Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion

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The 4231 formation doesn’t work!

Pogba and McTominay behind Lingard?

Our defensive midfielder can’t circulate the ball and keep possession, his passing is average and whenever we’re under pressure our build ups often collapses because of his limitations. Lingard runs all over place but his impact is average and when we’re under pressure his offensive presence is almost non existent. He’s not a creator and he don’t score enough goals.

Our only creative force has to be everywhere to help us ticking. Off course he makes mistakes and gets tired when he’s almost alone in linking our build ups into attacking options. His best position is further up where his creativity can open up tight defenses and he can be a goal threat, not a liability whenever he loses the ball.

McTominay is talented with a great engine but in a two man midfield his limitations are exposed. If we want to challenge for the title he should be a well used squad player who contributes when we’re one or two up, not when we’re even or one down.

This season we should go back to a more solid 433 formation. McTominay or Matic should be partnered with Fred so we are more defensive solid and more equipped in possession. Pogba should play as a creator behind our attacking trio when we’re in possession and in defense on the top of a triangle just in front of our defenders.

Our downfall this season will be because we’re thin in midfield. Mark my words. If Pogba gets injured or out of form then our top four hopes are gone.
 
It's refreshing to finally see a plan in pur play, Ole has started giving us an identity and I really enjoy how he trusts our youth players. I also think that our new transfer strategy is excellent. The only valid concern, or actually question mark I have with Ole is if he has the tactical know how to divert from his game-plan? Can he change us tactically mid game and make substitutions accordingly? Season has just started but this is a problem I saw last season as well, he has difficulties changing the system, game-plan mid-game. Then again this will be hard to do with a bench that looks as weak as ours does.
 
Foxbatt said:
We played well in the fist half because Wolves let us have the possession and also we were fresh. As the game went on our midfield of two got tired and Lingard was out of the game. We needed to get hold of the game even after they scored. It is very well to have possession and we use to have it when LVG was the manager too. You cannot make passes when they are no triangles and all we tried to do was to get a long one to Martial or Rashford and let them try on their own.
We should have got Matic in for Lingard as Wolves started to fall back and then let Pogba move a bit forward. People blame Scott but this is a two man midfield and he is eventually going to run out of steam and when you are tired your passing also goes awry.
Ole should have taken James off, put Gomez in the centre and let him try to open the defence. Games are won my managers who are also able to react to the situation. Putting Mata was a major mistake too. Yes we will get find out and I would say Pool, City would have destroyed Wolves today.
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What's with these statements being pulled out of thin air, did you miss Liverpool struggling to beat Southampton this weekend?
 
Disappointed we didn’t get the 3 points last night but I’d have bitten your hand off before the game for that result.

I’m surprised at some of the comments about our performance though, we dominated for 70 mins against a very good team. We had a wobble in the second half but managed to settle down, which was a relief and I felt that showed a maturity from some of our players.

My most pleasing part was the midfield. I thought we’d get battered and overrun in CM but we won the midfield battle comfortably and I thought McT played really well. It was difficult to create chances because they defend deep and in numbers, but in spite of that we had chances to take the win.

My only criticism of the performance was Lingard. Really wasn’t at the races, somehow he looked tired and lethargic and he should have been subbed sooner.
 
Gasolin said:
My best bet is the contract situation, or something of that nature, I don't know. I understand Lingard worked hard but he could score worldies or miss them. Today he missed them. Another day, yes, he could score them, he's actually scored some before.
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Apart from December 2018 Lingard for the past 12 months has not scored or assisted a single league goal.
Aside from that in the same period he scored vs Arsenal in Jan and got an assist vs Derby in the carling cup in September.

All in all for the past 12 months he has been a complete utter waste of space, he was also a complete waste of space in pre season. And has not started the season as a waste of space.

