, and were present at that time.


Once the hard fixtures started and we got those injuries, we got quite cautious and defensive, and understandably so. Unfortunately, the trend continued into this new season, something I didn't see coming at all.


You're right that some wins were plucky, but the fundamentals we started with are not there anymore. Like I said I didn't see that coming; I expected that with a full preseason, Ole would have gone back to what worked at the start. I think that's the only way he can survive.

We used to drop deep and try to hit teams on the break back then as well. We just did it better. Truth be told we all got swayed by the results and team confidence. It was only the first few games where I genuinely saw proper team peformances. The rest were efficient and effective.

 

[Winmove]

3 shots on target against Westham , 2 against Wolves , 3 against Palace , 3 against Leicester. Total 11 shots on target in the last 4 games, how is this an attacking football ? I swear we create more chances and more opportunity to score with the likes of Sanchez, Fellaini , Lukaku instead of what we have currently.

 

[Cnaiür urs Skiötha]

I never understood how Ole could have been anything else than an interim until summer.
Even in the first months we did not play that great. We just had the results on our side.

Each day longer with Ole at the wheel is a lost one.
Our football is terrible. Awful to watch.

 

[PaulRich]

We have the same points as Chelsea but there is NO way Solskjaer gets what that Chelsea team put in during that 2nd half against Liverpool. Slow, steady square ball anyone??

 

[Eric7C]

We have the same points as Chelsea but there is NO way Solskjaer gets what that Chelsea team put in during that 2nd half against Liverpool. Slow, steady square ball anyone??

It's striking how this has become the default style of United players over the reign of THREE managers now, starting with LvG. I guess they weren't kidding about his laying of the foundations.
Under Ole, there was a brief respite, but it is back to this.

 

[Bobcat]

It was ONLY with Herrera next to Pogba and McTominay that we looked like a functional team. As soon as he was injured following the PSG games we tanked, and have continued to be crap since he left. We might as well have kept Lukaku if we're going to play slow-pokes like Mata and Matic, he's much more mobile than either of those two!

I still think Pereira is our best bet to play in midfield with Pogba and McTominay, he's capable of cutting a defense open occasionally, and has the legs to defend. Or Fred.

This. We needed to trim a bloated squad, but losing Herrera was a big blow and not replacing him was catastrophic.

Herrera is no world beater, but he made out MF tick and these stats speak for themselves. Playing a high press with Matic and Mata is simply not possible, McTomminay, Fred and Pereira are all average/shite and Pogba blows hot and cold. Ole probably deserves to be sacked, but the problem is that if we get in a modern, progressive coach that likes to play high press, this squad is simply not fit for that purpose

 

[Foxbatt]

I don't know if they are not capable of doing what they are doing in training or not?
You have to get to practice the movements on and off the ball in practice. Sometimes even without the ball just where players are supposed to be in such and such situation. I don't think they are doing it.
I think we are playing off the cuff and that's why there is no flow of the play, two players going for the same ball, two players occupying the same space, leaving the marking to each other etc.
Managing a top club needs lot of experience. If Moyes who has managed in the PL with some success as the position of Everton could not handle how to manage Manchester United what hope does Ole have? He has never managed any decent club let alone a mega club.
Blaming Woodward alone is useless because I am sure he would have paid for a few players that's not so expensive. You can look at any club in the PL and you will see better midfield players than Matic, Mata, McTominay, Lingard and Pereira.
It's the Moyes syndrome of going after Fabregas. No class players are going to come to United with Ole as the manager. Top players want to win trophies.

