People ever learn that the performances and results are meaningless, remember us having great preseason under LVG then getting beaten at home first game of season.
Good luck to Ole, a top 6 finish would be par but probably cost him his job.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion
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People ever learn that the performances and results are meaningless, remember us having great preseason under LVG then getting beaten at home first game of season.
Good luck to Ole, a top 6 finish would be par but probably cost him his job.
Gonna say one honest thing about Ole. If this season goes to shit and he gets the sack while the owners still remain then I'm done with this team until they are gone however long that may be. In fact it probably will happen. I see yet another 5th or 6th finish on the horizon with Ole inevitably getting the sack or walking on his own. Then the Glazer's will appoint some other clown set him up to fail too and then rinse and repeat.
He's been backed, just like Mourinho before him. Up to him now to show that going for younger British players over older foreign ones was the right approach. I think it was and am expecting a big improvement this season.
Solskjaer insisted that we would get a replacement if Lukaku were sold. We didn't even replace Herrera . Ed and the Glazers have lied to him and let him down. Of course he won't talk about it in public and rock the boat, but this is a fact.
Any supporter who thinks otherwise has their head in the sand
Any supporter who thinks otherwise has their head in the sand
Now, let's see how motivated Paul Pogba is. Let's see how we work without Herrera. Let's see where the goals come from without Lukaku. Yes, the defence will be better. But can OGS halt the slide of the last few months of last season? Will Sanchez do anything? Football, bloody hell, you never know. I can see some magic happening carrying on from the youth, the pre-season, the fitness, the pressing, the movement, Ole's smile. But the basic structure at the club is fecked. A kind of weary resignation has come over me. I didn't get excited by Eriksen or whatever. The only thing I think would lift the gloom would be amazing new owners on the horizon, Ed out on his ear, a better (or any) future plan. The Theatre of Dreams needs to wake up from this nightmare.
Pre-season results are not very important, but it does give an idea about the type of football a manager wants to play. Managers won't try to play and implement a style in pre-season, and then use a completely different style in the actual season. That is a positive at least.
Also, we played pressing football against all the teams, that includes the ones that are better than ours. No need to downplay the level of opposition just because you do not think pre-season means anything.
i think there are two different scenarios if Ole struggles. If he struggles while we play players like greenwood, tuanz, gomes, james etc our younger players, fans might be understanding of the process. If we struggle while playing mata, matic, young, rojo etc the older veterans who dont belong here anymore then we have an issue.
Everyone looking forward to the coming season then?
I really don't want to break the tide of self fulfilling pessimism in the thread, but I'm looking forward to this season more than any in the last few years. A defence that on paper looks like a defence again, watching youngsters coming through and hopefully show their talent, a manager who will at least attempt to play attacking football.
I'm obviously not expecting to compete for the title , but that was never going to happen this season anyway and sneaking top 4 is OK whilst we rebuild in the right way for once. It feels like a start on the path to turning things around for the first time in ages without buying random players with no desire or obvious problems with fitting into our style of play.
My biggest complaint is that we haven't managed to clear out a bit more of the rubbish.
Well, Mourinho thought a similar thing the previous summer, then United shipped goals for fun all season. I agree with Ole's decision to prioritize a top centre back and top right back.
Big mouth. And he will not succeed here with that midfield.
No, he was not, at least not completely.
It's true we should have done more to shift out the deadwood. However:
a) Solskjaer has completely reversed all his statements that led people to think he was serious about shifting these players. All his recent interviews has been talking about how great the squad is and how much he likes them.
b) The transfer window for foreign clubs is not shut yet. It's perfectly possible for us to sell some dross in the coming weeks.
Everyone looking forward to the coming season then?
My expectations are 6th so looking forward with that belief. Probably won't get hurt thinking top 4 is possible.
I have already detailed what a better plan would have been just a few pages back. Linderlof, Smalling, Tuanzebe and Alderweireld would have formed a solid center back option for United to pick from. Add to that Jones, Bailey and Rojo and we have centerback that could compete for 10 different competition. That is if we are restricted financially.
