Ole’s press conference: “Open up your legs, son!”
Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion
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Saw that, about Pogba's run before 4th goal. What does that mean?
Our fitness/pressing are as good as it's been in years.
I just hope we improve dictating a game and controlling it. If so, it'd be a massive boost.
But a great start. Hopefully it gives us confidence to smash Wolves.
I just hope we improve dictating a game and controlling it. If so, it'd be a massive boost.
But a great start. Hopefully it gives us confidence to smash Wolves.
None of those we clear-cut chances though. That's the point. We kept them at range for the majority of the match which is no mean feat considering the opposition.
Last season we were giving away chances left and right, at no point looking comfortable at the back. It felt different today. More calm, more composed. Less susceptible to conceding than we have been for years.
Smash that in top corner I assume.
McTominay is very much the replacement for Herrera, both box to box midfielders who are disciplined enough to play a particular role and do the dirty work. The replacement that’s needed is one for Matic as he can NOT be our only option over the whole season if we want a top 4 spot.
This is nothing new, had issue with it last season, seems this season wont be any different and thats him waiting a bit to long to make a sub. It has nothing to do with him being right or wrong for waiting ( before maniacs jump in with their usual drivel), its just personal feeling during a game.
A lot of football to play this season, especially with europa. With home
Being 3rd in pecking order it’ll probably guarantee him 15 starts
Good example of Ole not being a native English speaker betraying him. Opening up your legs only refers to sex here. He meant he wanted him open up his stride and just run away from the defender.
It means keep running go all the way!
Agree with this, just hope Ed has promised a signing in January otherwise we could have a repeat of the end of last season...
I hope Ole will try to push Pogba further up. We cant rely on his poor position in the defending part, its only half hearted when he needs to do the dirty/boring job. We need a man like Matic (just younger and faster) or a Kante type, who are willing to run and cover the big gap in our midfield.
But every one must admit, Ole had done a fantastic job to bring the whole squad together, look how they celebrated James goal. Alot of smiles and a promising young era is coming. All because of Ole.
But every one must admit, Ole had done a fantastic job to bring the whole squad together, look how they celebrated James goal. Alot of smiles and a promising young era is coming. All because of Ole.
If there's one thing Ole has done, is to give this team an identity. We have a lot more likeable players in the first 11, compared to the past couple of years. I'm loving it.
And to play so many Academy players, chuffed.
And to play so many Academy players, chuffed.
I don't think he should be encouraging people half his age to open their legs.
If it leads to 4-0 victories I don't care what he asks for.
He's doing a lot right and deserves credit - if some of our own fans can't see that he wants to play the right way and bring an identity back to the club then I don't know what to say to them really.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned is his handling and protection of Pogba - I am sort of worried he is giving him a bit of a free pass but I also think Pogba is the sort who needs nurturing and his ego stroking to get the best out of him.
By the end of the game he already seemed like a different player than the one that started, hopefully he trusts in Ole and wants to be the driving force and leader of the team which Solskjaer has spoken repeatedly about him being.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned is his handling and protection of Pogba - I am sort of worried he is giving him a bit of a free pass but I also think Pogba is the sort who needs nurturing and his ego stroking to get the best out of him.
By the end of the game he already seemed like a different player than the one that started, hopefully he trusts in Ole and wants to be the driving force and leader of the team which Solskjaer has spoken repeatedly about him being.
It's really obvious that this is a new-look side and system. A perfect continuation of Pre-season, unlike previous pre-seasons where the manager plays with completely different tactics and lineup come the start of the season. I seriously welcome back a footballing identity to our team, but I have concerns about the limitations of the system and the philosophy of Ole and the ability to close the gap on rivals that are achieving things domestically that surpass even what SAF did. (Points tally, goals scored, consistency).
Not much point in worrying too much though. I feel that for the first time in a long time, I can leave the managing to the manager and just enjoy the football at face value, without being overly critical, and staying positive because there is no doubt things are progressing well.
What a game though anyway... We go again!
As Scott would say, "We keep going!". That's what Ole is implementing, the mental strength. And it will push us forward more than any tactics in reality.
With Solskjaer playing under Fergie and being incredibly successful, there's no doubt that Solskjaer believes in Ferguson's system, and that includes man-management. Fergie would use the hair dryer on some people, and be more gentle and supportive of others, and Ole is attempting to manage in the same way.
I read earlier in the summer that he was furious with Lingard, and then after he started putting an extra shift in and played on another level in training. That treatment may not have worked as well with Pogba.
This just reminds me of jose's first few matches. Won them with similar scorelines, everyone was euphoric and flying high. Took only I think 6th or 7th match to bring everyone down on ground. So although I am pleased I will be cautious.
Rashford and martial although they scored they did not appear assuring all the time. I am still little worried about forwards and our over reliance on pogba for any creativity.
Backline looks solid though. Biggest plus from the match.
