Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion

[westmeath]

Who else was he supposed to pick based on the Everton performance and what else was he supposed to do with the team available?

People get all up in arms about team selections but we don't know the inner politics of the club. It's not as black and white as play these 11 players and you'll win every game, don't play this player and you'll win etc.

But it’s clear that Lingard is a terrible player. Ole should realise that by now. It’s worrying that he even considers picking him for a derby.

 

[roonster09]

He tried, it only resulted in a dozen hamstring injuries. The way players were getting shattered in and around the Liverpool game was quite shocking.

Since then he has struggled regarding whether he should stick or twist. Stick with the high intensity system and risk even more injuries with a hectic schedule, or twist and be a bit more pragmatic and sacrifice a fair chunk of that intensity.

I don't blame him one bit for running the players into the ground from the start. Not really his problem that these jokers were undercooked by the previous zombies. Let's just hope he's allowed to get rid of the deadwood in the summer.

Good post. First part is something I said few times. At least going by Ole's words he wants his team to be the hardest working team in the league, which we were among the best in first few games and then started to drop like flies. He also said we are not working on fitness because of lack of time, so he just can't go back to playing with intensity.

 

[kouroux]

It's a bit fecking rich to be honest, has there ever been a United manager that stands to lose even if he beats City at home? I doubt it. Andy Gray is just trying to keep his name relevant by writing extremism.

Stands to lose how exactly ?

 

[Foxbatt]

This is why I want someone like Quiroz to be his assistant.

 

[Jazz]

You make some good points. Getting a experienced coach to join the backroom staff would be very beneficial. Someone with a bit of pedigree would be ideal.

Jordi Cruyff and Ole are close friends ever since they both signed for us over 20 years ago. Cruyff as the DoF could also be a good move.

Ole has the right ideas and knows what needs to be done. The problem is the execution and he needs to have the right people around in my opinion. It can't just be those who know the United way. For eg. Phelan is a very good coach, but he's from a different era and certain aspects of football has moved on technically. Therefore, you need to compensate for that and hire people from outside who are progressive and up to date with the modern game. It's all about balance.

If you have time there was a brief article on Jordi and he explains the role of the technical director. I thought he was clear and incisive on our situation in that respect. Plus he's had experience with United and outside of the club. Again, his knowledge would provide a balance.

I worry so much we just use the old boys network because we will go backwards.

 

[FootyGirl88]

Him calling Rashord "Rashy" really doesn't sit right with my spirit.

 

[Jazz]

This is why I want someone like Quiroz to be his assistant.

Agreed.

Worried he's relying too much on Carrick as well who has just stared coaching. It's not good enough for where we're at. He needs experience around him.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

We simply can’t afford to lose to Chelsea. In the league under him we only scored one goal so far against the other big five clubs, so scoring would be a start.

Chelsea haven’t been great themselves, but I hope we take the game to them rather than playing like underdogs.

We're going to play like underdogs.

I've already accepted it.

I just hope we win.

 

[DAV771]

I think Ole has the right ideas but can he execute them efficiently being such an inexperienced manager? Clearing out the deadwood and steadying the ship was supposed to be a job for LVG/Mourinho. Unfortunately I just don't think Ole has the pedigree to manage at this level.

He seems like too much of a nice guy to me, calling Rashford "Rashy" in the post match interviews after a performance as bad as that leads me to think there's not much anger coming out of him in the dressing room.

He seems to be giving the media all the right soundbites about passion and "the United way" but does he know how to get that passion from the players? I'm not so sure.

Ole deserves to be given the next two transfer windows at the very least before he's properly judged though. Some of the people on here calling for him to be sacked already is madness. The squad the previous 3 clowns have left him with is beyond a joke.

 

[Foxbatt]

Quiroz will also not be worried about the SAF factor and he has seen what SAF did and also was in coaching till at least the end of the World Cup as far as I know.
He won't be scared to change things too.
The Jordi Cruijff angle is something I have said in the past too as he has been a successful DOF while he was not successful as a coach.
I would rather Jordi gets it rather than Mike Phelan. I think it would be a huge mistake to make Phelan the DFO.

 

[TMDaines]

Top 4 has never been so important for us. There's just going to be so few reasons to opt for United without Champions League football. It's easy to be romantic and say the red shirt and Old Trafford should be enough, but other than that all we have is good wages. All the elite can offer that.