 

[Andycoleno9]

Ok, i will say something which will piss a lot of people but last summer was the key, real reason why we are in complete mess without signs that it will be much better. We should have give full 100% backing to Mourinho. We should have bought him Harry, first option right back, right winger and 2 midfielders( if we presume that he would sell Pogba). If he had his squad he would not go in self destruct mod and i am sure that our football would be like it was in most of his career. Defensive and cautios in big games but with dominant play and wins against other teams. I am not saying that we would be in top 2 but i am sure that we would be 3rd club in England last year which would mean that this summer Sancho or Dybala would be interested to come here. And then who knows, City and Pool are playing excellent football but there are other ways to win trophies except full attacking football.
I know that he would not have 5 young players in squad but he would pick one or two who would play a lot. Instead having 5 who play then and there. Sure, i am absolutely not denying that he fecked up with signings of some players and that he wasn't backed in his first two seasons but hiring DoF to help him on transfer market would help in that area. Other solution was sacking Jose that summer and hiring proven manager who share our philosophy.

Club of our reputation can't afford to slip down this much. Club big as we must be always near the top because when you start to accept 4th place as your maximum, it is hard to go on top again.

 

[Mcking]

He doesn't seem like he can manage a game. The minute the opponents scores the first goal, it's all downhill and we don't have a chance at victory anymore. I can only remember us coming from behind to win under him once, against Southampton. Under Mourinho we were completing plenty of comebacks with the same players. He had the ability to swing the momentum in our favour. Solskjaer doesn't seem to have that, and he's no Pep on the training ground either. Having said that, our squad looks poor especially in attack, so I'm willing to give him the benefit of doubt.

 

[anant]

Let's be honest. We aren't playing the best football, but the at the same time we've been incredibly unlucky as well. We've conceded goals that are extremely unlikely- great strikes but shots like those creep into the back of the net once every 50 shots or so.
Even yesterday- we had 3 good chances - while that is obviously not enough, WHU had 1 good chance (the one that was actually saved by Dave) and we ended up losing 2-0. Sure, the quality of players isn't top notch and you have to blame Ole for that as well, but you have to take into consideration that we've been incredibly unlucky in some of the games

 

[roonster09]

Ok, i will say something which will piss a lot of people but last summer was the key, real reason why we are in complete mess without signs that it will be much better. We should have give full 100% backing to Mourinho. We should have bought him Harry, first option right back, right winger and 2 midfielders( if we presume that he would sell Pogba). If he had his squad he would not go in self destruct mod and i am sure that our football would be like it was in most of his career. Defensive and cautios in big games but with dominant play and wins against other teams. I am not saying that we would be in top 2 but i am sure that we would be 3rd club in England last year which would mean that this summer Sancho or Dybala would be interested to come here. And then who knows, City and Pool are playing excellent football but there are other ways to win trophies except full attacking football.
I know that he would not have 5 young players in squad but he would pick one or two who would play a lot. Instead having 5 who play then and there. Sure, i am absolutely not denying that he fecked up with signings of some players and that he wasn't backed in his first two seasons but hiring DoF to help him on transfer market would help in that area. Other solution was sacking Jose that summer and hiring proven manager who share our philosophy.

Club of our reputation can't afford to slip down this much. Club big as we must be always near the top because when you start to accept 4th place as your maximum, it is hard to go on top again.

Wonder when you guys will stop this. It wasn't just last summer that triggered Jose's exit, it started long back. People really forgot how poor we were in second half of 2017-18 season, just like people forget how poor we were in 2015-16 season. Ole being wrong choice doesn't mean sacking Jose was wrong. Both are wrong choices and with bit of luck and board making proper decision for once, we might end up with right choice.

He had his squad and went to self destruct mode, lets not rewrite history now. Not signing CB doesn't mean it wasn't Jose's squad. It was built by him and coached for 2.5 years.

 

[Foxbatt]

Before he self destructed his team play to a system no matter how boring it can be.

 

[Kostov]

Let's be honest. We aren't playing the best football, but the at the same time we've been incredibly unlucky as well. We've conceded goals that are extremely unlikely- great strikes but shots like those creep into the back of the net once every 50 shots or so.
Even yesterday- we had 3 good chances - while that is obviously not enough, WHU had 1 good chance (the one that was actually saved by Dave) and we ended up losing 2-0. Sure, the quality of players isn't top notch and you have to blame Ole for that as well, but you have to take into consideration that we've been incredibly unlucky in some of the games

Will you people shut the feck up with this kind of crap? Unlucky? Have we been unlucky for the past 6 years? The best teams in the world make their own luck, we struggle to create chances and score goals, and that is been going on for years. Nothing to do with bad luck, we are just a painfully average team.