If Lingard like Lukaku was not a United youth product he likely would have been booted out of the squad in the summer
 
AshRK said:
You have to understand wolves away is a tough game and you cannot have both gomes and greenwood feature and hope to win matches (and put extra pressure on young players)especially the 2nd match of the season. I cannot blame ole for not.playing gomes and Greenwood but I do blame him for not making the subs earlier.
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You also cannot hope to win matches with Lingard starting in your attack as his record over the past 12 months shows. If you win its in spite of him, he disrupts the team by constantly losing the ball and doesn't score or assist. He didn't need to play both Gomes and Greenwoord, but he needed to play one of them or someone else instead of Lingard. Also note Gomes wasn't even on the bench.
 
SteveW said:
We played well against a good team. Lots of positives.
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Agree. I didn't expect us to Dominate Wolves, aside from 10 minutes in the second half we were in complete control of the game. We need to be more ruthless and kill games and I can see a top 4 finish being possible
 
After sleeping on it, my initial frustration as cooled down a bit. There were positive signs in the last game, we deserved to win it but it is what it is. Our bench is awful, we don't have a super sub who can make an instant impact when we need it it, like last night.

We started the season fairly well, two ugly fixtures out of the way and 4 points, I just hope we continue to improve over the course of the season and not decline, like the players have before after a disappointing result.
 
Foxbatt said:
We played well in the fist half because Wolves let us have the possession and also we were fresh. As the game went on our midfield of two got tired and Lingard was out of the game. We needed to get hold of the game even after they scored. It is very well to have possession and we use to have it when LVG was the manager too. You cannot make passes when they are no triangles and all we tried to do was to get a long one to Martial or Rashford and let them try on their own.
We should have got Matic in for Lingard as Wolves started to fall back and then let Pogba move a bit forward. People blame Scott but this is a two man midfield and he is eventually going to run out of steam and when you are tired your passing also goes awry.
Ole should have taken James off, put Gomez in the centre and let him try to open the defence. Games are won my managers who are also able to react to the situation. Putting Mata was a major mistake too. Yes we will get find out and I would say Pool, City would have destroyed Wolves today.
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No, they didn't. Their own manager admitted that we just played better and stopped them from getting a hold of the game.
 
Foxbatt said:
We played well in the fist half because Wolves let us have the possession and also we were fresh. As the game went on our midfield of two got tired and Lingard was out of the game. We needed to get hold of the game even after they scored. It is very well to have possession and we use to have it when LVG was the manager too. You cannot make passes when they are no triangles and all we tried to do was to get a long one to Martial or Rashford and let them try on their own.
We should have got Matic in for Lingard as Wolves started to fall back and then let Pogba move a bit forward. People blame Scott but this is a two man midfield and he is eventually going to run out of steam and when you are tired your passing also goes awry.
Ole should have taken James off, put Gomez in the centre and let him try to open the defence. Games are won my managers who are also able to react to the situation. Putting Mata was a major mistake too. Yes we will get find out and I would say Pool, City would have destroyed Wolves today.
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What are you talking about? They rested most of their starting 11 midweek and so were fresh. They couldn't counter attack on us because they were pressed to death and our defensive shape was excellent
 
Disappointing that we didn’t win the game after completely dominating it, bar for 10 minutes where they hit the post and scored.

We would’ve lost that game last season though. Fitness was a huge issue and has been addressed. The defence was a huge issue and has been addressed and the attack looks better because it’s built on a strong defence.

It’s still fairly early for Ole but the signs are positive so far. 4 points this season from fixtures that we got 1 point from last year.
 
Foxbatt said:
We played well in the fist half because Wolves let us have the possession and also we were fresh. As the game went on our midfield of two got tired and Lingard was out of the game. We needed to get hold of the game even after they scored. It is very well to have possession and we use to have it when LVG was the manager too. You cannot make passes when they are no triangles and all we tried to do was to get a long one to Martial or Rashford and let them try on their own.
We should have got Matic in for Lingard as Wolves started to fall back and then let Pogba move a bit forward. People blame Scott but this is a two man midfield and he is eventually going to run out of steam and when you are tired your passing also goes awry.
Ole should have taken James off, put Gomez in the centre and let him try to open the defence. Games are won my managers who are also able to react to the situation. Putting Mata was a major mistake too. Yes we will get find out and I would say Pool, City would have destroyed Wolves today.
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They didn't let us have possession, we pressed so well and barely gave them time to pass the ball.
 