 

[Renegade]

Yeah but you would think he would go back to what was working in the first place. Whatever is the plan right now, it certainly is not working.

I don’t think he can because I don’t think that run of form was the result great tactics. Emotion & morale drove those performances with small tactical detail.

 

[Yagami]

Top 4 has never been so important for us. There's just going to be so few reasons to opt for United without Champions League football. It's easy to be romantic and say the red shirt and Old Trafford should be enough, but other than that all we have is good wages. All the elite can offer that.

I don't think it's that important. Spurs and Liverpool have progressed despite not having CL footy on a consistent basis thanks to a long term plan and excellent coaching from Poch and Klopp. That's what we need more, in my opinion.

We need Ole to identify what footy he wants to play, buy players that fit said style (we can still attract good/promising players) and work off that. Liverpool didn't need CL football to get Salah, Mane, Firmino, etc. In fact, they weren't that calibre of player prior to Klopp getting his hands on them. Hopefully Ole can do the same here with some proper coaching and a proper vision of how we want to play instead of uprooting everything as soon as we get a bad result or two.

 

[bsCallout]

This forum is quite embarrassing at times.

Ole has come in with a squad of underperforming and unfit players.

He went on a good run playing good football and then was hit by injuries, since then he has been limited to playing players that are fit, playing some of the best teams in football and playing 2/3 game a week.

He is working with unfit players who havent been able to have a rest and he hasnt even had time to work on the training pitch with them because they have one or two days plus a days rest before another big game.

Any one calling for is head is overreacting.

People conplaining because he starts Rashford, he has also started all the other strikers and whichever one starts will not be good enough.

It is quite clear he knows the problems and also the problem players and is prepared to be ruthless in getting rid of them.

We have a great opportunity this summer to get a few players that we could easily get to transform our team including, Wan Bissaka, Rice, Alderweireld, and a forward player.

At least allow the manager a window and time on the training pitch to implement his ideas. We've had a tough run of fixtures, a full schedule with an unfit and often injured squad lacking in confidence because of the problems before him. He hasnt had time to rectify those.

 

[dove]

Top 4 has never been so important for us. There's just going to be so few reasons to opt for United without Champions League football. It's easy to be romantic and say the red shirt and Old Trafford should be enough, but other than that all we have is good wages. All the elite can offer that.

As if there was a reason anyone would join us for anything other than money anyway. We are not an attractive destination right now, I honestly do not believe our participation in CL changes that a lot as we have no chance of winning it anyway. TOP 4 is our ultimate battle for years to come with occasional league or FA cup.

 

[Casanova85]

I'm not sure if Ole is telling the players that the match vs Chelsea must be a victory,.no matter what. NO more room for mistakes. It's a final.

 

[TMDaines]

I don't think it's that important. Spurs and Liverpool have progressed despite not having CL footy on a consistent basis thanks to a long term plan and excellent coaching from Poch and Klopp. That's what we need more, in my opinion.

We need Ole to identify what footy he wants to play, buy players that fit said style (we can still attract good/promising players) and work off that. Liverpool didn't need CL football to get Salah, Mane, Firmino, etc. In fact, they weren't that calibre of player prior to Klopp getting his hands on them. Hopefully Ole can do the same here with some proper coaching and a proper vision of how we want to play instead of uprooting everything as soon as we get a bad result or two.

Exactly. You've said it yourself. They have gone into a summer with a clear vision and a clear system. We don't even have that. That's my biggest disappointment with Ole. We can't sell to players a particular role within a system, working in partnership with particular players. The players we want to sign are likely to have alternate offers and it is difficult to see why United would be your choice currently.

The last time we were out we had a great window, but we had just signed Mourinho, who (at the time certainly) would have been a selling factor. This year we are nosediving with Ole. it's completely different.

 

[AJ10]

They still play a posession game, but has differences to Wenger's. They have a lot more physicality to their game and they are more intense in the press - to name a few.

Regardless though - it's a style which is evident. Clear direction. Under Ole, it's not quite Mourinho football, it's not really much of anything tbh. We can't play on the ground, we don't try to play in the air. We just kind of sit deep and hope we can hold on until the opposition over commits and we can find Rashford or Lukaku/Lingard in a channel to run the whole pitch.

From what I've seen they still look the same as wenger but I am sure you've watched more of them to judge.

