He came out and said he didn't watch our match against Palace from last season. So I have to wonder how exactly he prepared for this game. I was a bit shocked hearing that in the presser
On this point, I feel the problem with the statement stems from him not being a native English speaker. Taking the quotes in full from the press conference reads that he didn't watch last season's match due to the fact that he also had a match simultaneously with Molde.
There no way that he will dismiss the previous match in an offhanded manner when the team still has the same manager and roughly the same team as the last time and like
@fergiesarmy1 said
There has to be someone what watched the previous game.
Shirley
Or the fact that McKenna and Carrick were part of the coaching team last year means that they have first hand information about the team from personal experience.
On Ole as a manager, like I said at the end of the preseason games and many posters on this forum have alluded to, Ole currently has the right ingredient in the team to secure a top four spot
"if" he has the
cojones to really go for the jugular. However, as with all things that requires a decisive action, fear holds majority of individuals back.
Right from the preseason, it has been glaring that Lingard remains unfit for purpose. This is not a bashing but more of acknowledging his limitations as a player. Lingard's best position is the
trequartista or
number 10; a player who plays in-between the opponents defense lines. Thinking back to great players who have played this role to excellence, Lingard does not measure up to them due to his limitations.
For the team to move forward, Ole needs to grow a pair and trust/thrush Angel Gomes into this role of playmaker.
Doing this helps the team in a number of ways as it evident that in terms of knitting play, Lingard is poor in this regards.
Skipping back two weeks to the Rotterham U-23 (most poster might not have followed the match), it was on display the play-knitting options that Gomes will bring to the senior team (which continued from his preseason form). Also, for those worried about his height and physique, the last two matches played by James shows that once you have the talent, physical characteristics at senior level does not confer an undue advantage as compare to junior/age-grade football. Also, in that match, Gomes showed a lot of physicality by taking and dishing out tackles to players bigger than him.
Since we are implementing the 4-2-3-1 formation right through the club, it makes sense that Ole brings Gomes into the team ahead of Lingard and Mata in order to help knit play and unlock defence.
Ole has shown that he can take ruthless decisions and make it apper appealing with his outer demeanor. Therefore, he should go the whole way and institute the final change to the team by giving Gomes the starting berth to ease a lot of burden on this team.
As a corollary, Greenwood is still a green horn and should be allowed to develop with the U-23s this season and gradually brought to the first team. Like it has always been said the hardest thing in football is scoring goals. His talent is evident but placing him in the limelight too soon might be detrimental to his development as he just bust on to the season last season.
Daniel James has done well irrespective of the need for him to maximize his talent and add to his repertoire of skills. I hope he fulfills the weight of expectation on his shoulder.
Yesterday should show Ole that if he wishes to emulate Fergie, he needs better lieutenants than the current crops. Or perhaps he needs to add a tactical development coach to this team to help vary patterns.
As with everything United, crisis is just around the corner considering the events of the post Fergie years. I hope we can exit this mode and continue on the part of success.