 

[VP89]

Let's be honest. We aren't playing the best football, but the at the same time we've been incredibly unlucky as well. We've conceded goals that are extremely unlikely- great strikes but shots like those creep into the back of the net once every 50 shots or so.
Even yesterday- we had 3 good chances - while that is obviously not enough, WHU had 1 good chance (the one that was actually saved by Dave) and we ended up losing 2-0. Sure, the quality of players isn't top notch and you have to blame Ole for that as well, but you have to take into consideration that we've been incredibly unlucky in some of the games

Our team performance has been another level of shite this season. Its not a coincidence that lesser teams get the rub of the green versus us.

We don't control. The midfield because we have wrong players in the wrong positions, and also because Ole + management didn't think we needed to replace Fellaini and Herrera. We don't create because Ole + management thought we didn't need to replace 19 goals leaving in the form of Lukaku. We didn't have wide threats because Ole thought we didn't need a right winger urgently. The free kick Cresswell scored was a needless foul that Ashley Young, a 34 year old over the hill full back gave away. He played because Ole thought we didn't need any depth in key positions.

Do you see a trend here? Ole was happy not to spend and he's falling on his sword. Add to that he has no actual system that we can identify with consistently and makes selection errors. If this were any other manager we'd all say its an even worse time than Moyes, but Ole will get a pass with the fans. I'm fine with that because it's Ole and we love him, but let's not kid ourselves about how out of his depth he is.

 

[Bobcat]

Ok, i will say something which will piss a lot of people but last summer was the key, real reason why we are in complete mess without signs that it will be much better. We should have give full 100% backing to Mourinho. We should have bought him Harry, first option right back, right winger and 2 midfielders( if we presume that he would sell Pogba). If he had his squad he would not go in self destruct mod and i am sure that our football would be like it was in most of his career. Defensive and cautios in big games but with dominant play and wins against other teams. I am not saying that we would be in top 2 but i am sure that we would be 3rd club in England last year which would mean that this summer Sancho or Dybala would be interested to come here. And then who knows, City and Pool are playing excellent football but there are other ways to win trophies except full attacking football.
I know that he would not have 5 young players in squad but he would pick one or two who would play a lot. Instead having 5 who play then and there. Sure, i am absolutely not denying that he fecked up with signings of some players and that he wasn't backed in his first two seasons but hiring DoF to help him on transfer market would help in that area. Other solution was sacking Jose that summer and hiring proven manager who share our philosophy.

Club of our reputation can't afford to slip down this much. Club big as we must be always near the top because when you start to accept 4th place as your maximum, it is hard to go on top again.

Dont think thats particularly inflammatory, since our player recruitment has been shite since Fergie left and now those chickens have really come home to roost. The thing is though, OGS made his Molde side play pretty good fotball, and also had them punch way above their weight in the EL, winning a group that consisted of Ajax, Celtic and Fenerbache. He (Ole) might not be United quality, but i'm adamant hes a better coach than our current run suggests.

Our three former managers, but most of all Woody is responsible for the dire state our squad is in, and last summer was as you said an important piece of that puzzle. Granted that Jose was childish in the manner he handled it, but it was pretty evident he was not happy with the quality of the squad nor how Woody conducted his business. Ole says hes happy with the squad in the media, but i really doubt that is the case. The alternative would be him throwing the players under the bus like Jose did and air his dirty laundry for the world to see, but is that really better?

Who knows were we would be if Jose got backed. Jose deserves criticism for bringing in the likes of Matic and Fred, but at the same time he made it pretty clear that he was unhappy with the quality of the players at his disposal and when he said reaching 2nd with this squad was his greatest achievement, he might be right. Neville said we need at least 3 more windows to make this squad competitive, and i think hes right. Outside a few players, our squad is midtable quality at best, which is the result of years of shite transfers and hyping up mediocre players.