We did play some decent stuff until players started falling like flies, after that we've just been a counter attacking team. Based on watching Molde I do have little hope that we'll play High press/quick passing/ build from back type of football. Just have to wait and see what happens during the summer and whether we can actually get in players to play high intensity football of any sort.

 

[DWelbz19]

He tried, it only resulted in a dozen hamstring injuries. The way players were getting shattered in and around the Liverpool game was quite shocking.

I think this is correct. Straight when he joined the team were up there with sprints and distance covered, but after the new manager buzz fell and players started pulling up we’ve not been the same.

Probably why he keeps harping on about pre-season also; he can’t wait to get these fat lazy bastards back in shape.

 

[kouroux]

I think this is correct. Straight when he joined the team were up there with sprints and distance covered, but after the new manager buzz fell and players started pulling up we’ve not been the same.

Probably why he keeps harping on about pre-season also; he can’t wait to get these fat lazy bastards back in shape.

Can we trust these morons to come back in a shame that's not reminsicent of Rooney post preseason ? I hope the club gives clear instructions to them, preseason has to be hell.

 

[Vidyoyo]

Worth giving him the summer to see what he can do.

We need some patience really, I'd be happy if we're fighting for titles in five years because our squad is a complete mess as it is. Either with Solskjaer or without.

 

[dogwithabone]

His responses and expression in interviews are becoming a little bit predictable, nothing really new. I really hope we see some anger and frustration come out soon because he must be ready to explode inside.

 

[Yagami]

Exactly. You've said it yourself. They have gone into a summer with a clear vision and a clear system. We don't even have that. That's my biggest disappointment with Ole. We can't sell to players a particular role within a system, working in partnership with particular players. The players we want to sign are likely to have alternate offers and it is difficult to see why United would be your choice currently.

The last time we were out we had a great window, but we had just signed Mourinho, who (at the time certainly) would have been a selling factor. This year we are nosediving with Ole. it's completely different.

At this point, all we have is hope. We don't know what type of football Ole wants us to play, but we have to hope it's a progressive style like our rivals, and we have to hope we sign players who are going to fit said style instead of the biggest name on the market.

If we go into the season with this vision, and with the boards backing, we can have a good window. It's just a matter of are we going to go in with a vision or are we going to panic buy for instant success again.

 

[Treble]

The comparison I'm going to make is probably wank but Guardiola's first season at City had a similar trajectory.

City won something like 10 games in a row in all compets but then lost several games including drubbings from Leicester (4:2 but Leicester were 4 up) and Everton (4:0). At that point many were thinking he was bound to fail.

The main difference is that the style Guardiola was trying to implement was quite visible. With Ole the style isn't quite there yet. Might be because he does not have time to prepare the team to play differently. The first months of next season will be telling - no style, no party.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

This forum is quite embarrassing at times.

Ole has come in with a squad of underperforming and unfit players.

He went on a good run playing good football and then was hit by injuries, since then he has been limited to playing players that are fit, playing some of the best teams in football and playing 2/3 game a week.

He is working with unfit players who havent been able to have a rest and he hasnt even had time to work on the training pitch with them because they have one or two days plus a days rest before another big game.

Any one calling for is head is overreacting.

People conplaining because he starts Rashford, he has also started all the other strikers and whichever one starts will not be good enough.

It is quite clear he knows the problems and also the problem players and is prepared to be ruthless in getting rid of them.

We have a great opportunity this summer to get a few players that we could easily get to transform our team including, Wan Bissaka, Rice, Alderweireld, and a forward player.

At least allow the manager a window and time on the training pitch to implement his ideas. We've had a tough run of fixtures, a full schedule with an unfit and often injured squad lacking in confidence because of the problems before him. He hasnt had time to rectify those.

I think the unfit thing is a bit of an excuse tbh. Alot of it is just a genuine lack of desire from the players. It is no co-incidence we get outrun by our opponents in nearly every game.

In regards to the bold part, I don't think it is clear. He gave Jones, Smalling, Young and Martial all new deals and constantly starts Lingard and Young. That to me doesn't spell any sort of ruthlessness. In fact it's all talk right now, and chances are he will get rid of the likes of Valencia, Darmian, Rojo etc who will of most likely gone anyways.

 

[CM]

Can we trust these morons to come back in a shame that's not reminsicent of Rooney post preseason ? I hope the club gives clear instructions to them, preseason has to be hell.

Presumably that's why he said they deserve the chance of a pre-season. Anyone who fails to measure up by then will be out.

