Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion

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VP89 said:
I dont think there is much wrong with his approach or the system today. We just played a very good City side who hit us on 2 set pieces.
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We're hit on set pieces an awful lot though, and nothing seems to be done to improve our set piece defending. Unless that's what Fletcher was brought in to do.

My problem today was that it seemed as if we practiced the long ball to Rashford all week and when that didn't work we had no idea what to do with the ball.
 
VP89 said:
I dont think there is much wrong with his approach or the system today. We just played a very good City side who hit us on 2 set pieces.
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I agree with that in general, but he's in charge and our set-pieces were yet again abysmal. It's not like it's rocket science. It's not good enough.
 
Giggsyking said:
So set pieces does not count?
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They do, but we played a very sharp city side that couldn't do much in open play which counts for more than you seem to be willing to give credit for.
Anustart89 said:
We're hit on set pieces an awful lot though, and nothing seems to be done to improve our set piece defending. Unless that's what Fletcher was brought in to do.

My problem today was that it seemed as if we practiced the long ball to Rashford all week and when that didn't work we had no idea what to do with the ball.
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I agree it was a day where it didn't come off for us. I think the manager and the team has earned enough goodwill for us not to get too caught up in it though.
 
passing-wind said:
This is becoming definitive of Solskjaer's capacity as a manager, we put ourselves in a position to accumulate success but continually seem to fall short. I realistically think if we don't challenge for the league given the circumstances this year (every team being below par) we will never win anything of major note under his influence.
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If every team is playing under par and that’s why we should challenge are you thinking we’re not effected or something and it’s a normal season for us
 
VP89 said:
I agree it was a day where it didn't come off for us. I think the manager and the team has earned enough goodwill for us not to get too caught up in it though.
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Regardless of goodwill, we don't seem to be addressing the most obvious weaknesses we have as a football team. How are we supposed to improve our results if we don't eliminate something that is costing us goals almost in every game. Sure, we could go the "you score three, we'll score four" route, but it's very concerning that team weaknesses (and individual ones) aren't being adressed two years on.

If we concede a goal every game from set pieces, it removes the leeway for an off-day when the attackers aren't firing. Title challenges are made of grinding out 1-0 wins on off days, and if they all turn to 1-1 draws due to not addressing a set piece weakness it's going to seriously hamper us in the long run.
 
Anustart89 said:
Regardless of goodwill, we don't seem to be addressing the most obvious weaknesses we have as a football team. How are we supposed to improve our results if we don't eliminate something that is costing us goals almost in every game. Sure, we could go the "you score three, we'll score four" route, but it's very concerning that team weaknesses (and individual ones) aren't being adressed two years on.
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We've been hopeless at defending set pieces for a lot more than 2 years. It was a problem under van gaal and mourinho too. Fellaini and Matic negate it somewhat but we've been weak there for ages.
 
A spine of De Gea, Maguire, Fred & Martial isn’t going to win trophies. Individual brilliance from the Bruno’s and Rashford’s plus fast counter attacking play does and will win us games, no doubt. But to get back to the top, and winning these big games like tonight again, that spine is I hate to say it, spineless.

Is this Ole’s fault? I have no idea.
 
caid said:
We've been hopeless at defending set pieces for a lot more than 2 years. It was a problem under van gaal and mourinho too. Fellaini and Matic negate it somewhat but we've been weak there for ages.
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Not disagreeing with you at all, but should we just accept that this management isn't acting on weaknesses because the previous ones weren't?
 
VivaRonaldo85 said:
A spine of De Gea, Maguire, Fred & Martial isn’t going to win trophies. Individual brilliance from the Bruno’s and Rashford’s plus fast counter attacking play does and will win us games, no doubt. But to get back to the top, and winning these big games like tonight again, that spine is I hate to say it, spineless.

Is this Ole’s fault? I have no idea.
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De Gea is having a pretty good season for us, weird to signal him out today if you ask, when he didn't even play.
 
Big game record this season is going to undermine what has been a decent campaign.

We perform like that against the scousers and their season will take off again. City didn't need to do much to win, but even with a Covid ridden squad he's shown his lack of adaptability and poor in game management in yet another big game.

I'm glad we're now winning the routine games we failed to win last year, but at the expense of causing the big teams genuine problems? Not really worth it.
 