Disappointing result but we've something to build on from here. Our defence looks as good as any to be honest and our attack is the complete opposite. One midfielder or quality forward could have made a world of difference. Games like these we need to start winning, its becoming all too familiar - dominating with no end result.
 
I didn't see the first half yesterday. Having only watched the second half, United looked way better than last season when under pressure. The team tried to play their way into creating chances, didn't panic and didn't play aimless passes.

There were a few mistakes I agree but if you don't believe we can already see some improvement, do take a step back and put things into perspective. I liked the way United played and felt till the very end they could nick a winner (right up till Luke Shaw's shot).

Ole and his team deserve credit. United are watchable and exciting so far.
 
There's a definite improvement in belief from last season. When Wolves turned the game I thought it was going to be the same movie we've seen the last 5 years where we would ultimately collapse mentally (yay for Jones and Smalling). We might not have mustered good chances but we were at least pushing it till the end.
 
That was such a mature performance from a relatively very young side. Despite dropping two points which stings, Ole has them playing to the right tune. I'm cautiously optimistic going forward. Wolves will pick points against more than one top side at home, so we were lucky to catch them early in the season and it might not turn out to be a bad result in the grand scheme of the league.
 
Hard to criticize him, we should have scored 3 goals today easy between the penalty, fluffed chances from Martial/Lingard.

However 4 small details he needs to clean up:

He has to take Pogba off the PK duties. 4/12 missed last 12 months is not a good record.

Figure out who plays attacking midfield. Lingard presses well but is useless going forward. Sure he makes runs, but there were times he missed easy passes/touches any midfield at a top 6 club would take. Mata isn't the answer either. Pereira or Fred need to come in and work out a system with Pogba where he gets to play more offensively. Or even Sanchez at that spot. I think he'd do much better centrally as he still is a decent passer of the ball.

Not sure why he waited so long to sub Greenwood in. After seeing James blast ball after ball into the defenders feet, not sure what else he expected to happen.
 
Ignoring the result I actually think Ole deserves some credit ... we look better.

Yes, we’re still some players light (CM and RW) but we look like a team with some purpose. Let’s hope we can kick on.
 
wolves away will be hard for most teams and should have won

the pen thing is the main thing we're talking about and no reason why rashford shouldn't be the main man given his record during the WC and for us - Pogba should be man enough to realise that too though
 
I just hope we dont run out of gas towards the end of the season. Our thin squad couldnt cope, same with injuries
 
crossy1686 said:
Expect us to make a signing in January to help the midfield but we'll most likely throw youth players in when we need the support
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Nothing against fielding youth players, but the pressure will be too high for them to come in and perform to get top 4. The only 2 young players that potentially could make a difference right now are Gomes and Greenwood.
 
The only thing I find frustrating is the lack of proper in game management (which is hindered by our squad depth), also he needs to stop saying one thing in the media, then a few days later saying the complete opposite.

The team has looked good for the most part though.
 
Manchester United fans are the most easily pleased fans on the planet. ‘Give Ole credit he got a draw vs a Championship regulars club’
 
Baneofthegame said:
The only thing I find frustrating is the lack of proper in game management (which is hindered by our squad depth), also he needs to stop saying one thing in the media, then a few days later saying the complete opposite.

The team has looked good for the most part though.
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That will never stop. What he says in PC is irrelevant. He just says positive things about any player, even the players who are shit and wants to leave.
 
roonster09 said:
That will never stop. What he says in PC is irrelevant. He just says positive things about any player, even the players who are shit and wants to leave.
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I agree, it was more of the:

Sanchez is staying and will come good, to, two weeks left might leave.

Similar to how he was going to cut the deadweight and we have 7 CB’s.

It’s the same with a lot of managers, just a bit annoying, probably just me being picky.
 
LVGWay said:
Manchester United fans are the most easily pleased fans on the planet. ‘Give Ole credit he got a draw vs a Championship regulars club’
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Those days are gone. They're arguably the best outside of the top six and have an excellent record against the top teams in the league. A point at Molineux is nothing to be ashamed of and very few teams will go there and play as good as we did last night.
 
