Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion

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MUFC OK said:
Our best player along with CR7 so far this season. He deserves more opportunities and links well with Ronaldo.
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Calling Lingard our best player this season is exceptionally silly. Particularly considering that one of his major contributions was gifting a crucial goal to the opponent in a Champions League game. He was also average in the one game he actually started.

Nice goal at West Ham though. That was great. But let's not get carried away.
 
anant said:
Fred, McT, Lindelof, Shaw were all heading for the exit. Lindelof has been more than decent last season and a half or so, Fred and McT had a decent season last year and Shaw is considered among the best LBs. Surely that's solid improvement.

For the Rashford part, the dribbling wasn't this consistent. I think most people saw that his dribbling went up a level or two last season. How much was doen to coaches is obviously debatable
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Shaw was always a fantastic player, the best young LB in Europe when we signed him. He was our best player under LVG for the start of the season until he got injured. Credit to Ole for showing him the love to rediscover himself.

As for Fred and McTominay as our regular starting two, they are awful.
 
BlueHaze said:
He was out on all the managers post SAF he just kinda says it without saying it. Kinda makes him look a little silly.
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Yeah I suspected Neville is just being a bit smart with what he says, expecting that most will be able to read between the lines. That whole video from last night had the tone and phraseology of somebody that was pretty resigned to Ole needing to go.

I think he's hinted at this previously when he says things like "United don't play as a team and won't win the league this season", early doors, knowing full well that everybody expected us to challenge with this squad of players and that it would get people questioning why. He knew there was something still missing....a manager capable of competing. Sometimes I feel like he wants to rile our supporters into saying/questioning things he doesn't feel he can do.
 
Dve said:
So, no rotation at all then?
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In the early stages of the CL where Ronaldo had already been rested once. But not in the PL. And especially not before an international break.
 
UnofficialDevil said:
Not before a 2 week international break.
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Is this a piss take? Are we genuinely arguing 36 year old Ronaldo is a better option 2 days after playing 95 minutes than Cavani? We aren’t replacing him with shit here are we. It’s Cavani. Some would say the fact Cavani actually fecking moves without the ball may make him a better player for the team regardless but whatever.
 
Mickeza said:
Is this a piss take? Are we genuinely arguing 36 year old Ronaldo is a better option 2 days after playing 95 minutes than Cavani? We aren’t replacing him with shit here are we. It’s Cavani. Some would say the fact Cavani actually fecking moves without the ball may make him a better player for the team regardless but whatever.
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Cavani had to start. If anything the feck up was bringing him off so soon which was bizarre from a manager who’ll wait till 75 mins to make a sub even when we’re losing.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Cavani had to start. If anything the feck up was bringing him off so soon which was bizarre from a manager who’ll wait till 75 mins to make a sub even when we’re losing.
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Yeah I didn’t get it either. Though Cavani was a bit sloppy a few times before he came off there was zero need for Ronaldo and we were completely on top. I was hoping for a Sancho Lingard Greenwood front 3 around 70 mins.
 
Mickeza said:
Yeah I didn’t get it either. Though Cavani was a bit sloppy a few times before he came off there was zero need for Ronaldo and we were completely on top. I was hoping for a Sancho Lingard Greenwood front 3 around 70 mins.
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Bringing Lingard on with Ronaldo sat on the bench would’ve gone off like a batch of napalm. Much easier to start Ron and bring someone else on rather than the other way around. The dynamics are what they are.
 
Mickeza said:
Is this a piss take? Are we genuinely arguing 36 year old Ronaldo is a better option 2 days after playing 95 minutes than Cavani? We aren’t replacing him with shit here are we. It’s Cavani. Some would say the fact Cavani actually fecking moves without the ball may make him a better player for the team regardless but whatever.
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Starting a player doesn't mean he has to stay on the pitch for 90 minutes. This was supposed to be an easy game, Everton missing key players and us at home. If the game was 2-0 by half time which it should if you compare our squads, Ronadlo could have come off. Thats what SAF meant by always starting your best players I think.
 
Sviken said:
Why would you rotate your best players in crucial games? When did SAF ever do that?
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Everton at home is a crucial game? So, which games are not crucial then? it´s not like this was the CL final.
 