Zlatan 7 said:
If every team is playing under par and that’s why we should challenge are you thinking we’re not effected or something and it’s a normal season for us
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Liverpool finished 33 points ahead of us last season, they are now level on points with half the season having passed. Last season they had 49 points compared to 33 this January. They have been inconsistent as have city who for the past two seasons have blown us out the water in points accumulation.

We are in contention for the league on the basis of Liverpool / City's poor form, there's no sugarcoating this fact. We have performed better compared to last year with almost approximately 10 points more if we win our next two games. That for me is opportunity in a normal season we are around 4th due to the level of competition. There's no excuse not to mount a challenge.
 
NotoriousISSY said:
Big game record this season is going to undermine what has been a decent campaign.

We perform like that against the scousers and their season will take off again. City didn't need to do much to win, but even with a Covid ridden squad he's shown his lack of adaptability and poor in game management in yet another big game.

I'm glad we're now winning the routine games we failed to win last year, but at the expense of causing the big teams genuine problems? Not really worth it.
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Disagree with this. Of course it's worth losing the big game record if we up our consistency against the worse sides. Win all games against the bottom 14 home and away and you have 84 points. They make up the majority of games and give you the most points in the league.

Agree though that we look much worse now that we've been figured out. Looked clueless once we realised that the long ball over Zinchenko wasn't going to work.
 
passing-wind said:
Liverpool finished 33 points ahead of us last season, they are now level on points with half the season having passed. Last season they had 49 points compared to 33 this January. They have been inconsistent as have city who for the past two seasons have blown us out the water in points accumulation.

We are in contention for the league on the basis of Liverpool / City's poor form, there's no sugarcoating this fact. We have performed better compared to last year with almost approximately 10 points more if we win our next two games. That for me is opportunity in a normal season we are around 4th due to the level of competition. There's no excuse not to mount a challenge.
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Still didn’t really answer, so city and Liverpool’s poor form and points is due to COVID but our position is just our normal season points.
 
Beaten in another semifinal without much of a whimper. I don't trust Solskjaer. I feel at best we're beautifully choatic and at worst we're shambolic. No inbetween, no indentity, just individuals out there for better or for worse
 
Anustart89 said:
Disagree with this. Of course it's worth losing the big game record if we up our consistency against the worse sides. Win all games against the bottom 14 home and away and you have 84 points. They make up the majority of games and give you the most points in the league.

Agree though that we look much worse now that we've been figured out. Looked clueless once we realised that the long ball over Zinchenko wasn't going to work.
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after one cup game?
 
Zlatan 7 said:
Still didn’t really answer, so city and Liverpool’s poor form and points is due to COVID but our position is just our normal season points.
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I answered very clearly in the context of the last section of the comment please review. We have accumulated an average of 10 more points this season than last season. Last season our points total would have us in 5th position.

We are fighting for the league THIS season because Liverpool / City have been below par. COVID hasn't entirely hampered their respective teams (how is that measured ?) injuries to key players have.

It depends on what type of person you are as to how life has formed your perspective, when I see opportunity I see it expressed in the form probability of chance. We have more chance to win the league this year than any other period since Sir Alex retired because no matter who wins the league, inconsistency is a dismissed factor.
 
ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
win our next game and we are 3 points clear at the top of the table. Remember that. Tool.
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Lose 2 of the next 3 and we could be 6th? If buts and maybes mean nothing, stepping up in at least some of the big games claims the prizes, and this season we've failed to win all 5 of the big domestic games so far.
 
passing-wind said:
I answered very clearly in the context of the last section of the comment please review. We have accumulated an average of 10 more points this season than last season. Last season our points total would have us in 5th position.

We are fighting for the league THIS season because Liverpool / City have been below par. COVID hasn't entirely hampered their respective teams (how is that measured ?) injuries to key players have.

It depends on what type of person you are as to how life has formed your perspective, when I see opportunity I see it expressed in the form probability of chance. We have more chance to win the league this year than any other period since Sir Alex retired because no matter who wins the league, inconsistency is a dismissed factor.
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I agree we have more chance this year as Liverpool have dropped off, defending champions and have their main centreback injured, city have looked up and down but probably the best team.

you want to put Covid as the reason for this, I don’t. Both teams could have had similar season without COVID.

how COVID is used as an excuse for Liverpool’s and cities drop off yet United or Ole are not afforded that same measure but expected to challenge because of it Amazes me
 
All depends on the next two games I guess. Defeat Burnley and avoid a loss to Liverpool and there's nothing to feel fussed about regarding tonight's loss. Getting past Liverpool game leading the table with 3 points gap will be great, but hopefully it happens first, as some yesterday were talking in the League Cup thread in football forum as if a final with Spurs is already done, similar to what we did as well after we defeated PSG and RB and pretty much wrote the entire group done as if it was impossible to lose against them on the return leg.