 

[kouroux]

Presumably that's why he said they deserve the chance of a pre-season. Anyone who fails to measure up by then will be out.

Some of them really don't, no amount of preseason will turn Lingard nor Young into fine footballers.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

He tried, it only resulted in a dozen hamstring injuries. The way players were getting shattered in and around the Liverpool game was quite shocking.

Since then he has struggled regarding whether he should stick or twist. Stick with the high intensity system and risk even more injuries with a hectic schedule, or twist and be a bit more pragmatic and sacrifice a fair chunk of that intensity.

I don't blame him one bit for running the players into the ground from the start. Not really his problem that these jokers were undercooked by the previous zombies. Let's just hope he's allowed to get rid of the deadwood in the summer.

We can get all the right players, but if the bloke in charge of managing them isn't the required level, it's just another mess all over again.

I agree with both of these posts, even though they seem to come from opposite ends of the argument, which I suppose highlights what a difficult jam we're in. I at least trust Ole to work to bring in a higher intensity, positive brand of football, both in terms of working with the players we have and what he'll look for in the market. That can only be a good thing, as everything good this season came when Ole made that change of direction and everything bad came under Jose and after the players hit a physical wall during our busy run-in.

The bottom line is I trust Ole to work it out, and to be honest even if he fails to get us back to the top himself I at least back him to leave a better squad to the next guy than the lumbering Frankenstein's monster he inherited.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

I agree to an extent. We have quality in this side, it's been shown in flashes. We just haven't given a chance to any managers with a distinct style of attacking play to utilise them to their fullest. It's no surprise players who look great at their teams struggle when they join us. We are terribly coached.

Ole's brand of managerial football was never that of excellent, drilled attack. His Molde sides weren't even like that, so people thinking money and time is going to change anything are going to be mistaken. It is going to be football not too dissimilar to what rightly got Mourinho sacked. Go for it against the minnows, tuck your tails in between your legs against anyone that can compete. It's simply not enough given the competition we have in Europe and England anymore.

Teams are far too strong and rich, the top teams aspire to dominate every game they play. That is what we need to be aiming for. His football has never been that type, nor has he shown anything to suggest his football here will be the same either.

Liverpool when Klopp first joined where showing progress towards his style. Pep was showing progress towards his style. We aren't seeing any semblance of a progressive style under Ole. If anything our football is getting worse game by game.

Regardless of the quality of our players, a clear progressive style should be evident.

People forget the Liverpool ended on a high in Klopps first season. Yes, he finished 8th however, they won a bunch of games at the end of that season and scored almost half of their PL seasons tally in the final 13 games. They also made it the the EFL and EL cup finals where, in the latter, they thrashed us and had that incredible game against Dortmund.

 

[crossy1686]

Of course no manager can get the best out of these players. But the problem is that we need a competent manager to draw up a plan of action, determine a style of play required to challenge PL and CL and slowly get in players who can do that.

By your logic, we might as well hire Warnock or Allardyce or Moyes since nobody is going to get the best out of these players anyway. No, the point is, the problem is compounded by a manager who is out of his depth.

Pochettino is someone we could trust to oversee a rebuild as he has a track record of building teams and a hunger to compete at the top level. Can we trust Ole based on 3 months of a new manager bounce to do the same?

So you're basing a managers plan on a short stint in the middle of a season?

None of us actually know what he wants to implement until after the summer. He's already said he wants to play a high pressing tempo with a counter attack, which we've seen some of but he's also bemoaned the lack of fitness amongst the players at the club currently which is stopping drastic changes. He himself has said he can't wait for preseason to address that because now is the wrong time of year to be working on fitness.

Pochettino wouldn't know his arse from his elbow if he came in now. Not only dealing with the magnitude of United and how your every word is over analysed, because that went well for him when we didn't have a manager... Also having to deal with a bunch of players that play when THEY want to.

Mourinho had a glorious track record, we all know how that ended.

 

[The Purley King]

He's said largely the right things so far, but the summer is where we'll see if he actually backs it up with actions.
Must be ruthless with the dross and the no hopers and bring in players that can actually retain the ball when they get it.
Its a massive job, even for an experienced top flight manager and I'll admit to being pretty nervous whether Ole has got the bollocks to do what is required or not.

 

[crossy1686]

Stands to lose how exactly ?

We win, Liverpool win the league, we lose, City win the league.