Moyes was the wrong choice both in mindset and ability.
LVG was using outdated techniques and tried to turn us into Robots FC.
Mourinho was a deal with the devil that didn’t come off. The rot had already set in but JM started turning United into something they never were. Longball to Fellaini merchants, throwing players under the bus, insulting staff, etc.
Now Ole comes along and starts the repairs. He is building a team to play in the way he himself thrives in. He does not have all the pieces. He is not as accomplished or savvy as either LVG or JM, but the soul-sucking style of football under those two is gone. Against Everton we created several quality chances early on. The keeper made a good save from a Cavani header and Greenwood had two shots saved. That Fred proved too lightweight is not Ole’s fault per se, and we should have done better on their goal, also mostly attributed to individual errors.
Who starts instead of McFred? I’d have Garner in the mix with Hannibal bit when both get exposed as too naive, would it again be Ole’s fault?
Fact is we needed a steely CM and we didn’t get one. Until a replacement for Fred is found we are not challenging for the title. Not sure how that’s on Ole.
 
This Phelan news suggests Ole is clearly not bothered about improving the staff around him, honestly believe many fans including myself would be prepared to give him more time IF he was still willing to implement the necessary changes but gut feeling is he's too stubborn to admit he's wrong about McFred.
 
pocco said:
Yeah I suspected Neville is just being a bit smart with what he says, expecting that most will be able to read between the lines. That whole video from last night had the tone and phraseology of somebody that was pretty resigned to Ole needing to go.

I think he's hinted at this previously when he says things like "United don't play as a team and won't win the league this season", early doors, knowing full well that everybody expected us to challenge with this squad of players and that it would get people questioning why. He knew there was something still missing....a manager capable of competing. Sometimes I feel like he wants to rile our supporters into saying/questioning things he doesn't feel he can do.
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Yes, exactly it's always read between the lines kind of theme with him. He literally says it himself in that linked clip he'll never call for the sacking of a manager so it's all down to his personal honor. He simply thinks he's less honorable if he sits there and calls for their sacking which I understand being a professional pundit and all but on the contrary he should at least try to make it a tad bit less evident then with all his back handed compliments and such. :lol:

"United have an incredibly strong team but they just havn't got what it takes to challenge for the league" Yeah, Nevz, we all wonder what that means... :nervous:
 
Dve said:
Everton at home is a crucial game? So, which games are not crucial then? it´s not like this was the CL final.
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Depends on what your goals are. If you're content with a top 6 finish, well it's probably not that crucial. If you're content with challenging for the title, like we should be doing, well it definitely is. As a matter of fact, any Prem game is crucial. Games like this decides titles.
 
MvG said:
Good point and it’s a real concern because teams seem to have a blueprint for playing against us now. Sit back, nick the ball and run straight at our midfield. It’s so frustrating to watch the central defenders basically defending on their own with both AWB and Shaw pushed so far up the pitch and our midfielders offering little to no protection. Has to be sorted out or Ole is a goner.
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This is exactly what I have been saying. Our two FBs are further forward of the ball when the turnover starts. Then we cry about the CBs. They don't have a prayer.
 
croadyman said:
This Phelan news suggests Ole is clearly not bothered about improving the staff around him, honestly believe many fans including myself would be prepared to give him more time IF he was still willing to implement the necessary changes but gut feeling is he's too stubborn to admit he's wrong about McFred.
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I think it all points down to the importance of results, Phelan or not Ole needs to pick up the teams performances. The league is even more competitive this season with the inclusion of Chelsea potentially challenging. I just cannot see success this season for Solskjaer, he seems a kite caught in a storm with no control or direction despite a stronger squad.

I think the dip in quality between top four and the rest of the 5,6,7,8 is the only conciliation for Ole to stay on.
 
Foxbatt said:
This is exactly what I have been saying. Our two FBs are further forward of the ball when the turnover starts. Then we cry about the CBs. They don't have a prayer.
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Seems like AWB should be sitting back ala O’Sheasy back in the day. Would give us much more stability. Play DvB and let him support Greenwood along with Bruno of course. Let Fred sit in front of those three with Shaw bombing forward. We would be much more varied in attack as well.
 
I think fundamentally, the players do not fear Ole. You need the magical iron-fist in velvet glove combination. Where players dread going back to the dressing room because of the hair-dryer treatment. In fact, you look at our entire coaching staff and it is filled with velvet glove types. No need to go full Conte, but we need someone to be the bad cop. Maybe Keane in as one of the assistant coaches?
 