So let's wait and see. We need to show a big character and mentality in the upcoming two games in the league. Hopefully it happens.

Keep the title challenge going on and at the end, it'll be much better than League Cup win.
 
As much as it hurts to admit but we are still not yet there where we want to see ourselves. We are improving for sure but in the crunch moments we are not getting the benefit of doubt. This city team is again picking up and that is not a good sign for us. I fear all the good work in this season could end up with nothing and we may end up with no trophies and a top 3 finish again. Not bad but neither good.
 
Anustart89 said:
So we're in agreement then. Do you also not think that our 'sit back and counter' approach has been sussed out by the majority of big teams we've faced this season, as opposed to last?
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i think it’s far too early to say that. I think we actually have more variety to out play than last year. Unfortunately City, after the Chelsea result were in great form. It’s a game of slim margins, both goals could/ should have been stopped. I didn’t think there was a great deal between the two teams tonight.

clearly city took their chances. We didn’t.
NotoriousISSY said:
Lose 2 of the next 3 and we could be 6th? If buts and maybes mean nothing, stepping up in at least some of the big games claims the prizes, and this season we've failed to win all 5 of the big domestic games so far.
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lose 2 of our next 3 games, and I expect we could also be 1st.
 
Zlatan 7 said:
I agree we have more chance this year as Liverpool have dropped off, defending champions and have their main centreback injured, city have looked up and down but probably the best team.

you want to put Covid as the reason for this, I don’t. Both teams could have had similar season without COVID.

how COVID is used as an excuse for Liverpool’s and cities drop off yet United or Ole are not afforded that same measure Amazes me
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The only person who's ever mentioned COVID in this topic is yourself, the reason City / Liverpool have been below average is due to injuries not absences that's a big difference.

I'm not really interested in excuses, when opportunity knocks its either taken or it's passed up. Football for the first time since I can recall is basically saying that consistency is a non-negotiable this season for the league. What Solskjaer does is up to him but he should be scrutinised more this season than last year or potentially even next season because the fact is we have the best chance in almost a decade to grab a title.
 
passing-wind said:
The only person who's ever mentioned COVID in this topic is yourself, the reason City / Liverpool have been below average is due to injuries not absences that's a big difference.

I'm not really interested in excuses, when opportunity knocks its either taken or it's passed up. Football for the first time since I can recall is basically saying that consistency is a non-negotiable this season for the league. What Solskjaer does is up to him but he should be scrutinised more this season than last year or potentially even next season because the fact is we have the best chance in almost a decade to grab a title.
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When we had injuries in the first half of last season you argued with me that they weren't an excuse for poor results. Interesting you are saying the opposite now.
 
passing-wind said:
The only person who's ever mentioned COVID in this topic is yourself, the reason City / Liverpool have been below average is due to injuries not absences that's a big difference.

I'm not really interested in excuses, when opportunity knocks its either taken or it's passed up. Football for the first time since I can recall is basically saying that consistency is a non-negotiable this season for the league. What Solskjaer does is up to him but he should be scrutinised more this season than last year or potentially even next season because the fact is we have the best chance in almost a decade to grab a title.
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Ok I apologise, I mistakingly took you saying “if we don’t challenge this year given the circumstances” as implying it was due to an unusual Covid season, not other team’s injuries
 
Leftback99 said:
When we had injuries in the first half of last season you argued with me that they weren't an excuse for poor results. Interesting you are saying the opposite now.
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I don't recall but if so I see the point however, a champions league / league winning team injuries to pivotal players are totally non-existent in influence compared to those who was injured enough to make our starting 11. We don't have anyone to compare having such a impactful injury outside of maybe De Gea back then (who still had a shaky season).
 
Ole I know Harry is your captain and Bruno your talisman but please rest them completely on Sat FFS, will also throw Rashford in there for a complete break as well or you will end up burning the three of them out and that will cost us.
 
passing-wind said:
I answered very clearly in the context of the last section of the comment please review. We have accumulated an average of 10 more points this season than last season. Last season our points total would have us in 5th position.