I think he got a few things wrong to be honest. The game was there for the taking, he should of made changes sooner, James for example was out of the game really for most the second half, Lingard had an awful game as well. I don't know what impact he expected Greenwood and Pereira to make with 1 minute left as well. The penalty issue needs resolving to especially now it's become spoken about he'll have to do something about it I guess. Hopefully he sorts it all soonish, it was a tough game and plenty of teams will struggle there but it's frustrating cos it could of been won.
 
Foxbatt said:
To be honest I do not think he has much of a clue as to coach a modern football team. Certainly not to the level to compete against teams that have the same ability as us or even lesser players. We played in possession because Wolves let us play like that. Look at our corners. Every corner to the far past. Everyone or it let the first defender clear it.
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You have been spurting complete nonsense for a while now.



You just be blind as we where playing like a modern team. If you cant see it there is no hope for you.


Also had to laugh at they let us have the ball...............if you think that after that first half you are nuts :lol:
 
LVGWay said:
Manchester United fans are the most easily pleased fans on the planet. ‘Give Ole credit he got a draw vs a Championship regulars club’
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Wolves are the best team outside of the top six and have a great record against top six sides.
 
People are talking as if he can't improve his substitutions as he grows into the role, it's strange. He got a lot right last night, and some wrong, let's hope he learns from his mistakes, like most managers do.
 
I agree that Ole should have substituted earlier.

Everything else when it comes to criticism right now, I do not agree.
I think he is doing exactly what he promised and wanted to to. He and the club has said it will take time to get back to 1st place in the league.
And Wolves away is NOT a walk in the park.

We do need one or two midfielders in January though. Lingard and McT was not good enough yesterday imo, and Pogba has days on and off as usual.

The positive is the way we play and press. Remember that it took time for Klopp to implement that successfully as well. It is not just about runnin a lot and fast in the press, it is the way you co-operate in pressing.
That was a step forward yesterday first half, then the team was a bit knackered in the second half, more sloppy due to that.
It is this way in football that you have to use the chances you get well.

And Ole has given Martial the no9 wich to me, it seems is working very well. He will propably have 20+ goals this season.

The substitute thing is something that should be tended too, though. The players should have the pressure of being taken off earlier when they are not performing well, and it is wise to introduce fresh legs when the ones on the field are tired.
 
Massive Spanner said:
People are talking as if he can't improve his substitutions as he grows into the role, it's strange. He got a lot right last night, and some wrong, let's hope he learns from his mistakes, like most managers do.
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Did you not know? Everything that happens regarding United is definitive. If something's wrong right now it will always be wrong, nothing we can do about it I guess, not a single person is capable of learning...
 
Massive Spanner said:
People are talking as if he can't improve his substitutions as he grows into the role, it's strange. He got a lot right last night, and some wrong, let's hope he learns from his mistakes, like most managers do.
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Do you think maybe his lack of substitutions were more to do with not having the options on the bench? That was my feeling. None of the subs would have changed the game, mostly just downgrade on who was already out there.
 
I kind of agree with those saying that Ole seems to have a solid plan A, but in actual in game management isn't really up to scratch. Wolves are a decent side, but come on, we should be beating them last night with or without the penalty. We simply didn't threaten enough, especially near the end when Wolves were there for the taking.
 
Shark said:
I kind of agree with those saying that Ole seems to have a solid plan A, but in actual in game management isn't really up to scratch. Wolves are a decent side, but come on, we should be beating them last night with or without the penalty. We simply didn't threaten enough, especially near the end when Wolves were there for the taking.
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Lingard and Martial squandered chances and Pogba missed a penalty. Not sure what Ole can do about that to be honest. We know these tough away games are generally won by 1 goal, we saw that enough under Fergie when we played newly promoted sides.
 
Feck it, that was a fun watch. We played really well first half and should have been 2-0 up right on half time but Martial stood on the ball as he was rounding their keeper. Ole's doing alright. The late subs weren't good and Lingard is poor but the rest of the boys all played well imo. Last year we were a shambles at Wolves, this time Wolves were very lucky to get a point.
 
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