MvG said:
Seems like AWB should be sitting back ala O’Sheasy back in the day. Would give us much more stability. Play DvB and let him support Greenwood along with Bruno of course. Let Fred sit in front of those three with Shaw bombing forward. We would be much more varied in attack as well.
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If you have both fbs getting further forward of the ball and the turnover happens they simply cannot come back. Lindelof to his credit was the first one to sprint back and the had the longest to do so. AWB should have cleaned up both Gray and Fred. Instead he backed away. I think we try to play a football that we are not capable of playing. Too much reading in the UEFA pro licence course material.
 
ti vu said:
You think SAF is as silly as you implied that he would not know how to manage players fitness, having no understanding of resting and rotation? "should" doesn't mean "must", no?

The one being condescending is you.

I provided a response with context on how a 36 year old could have started the Everton game, and would still enough time to rest and recover. You only try to nitpick trivial stuffs to distract from the point, even ignoring context: SAF knows what his stuffs; the actual situation: international break coming (already rested in League Cup, and having no League Cup = lessened schedule going forward).
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When did I ever say that SAF was silly? Stop assuming things, it makes you look bad.

I meant that the idea of always starting your best players is silly. Clearly SAF wasn’t suggesting that Ronaldo starts every single game of the season. That would be silly. There was context to that conversation which we aren’t aware of since the start was cut off.
 
I think we're at the thin end the wedge now, or the start of the avalanche, unless United win their next 10 games it's hard to see Solskjaer keeping his job heading towards January. If we don't qualify from the group in the CL things are going to get really uncomfortable fast.
 
crossy1686 said:
I think we're at the thin end the wedge now, or the start of the avalanche, unless United win their next 10 games it's hard to see Solskjaer keeping his job heading towards January. If we don't qualify from the group in the CL things are going to get really uncomfortable fast.
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I don't think the loudest Ole out fan expects us to win the next ten games, come on. City or Liverpool wouldn't be expected to win the next ten games United have. There will be wins and everything will be great and there will be losses and it will be the end of the world.
 
Wing Attack Plan R said:
Moyes was the wrong choice both in mindset and ability.
LVG was using outdated techniques and tried to turn us into Robots FC.
Mourinho was a deal with the devil that didn’t come off. The rot had already set in but JM started turning United into something they never were. Longball to Fellaini merchants, throwing players under the bus, insulting staff, etc.
Now Ole comes along and starts the repairs. He is building a team to play in the way he himself thrives in. He does not have all the pieces. He is not as accomplished or savvy as either LVG or JM, but the soul-sucking style of football under those two is gone. Against Everton we created several quality chances early on. The keeper made a good save from a Cavani header and Greenwood had two shots saved. That Fred proved too lightweight is not Ole’s fault per se, and we should have done better on their goal, also mostly attributed to individual errors.
Who starts instead of McFred? I’d have Garner in the mix with Hannibal bit when both get exposed as too naive, would it again be Ole’s fault?
Fact is we needed a steely CM and we didn’t get one. Until a replacement for Fred is found we are not challenging for the title. Not sure how that’s on Ole.
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He had 5 transfer windows as a permanent manager to sign a DM/steely CM. If we assume that he plays a vital role in transfer policy and credit him with improving our squad and shifing the deadwood - we have to criticise him for not addressing the midfield issue. If we are saying that he is only one of the voices and transfers are not really due to him - then we cannot credit him for the good stuff in terms of transfers either.

Apart from that, if midfield is such a glaring issue - why spend e.g. 40m on VdB, 30m on Amad before signing an actual midfielder? If a midfielder was not signed, it was definitely not because of the lack of resources.

Anyway, he is a highly paid manager of one of the biggest clubs on the planet. No squad and no first eleven is perfect. He has to find a way to make it work - to mask or minimize the weaknesses of the squad, to chose a tactic that best fits the players available and so on.
 
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KiD MoYeS said:
I don't think the loudest Ole out fan expects us to win the next ten games, come on. City or Liverpool wouldn't be expected to win the next ten games United have. There will be wins and everything will be great and there will be losses and it will be the end of the world.
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Perhaps not win, but we can't get rolled over by Chelsea, Liverpool and City, we have to win at least one of those games, put up a good fight in the rest and get out of the CL group phase to reduce the pressure that's currently building.
 
I think Ole should do "better than expected" for the next 10 games. That means 6 or 7 wins. That should keep Utd in touch. Anything less and the pressure will build.
 
LJJT said:
You seem to know more than everyone else what goes on behind the scenes. Can you provide specifics? Fergie “long admitted the importance of having good assistants and coaches”- , hence why Mike phelan was one such assistant/coach for many years. Something Ole is now following despite you saying he doesn’t follow this mantra?!
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Phelan was hardly one of the highest rated assistants we had, this is demonstrated by the fact he was working in australia before we brought him back.