We are fighting for the league THIS season because Liverpool / City have been below par. COVID hasn't entirely hampered their respective teams (how is that measured ?) injuries to key players have.

It depends on what type of person you are as to how life has formed your perspective, when I see opportunity I see it expressed in the form probability of chance. We have more chance to win the league this year than any other period since Sir Alex retired because no matter who wins the league, inconsistency is a dismissed factor.
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33 points last season after 17 games was 3rd place.
 
bond19821982 said:
Outclassed, outplayed and outcoached by a far better team. Well, its not like I was expecting us to play differently but we were much better in our league match against them.

All this title talk is entirely premature. Would be happy with a top 4 finish.
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Were you even watching the game? If anything, today should tell you that the quality of our players are the problem not the manager. We have been winning our matches and still managed to be on league title race down to manager’s tactic and man management. Eventually relying on tactic alone won’t work forever and the lack quality of players will caught us up and today was the game that when quality of players was the difference.

It was 50:50 in first half, they had chances but we also had chances from Rashford and Bruno. Second half, their players remain consistent while our player especially the attackers dropped their performance and outclassed by their defenders.

You were hiding when we were on good form in the league this season, but jump to discredit the manager when players are outperformed.
 
passing-wind said:
This is becoming definitive of Solskjaer's capacity as a manager, we put ourselves in a position to accumulate success but continually seem to fall short. I realistically think if we don't challenge for the league given the circumstances this year (every team being below par) we will never win anything of major note under his influence.
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passing-wind said:
I answered very clearly in the context of the last section of the comment please review. We have accumulated an average of 10 more points this season than last season. Last season our points total would have us in 5th position.

We are fighting for the league THIS season because Liverpool / City have been below par. COVID hasn't entirely hampered their respective teams (how is that measured ?) injuries to key players have.

It depends on what type of person you are as to how life has formed your perspective, when I see opportunity I see it expressed in the form probability of chance. We have more chance to win the league this year than any other period since Sir Alex retired because no matter who wins the league, inconsistency is a dismissed factor.
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Not sure how is it becoming definitive of Ole’s capacity but not questioning the quality or the level of players in our squad?

Not true. Last season our points total would have us in 3rd position not 5th.
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UNITED ACADEMY said:
Were you even watching the game? If anything, today should tell you that the quality of our players are the problem not the manager. We have been winning our matches and still managed to be on league title race down to manager’s tactic and man management. Eventually relying on tactic alone won’t work forever and the lack quality of players will caught us up and today was the game that when quality of players was the difference.

It was 50:50 in first half, they had chances but we also had chances from Rashford and Bruno. Second half, their players remain consistent while our player especially the attackers dropped their performance and outclassed by their defenders.

You were hiding when we were on good form in the league this season, but jump to discredit the manager when players are outperformed.
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Next time I will try to get your permission before deciding when to post and when not to.
 
Liverpool away and arsenal away coming up. If he doesn't win at least one of those games the excuses need to stop. We have one of the best squads in the league. The title race is wide open this year lets hope he flukes it by some miracle.
 
For me Solskjaer has improved average players to make them look better than they actually are - arguably making them close to good or top class but not world class.

This can be seen with players like Lindelof, Bailly, Shaw, Wan Bissaka, Fred, Mctomminay, Martial etc etc players that are were not consistent that he has managed to improve to a very high level but are not the quality of a world class player.

I think Fred is a fantastic player for the squad but he shouldn't be the final piece of the puzzle as a guaranteed starter for the club. We need a world class, Bruno Fernandes version of a CDM instead. That will reduce the goals.

I think Martial is okay for a squad role if Ole is happy with his creativity but I can see why Ole went for Haaland as soon as he arrived - we need that Bruno Fernandes version of a Central striker to Finish of Games.

We need one More world class CB to build that partnership rather than relying on just Bailly - as good as he maybe, once he is gone we are back on Lindelof who is shit on the header and is passive.

At best, I am happy with Maguire, Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, Shaw.

We need another 3 or 4 world class players and a few more players that can compete for roles to get the best out of each other ( like a RB to teach Wan Bissaka).

We just have very few world class players and it generally shows in cup matches.
 
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