We can pretend all we want but people can't handle either of those two winning the league and instead of saying they were better and they deserve it, they just attack our club/manager/board/players, whatever it may be currently instead.

 

[redshaw]

I think the unfit thing is a bit of an excuse tbh. Alot of it is just a genuine lack of desire from the players. It is no co-incidence we get outrun by our opponents in nearly every game.

In regards to the bold part, I don't think it is clear. He gave Jones, Smalling, Young and Martial all new deals and constantly starts Lingard and Young. That to me doesn't spell any sort of ruthlessness. In fact it's all talk right now, and chances are he will get rid of the likes of Valencia, Darmian, Rojo etc who will of most likely gone anyways.

Ole was made manager on the 28th of March. Jones and Young were signed in early Feb when Ole was a caretaker for 7-8 weeks. These deals would've been happening before Ole was ever thought about.

Smalling was signed in Dec while Jose was in charge and Jose said he was happy Chris had signed a new contract.

Martial signed in Dec while Ole had been here for one week as caretaker. Contract talks have been ongoing since the year before where Martial refused an offer from the club.

 

[crossy1686]

But it’s clear that Lingard is a terrible player. Ole should realise that by now. It’s worrying that he even considers picking him for a derby.

But it's not clear is it? That's a subjective opinion. I agree with you that Lingard isn't good enough to start but if he'd have started Lukaku or Martial he'd of got fecking hammered for supporting lack of application because they're 'good' players. Hard work beats talent all day every day and you can at least guarantee Lingard will try, which is exactly what we needed after Everton.

 

[minoo-utd]

His responses and expression in interviews are becoming a little bit predictable, nothing really new. I really hope we see some anger and frustration come out soon because he must be ready to explode inside.

And why the feck he was smiling yesterday is beyond me. He needs to stop being nice all around and show us what he is really made of. Losing 7 out of last 9 is a sacking material tbh.

 

[roonster09]

People forget the Liverpool ended on a high in Klopps first season. Yes, he finished 8th however, they won a bunch of games at the end of that season and scored almost half of their PL seasons tally in the final 13 games. They also made it the the EFL and EL cup finals where, in the latter, they thrashed us and had that incredible game against Dortmund.

They won 1 game in last 5 league games.

 

[MoskvaRed]

Him calling Rashord "Rashy" really doesn't sit right with my spirit.

It does jar a bit (same as the comment about not parking in Fergie’s space) and has shades of Steve McClaren as England manager referring to “JT” and “Stevie G”.

If Ole kept on winning, I suppose none of us would care if he called him “Rashywashykins” but I just hope that, beneath the nice guy exterior, there is a cold, hard side because that dressing room requires some serious, unsentimental surgery.

 

[red4ever 79]

He's said largely the right things so far, but the summer is where we'll see if he actually backs it up with actions.
Must be ruthless with the dross and the no hopers and bring in players that can actually retain the ball when they get it.
Its a massive job, even for an experienced top flight manager and I'll admit to being pretty nervous whether Ole has got the bollocks to do what is required or not.

Nail on the head. The record is shocking 7 losses in 9. However, I will back him and see what he does in the summer. If he brings that axe cleanly down on the dross and gets them out, I will back him next season. If we start next season with Young, Smalling, Jones, Matic, Lingard and Lukaku then he wont survive until Christmas. We are basically a top 8 team with that standard.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

We have hit the rough patch and on a losing streak but for some reason I have faith in him to turn it around.

He has right ideas, that the team should be fittest, work harder than anyone in the league, attack with pace and numbers and he mentioned it many times that we are not able to work on fitness because of lack of time and also said he didn't try to change much (I think he changed and when we lost half of the team, he went back to shit tactics of not playing with intensity)

With preseason and time to work on fitness and all, I think we will be much better team next season when our players (new and existing) won't be gassed after half an hour.

Why do we not work hard right now? Also, why do we not attack with pace and numbers right now? It's great that he comes out and talks about his ideas and plan, but when is he planning on implementing them? Blind faith might be the end of us.

 

[roonster09]

Why do we not work hard right now? Also, why do we not attack with pace and numbers right now? It's great that he comes out and talks about his ideas and plan, but when is he planning on implementing them? Blind faith might be the end of us.

We had so many muscular injuries when we did, thanks to our shit fitness.

He has said it few times that he is not trying to change much this season, so not sure if we see any change in approach this season.