We are now in a position where we have a head coach and assistant which no other big european would want should we let them go and yet we felt the meed to tie them down to let term contracts. In fact the same could be aaid for all our coaching team which is bizarre for a club of our size
 
I love Ole and in general I think he's done a really good job.

1. Man management - Good (Apart from this Ronaldo thing)..... Makes no sense to me to rest him. Considering it was just before an International break and there was 7 days between the Everton game and Portugal playing.
2. Transfers - Good. I like all of his transfers. Even signings like Dan James were decent as squad players and we didn't lose money.
3. Media - Good. He is very likable and seems good at keeping everybody on side.
4. Young players - Good. Development of players like Greenwood.
5. Tactics & Coaching - Very Poor..... This is his problem. No matter what team we put out, the performances look disjointed. We have a good mentality, we come back from behind in games / scrap out wins regularly but we very rarely dominate and win comfortably. I remember when Fergie took on Carlos Queiroz, that's possibly the best football I remember Utd playing. It was clear that Carlos was having a big impact on the playing style. If Ole doesn't do something similar, I only see this ending one way sooner or later.

Without doing something to sort point 5, Ole has done a great job steadying the ship but taken us as far as he can....... I hope I'm wrong.
 
Ayoba said:
Christ on a bike somebody rescue me from this horror show
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Like I just said in the other thread, this feels like a final two fingers up from Woodward to the fans. No need to do any of this, especially when we're a shambles at the moment, yet here we are. Why has he/we done it? Any other club would ride it out and see where we end up. It's like the ultimate WUM except they're also shooting themselves/the club in the foot at the same time. No supporter should be happy about this news at this stage.
 
Start scoring, tighten up at the back and we'll be a lot happier. The football is great a times - not the right time for a change of management and it looks like the club agree with the new contracts coming for the backroom staff.
 
Sviken said:
Ronaldo isn't just any 36 years old player. This is the problem with Ole. He is absolutely clueless when it comes to man management and by the looks of it it is pissing both Ronaldo and Pogba off. Pretty sure Bruno is mad about the whole thing as well. People call Ole a good man manager, but I just don't see it. He's simply not toxic as Mourinho, but that doesn't make him good. A good man manager would be Klopp or Pep. Fergie knows what's up. Also, Fergie never rotated his best players or did very often. I don't remember RVP being rotated all that much or at all. Sure, he'd start the reserves in cup games (albeit he'd field a few starters), but generally in important matches you wouldn't see the team without Rooney/Ronaldo/Persie/Scholes or whoever.

At this point Ole might just lose the dressing room. I don't like the signs Pogba and Ronaldo are showing already.
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I think it is that he is actually good man manager. It looks like his decision making on which players to play and sub on now that the players are questioning.

Ole just drops players in the wrong games, it's like Jose - certain players will always start. But there's others that no matter what they do or how they play they could be sat on the bench for the next game. As a player you want to play every week, but when they know no matter how well they play, they might not play the next game then their heads will drop and they'll lose confidence. So even when they do play they won't play well at all.

You can even see DVBs reaction midweek, there's a bit of dissent building with him, Ole needs to nip that in the bud, he shouldn't be making stupid excuses for him.

Pogba has always had an attitude problem, I wouldn't worry about him at all. The sooner he leaves the better, he's a liability that this team just can't afford to carry. But, Ronaldo is one that people will look to, he strives for perfection and he will let his feelings known. Others will feed off that and it will get worse, he needs to sort that out.
 
fergieisold said:
Start scoring, tighten up at the back and we'll be a lot happier. The football is great a times - not the right time for a change of management and it looks like the club agree with the new contracts coming for the backroom staff.
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You forgot signing the new Messi.
 
No poll so stop asking
SAFMUTD said:
Sack Ole pole? @Damien
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Desert Eagle said:
@Damien Can we get a poll going mate?
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Hisha said:
Still no poll? Why the hesitancy? @Damien
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While your enthusiasm on this topic has been noted, it has been unanimously agreed by the members of staff who have voted that a poll won't be going up at this moment in time. If/when circumstances change - at the staff's discretion without the prodding of members either way - a poll will go up and I'll be sure to tag the three of you. In the meantime any attempts to make a new thread/add a poll to this one by any member with poll privileges will be locked and/or deleted without reply.
 
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