Rashford and martial although they scored they did not appear assuring all the time. I am still little worried about forwards and our over reliance on pogba for any creativity.
Backline looks solid though. Biggest plus from the match.
It means run on and sprint
While I understand that for the majority of the match Chelsea were kept at range, at least one Emerson chance, and the Barkley chance, were absolutely clear cut chances! Barkley luckily blasted it somewhere near DeGea's feat and he adjusted, Emerson was also totally in to pick his shot, and missed by an inch. There was ALSO a ball rolled from the right clean across the 6 yard box with no Chelsea striker there to tap it in. That won't happen against Wolves, let alone Spurs!
I agree that the defence looked much calmer, but in that opening 20 minutes, Chelsea got in down the flanks repeatedly, and a better team would have scored.
What are you talking about
In sporting terms to open up your legs means to get into full stride, sprinting at top speed.
Pogba is old enough to decide himself, whether he wants to open up his legs or not
. Ole is no MJ!The speed of those goals was amazing. The speed it went from back to front in a non-hoofish way was great.
Utter bollocks. Jose's first few matches were:BOU 3-1 W
SOU 2-0 W
Hull 1-0 W
City 1-2 L
WAT 1-3 L
LEI 4-1 W
STK 1-1 D
LIV 0-0 D
CHE 0-4 L
BUR 0-0 D
Our biggest win margin all season was 3 goals. One 4-1 and a couple of 3-0s. So if yesterday's 4-0 is a resemblance of anything Jose did in his first season then I'm afraid your memory isn't particularly great.
The fourth goal went in, in under 12 seconds form our box to theirs!! SPEEDY GONZALES!
It's everything I associate United with to be honest. The amount of times we've seen Ronaldo or Rooney finish those off is unreal.
Ageed… Jose never beat any big team 4-0 (let alone first game of the season when you're not totally up to speed), not even once! When we finished 2nd under him we were spanking the mid-table'ers and relegation fodders! Yesterdays result is completely independent of anything Jose did prior!
BOU 3-1 W
SOU 2-0 W
Hull 1-0 W
City 1-2 L
WAT 1-3 L
LEI 4-1 W
STK 1-1 D
LIV 0-0 D
CHE 0-4 L
BUR 0-0 D
Our biggest win margin all season was 3 goals. One 4-1 and a couple of 3-0s. So if yesterday's 4-0 is a resemblance of anything Jose did in his first season then I'm afraid your memory isn't particularly great.
It looks like Ole is going for the SAF/Cantona route for managing Pogba, Seems like its working I havent felt so positive about Utd for years
I havent felt so positive about Utd for years Ah, thanks for correction. I had 2017/18 season start in my mind where we had few similar results until Huddersfield happened.
BOU 3-1 W
SOU 2-0 W
Hull 1-0 W
City 1-2 L
WAT 1-3 L
LEI 4-1 W
STK 1-1 D
LIV 0-0 D
CHE 0-4 L
BUR 0-0 D
Our biggest win margin all season was 3 goals. One 4-1 and a couple of 3-0s. So if yesterday's 4-0 is a resemblance of anything Jose did in his first season then I'm afraid your memory isn't particularly great.
https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature...ster-united-counter-attack-possession-chelsea
Interesting analysis
Interesting analysis
Completely agree, a lot of last season's starting line up, rightly or wrongly, I found hard to like, the starting line up for this game I didn't "dislike" any of the players same for all our subs, I also liked the fact we had Tuanzebe on the bench, it would be great if he could get the odd game alongside Maguire, who comes across as someone he could learn from as you could see him talking him through his positioning during the game
All 3 of our new signings are incredibly likeable. I agree we could have done with a midfielder and possibly another forward as what with the Europa we will have a lot of games as I think we should treat it how Jose treated it and aim to win it both for the morale and also it's a guaranteed route back into the CL. I'd like to see Greenwood just a little worried he will have a lot of responsibility if Rashy or Martial get injured
I wonder if Ole will use Sanchez centrally so he has less running to do so less chance of getting injured? Due to the fact we are paying him so much money Ole will probably be expected to utilise him
Absolutely loved the celebrations yesterday
Good read. There is indeed a 90s United feeling over this current United.
I do think Ole and the staff eventually want to implement a more high-pressing, dominant style, though. Because that's what he ended up doing at Molde.
Quite. The article obviously references SAF as THE major influence of Ole's playing style, but I'd hazard a guess that he also is influenced by Egil "Drillo" Olsen. "The mad professor" managed the Norwegian national team from 1993 and started out beating Cameroon 6-1 and Italy 2-1 in his first two games. He stepped down in 1998 after taking Norway to two concecutive World Cups beating both The Netherlands and England to get there. In 1998 Norway beat Brazil 2-1 in Marseille taking them to the round of 16 where they lost marginally to Italy. Norway's only WC outside of those two was in 1930. Norway under Olsen was even ranked number two on the FIFA ranking behind Brazil for an extended period.