There have been many players who went this window for reasonable fee. We just had no interest in them despite their apparent quality. I m not buying the excuse of inflated prices. Tielsman is another player who could have been a fantastic addition disregarding the multiple other players that went for a reasonable fee. Either way, I just quoted you to remind you of what you said before that if we didn’t show interest or sign a right winger by the end of the window, you will admit I was right. I will hold out onto next summer again, but by then, I might forget
.And c) We can't replace any of the deadwood with actual footballers, haven't replaced Herrera or Lukaku and are criminally lightweight in centre mid and upfront.
Do you seriously believe this
Mourinho didn’t have Tuanzebe. Plus he could have added a centerback at a decent fee as well. His option in depth and quality will be better under the plan I proposed.
He will have to improve the players at the club, something good managers are able to do. Expectations should be kept realistic, but if he fails to meet them there will be no excuses. I doubt he will be losing any sleep over not getting a few more players in.
It's a young squad, and if OGS is able to achieve good football with reasonable results, then it should be an exciting season for the fans.
It's a young squad, and if OGS is able to achieve good football with reasonable results, then it should be an exciting season for the fans.
He's been sold down the river by Ed, who's just too clever for him.
My only hope is that at some point the match going fans will see through Ed and his antics and show signs of visible frustration.
I feel for ole
My only hope is that at some point the match going fans will see through Ed and his antics and show signs of visible frustration.
I feel for ole
Almost no manager gets backed 'completely'.
We've spent about £145m on players this window and I'm pretty sure they were all his first choice.
Tuanzebe? How many Premier League games has he played, and is he ready to command a whole defence? Honestly.
We also lost quite a lot.
Lukaku - granted he wanted him out and replaced though
Herrera - he wanted to keep him
Fellaini - granted he wanted him out and replaced though
Yes he did, he shipped him out on loan after not using him the previous season when he hyped about him being ready
Just out of interest, what are reasonable expectations for you? If we finish 5/6 and play decent football will that be acceptable? Or is it top 4 no matter what?
Poor ole.
And shipped out the one he really wanted out.
Some do, and when important players leave the squad, they are expected to be replaced, which did not happen.
We only got 3 players, and we clearly need more, and Ole wanted more.
Then it is Mourinho fault for not relying on youth. Plus Ole now have a more experienced Tuanzebe, so my case is just stronger that he has better option.
Not sure I’ve ever seen a coach be this shielded from criticism. Why is it so crazy to judge him as a coach, independent of Ed Woodward?
Can he improve the players he has?
Can he implement a philosophy and get his troops to achieve it consistently?
If he can do those things I think he’ll be fine finishing 5th or 6th. If he can’t do those things then we’ll finish lower and he’ll be out as he wouldn’t have shown the basic qualities required of a manager at this level. We have a top 6 squad at the moment. If he can’t achieve that he was never ever going to be good enough.
Can he improve the players he has?
Can he implement a philosophy and get his troops to achieve it consistently?
If he can do those things I think he’ll be fine finishing 5th or 6th. If he can’t do those things then we’ll finish lower and he’ll be out as he wouldn’t have shown the basic qualities required of a manager at this level. We have a top 6 squad at the moment. If he can’t achieve that he was never ever going to be good enough.
The players that I consider deadwood don't need replacing. We've got seven CBs for example.
Herrera has been replaced by us switching formation away from three CMs and Solskjaer having faith in McTominay and Pereira.
Solskjaer: 'Pereira I expect a lot more from, McTominay I expect a lot more from. Those two between them had maybe 15, 20 starts last season. You expect them to have at least 20 each this year, maybe even more. That’s maybe two players into one that can replace Herrera.'
Likewise Lukaku is being replaced by James and Greenwood.
If you disagree with these decisions then fine but I don't see the point of acting like United have absolutely no plan when they clearly do.
so that's it then. Only one creative midfielder, no RW, no no. 10 and no CF replacement. Fine.
Our defense look better though. Good job there.
Overall, looks like the target is to be in top 4 or win Europa league. We moved 360 degree and after 3 years back in the same position as of 2016 when we employed Jose to achieved exactly this.
Our defense look better though. Good job there.
Overall, looks like the target is to be in top 4 or win Europa league. We moved 360 degree and after 3 years back in the same position as of 2016 when we employed Jose to achieved exactly this.
Our season is dependent on so many wild hopes now that there's no way he can be happy.
Every position outside of our defence has huge question marks over it. It's not just expecting youth to step up which would be a risk anyway but it's expecting two young lads to suddenly become established strikers, neither wing having wingers, not having a no 10, relying on an aged matic or mctominay who most here hated before Feb last year. To top it all off Pogba playing a position he doesn't want to play in a club he doesn't want to be at.
It's absurd.
Every position outside of our defence has huge question marks over it. It's not just expecting youth to step up which would be a risk anyway but it's expecting two young lads to suddenly become established strikers, neither wing having wingers, not having a no 10, relying on an aged matic or mctominay who most here hated before Feb last year. To top it all off Pogba playing a position he doesn't want to play in a club he doesn't want to be at.
It's absurd.
Because he's a "legend" at the club, because we're an "elegant" club beaming with history and because the fans should be the same, elegant.
But to be more to the point, it's a bit useless to criticize him until he has a full season under his belt.
To me, he's a good and nice guy, but that's his problem. Jose was too aggressive, this guy is too chilled. But time will tell. If he's around top4 at Christmas he's alright, if we're 6th again with 10 points to recover, he's out and he should be fecking out.
What I don't understand is, and it has no connection with Ole, when we will fuken:
- hire a DOF
- hire a fecking good coach
- spend a shitload of money on the right players that fit the DOF's strategy/whatever
That's why Ole was a bad appointment, because he wasn't picked based on the above. He either miraculously succeeds and we're still a club without a structure, he either fails, gets fired, we're still a club without a structure and another Ole/Jose/LVG/feck my life will be hired as coach.
It's sad, he's a great lovable guy, but I think the whole club is set up for him to kinda fail, him or anyone.
We've had six years of Woodward and I'm yet to see anything remotely resembling a plan for this club. You'll forgive me if I don't think it's clear we've suddenly got one.
A serious challenge for top 4, but with top 6 as a bare minimum. If we finish 5/6 it will depend on things like distance to 4th, performances in other competitions, and quality of football.
I understand why Ole was picked to be the manager now. No top manager would stand for a summer like this
Either way, I just quoted you to remind you of what you said before that if we didn’t show interest or sign a right winger by the end of the window, you will admit I was right. I will hold out onto next summer again, but by then, I might forget
Except that's not what I said. This is what I said (bolded for emphasis):
My original argument with you as about whether we had more than one RW target, or if all our eggs were in the Sancho basket. Somehow, you took my words and twisted them into "if we don't show interest or sign a RW by the end of the window..." Those two statements are not the same thing. Me saying that you were right was tied to a very clear contingency, said condition was not met. You are taking the fact that we did not sign a RW this summer and interpreting that inaction to mean that we did not have any interest in improving our RW. I have been arguing that we clearly did want a RW (Sancho) and that we cannot say for sure how much we prioritized our RW after he turned us down, because we don't know anything but what the reporters tell us, which is itself either (a) BS, or (b) briefings from the club.
As I said, come back to me next summer when you've decided to stop twisting words to fit your narrative. If we don't sign a RW next summer (or one of our youth players doesn't step up out of the blue and claim the role for himself), then I would be more likely to blame Ole instead of Ed or the Glazers. As it stands, you wanting to put the failings of our window on Ole instead of Ed and the Glazers reeks of an agenda.
Anyone expecting Solskajer to be anything more than a "yes sir thank you sir" manager is damn wrong, he is living the dream thankful with the oportunity and the wages that he could only dream of. He got no where near the curriculum required to be managing in a top league, neverless a top club. He doesn't have the authority to call out the Glazzers nor Woodward, he will swallow it up and smile.
He will be probably gone by next summer, so all this "give the youth a chance" may actually be a blessing in disguise, maybe some of the youngsters prove to be quality and maybe (a BIG maybe) we will hire a DOF who can actually give us some direction and start the rebuild (again) that this club needs. In the meantime I think we will fail to reach champions league football again and we will most likely lose Pogba next summer.
So wasted season with only the youngsters to look forward to. We've became Arsenal.
He will be probably gone by next summer, so all this "give the youth a chance" may actually be a blessing in disguise, maybe some of the youngsters prove to be quality and maybe (a BIG maybe) we will hire a DOF who can actually give us some direction and start the rebuild (again) that this club needs. In the meantime I think we will fail to reach champions league football again and we will most likely lose Pogba next summer.
So wasted season with only the youngsters to look forward to. We've became Arsenal.
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