Drillo was extremely pragmatic and one of the pioneers of using data to find the most effective route to score goals and in what situations it would be beneficiary to win the ball from the opponent and hurt them on the counter. He was also obsessed with using players that had special skills like heading (Jostein Flo), passing (Stig Inge Bjørneby), stamina (Øyvind Leonhardsen) and finishing (Solskjær, Tore André Flo). Norway did not have players that was extremely fast, but he would 100% take advantage of that as well. The norwegian players was not necessarily great allround footballers (some were), but he found a way to make them complement each other in a way that make them a lot greater than the sum of their parts.
Another factor that probably had some effect was that Drillo was coaching this "golden generation" as their U23 national coach before he stepped up in 1993, and had already molded them somewhat into play the way he wanted.
Unfortunately for Olsen, he destroyed his legacy when he took the job as a manager for Wimbledon after they were bought by Norwegian millionaires. The club, the players and the fans was opposed to both the new owners and Olsens ideas, which was new at the time, and it all went to shit.
Both Olsen and Sir Alex come from the same "school" of football, but Ole is more similar to SAF. Olsen is quite the extreme case of direct football (sideways and backwards passes not allowed).
Also one other thing, I'm sure he was asked in an interview before the season started about the infamous Jlingz "beanz" video and I think he said he had spoken to him in private about it, and while I only follow him on Facebook I have noticed his posts being a lot more thought out.
Now obviously if we are winning I dont care if he posts pictures of himself teaching the whole squad to dab while chanting "beanz" or doing the shoo dance he did with Pogba, replacing shoo with Beanz however it is good to know Ole is quick to pick up on that sort of thing that just adds fuel to the fire if we are going through a bad spell and I was thinking he wouldn't come across as very strict as he seems so nice so it's good to see he handled it well as he also kept the actual dealing with it between him and Jlingz so kept that professional as well.
Now obviously if we are winning I dont care if he posts pictures of himself teaching the whole squad to dab while chanting "beanz" or doing the shoo dance he did with Pogba, replacing shoo with Beanz however it is good to know Ole is quick to pick up on that sort of thing that just adds fuel to the fire if we are going through a bad spell and I was thinking he wouldn't come across as very strict as he seems so nice so it's good to see he handled it well as he also kept the actual dealing with it between him and Jlingz so kept that professional as well.
There was clearly a lot of positives from yesterday and the general mood seems good. Need to keep it up consistently now and hope that the younger players live up to the faith he's showing in them.
One think I thought was interesting from a tactical point of view is this idea of not having the wingers track back or 'cheating' as the pundits seem to call it. I think it can clearly have it's merits as we saw at times last season however I do think it is a risk and in that first half we got by more on luck than the tactic working imo. It seems to be something he is a fan of but I do think it needs some refining e.g. yesterday having both flanks not tracking back actively did leave us overwhelmed at times as it's too much ground to cover particularly where chelsea already had their wider players come in.
I can get the logic where the other team are potentially going to put aerial crosses in as we should have the height to deal with those now but where they'll come in towards the flank and drive towards the box then that will mean the CB have to come out and regardless of how good they are it will leave space.
To be fair, SAF used to do it with Ronaldo but even that was quite a burden for the team and often meant Rooney in the number 10 role did a lot of running and you'd have say Park on the other side to balance it out, yest we had both flanks doing it. Will be good to see how this develops over the season.
One think I thought was interesting from a tactical point of view is this idea of not having the wingers track back or 'cheating' as the pundits seem to call it. I think it can clearly have it's merits as we saw at times last season however I do think it is a risk and in that first half we got by more on luck than the tactic working imo. It seems to be something he is a fan of but I do think it needs some refining e.g. yesterday having both flanks not tracking back actively did leave us overwhelmed at times as it's too much ground to cover particularly where chelsea already had their wider players come in.
I can get the logic where the other team are potentially going to put aerial crosses in as we should have the height to deal with those now but where they'll come in towards the flank and drive towards the box then that will mean the CB have to come out and regardless of how good they are it will leave space.
To be fair, SAF used to do it with Ronaldo but even that was quite a burden for the team and often meant Rooney in the number 10 role did a lot of running and you'd have say Park on the other side to balance it out, yest we had both flanks doing it. Will be good to see how this develops over the season.
I definitely agree to that. The article only mentioned SAF, so I thought it would be good to expand on that. Also, I think Nils Arne Eggen and obviously Åge Hareide has influenced him.
Ole is still managing someone else's squad, by and large, so it's hard to draw too much from how we've played.
What is clear is that he is getting the best out of it. Dare I say it we looked a lot like 4-0 FC yesterday: Not playing wonderful football but breaking with almost irrepressible pace. It felt a lot like the best type of Jose Mourinho football. That's something I do agree with the author on.
We may see something different if Ole gets the chance to buy some midfielders. However, what's pleasing is Ole has decided to go with what will get the best of what he's got. Instead of insisting on some 'philosophy' he has not got the personnel for.
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