Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion

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Did alright today, team looked dynamic and dangerous but only criticism I have is his use of subs and some general team selection issues.

Get Martial starting or on quicker. Greenwood on bench. No mas Young.

Other than that hard to fault him or the lads.
 
Aloysius's Back 3 said:
Ole is the LVG for this club.

He may not win trophies but this time next year - he will have the right young players at the club with a British core.

At that point we can upgrade to a better manager if need be - but I am more than happy to go a year without winning a trophies as long as ole builds a United club again.

That's what's important to me and ole will do it.
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The contradiction is strong on this one!
 
I think he did as well as expected. We pinned Barcelona in their own half for large chunks of the game. That we couldn't take advantage of that was down to Young, Lukaku and Rashford; not Ole.

He's got the team performing above themselves but there's a limit to how much you can get out of bad ingredients.
 
hungrywing said:
Mostly agree but I think it should be heavily emphasized that - to put it mildly - the jury's still out regarding the bolded part. Woodward et al and their running the club like rappers in a music video tossing money to the wind are a serious problem affecting the club and its culture among the playing staff in a severely negative way.

But yes right now we're in the best position we've been in post-SAF regarding the coaching staff, certainly the best we could ever have hoped to be.
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By all means, I’m not super convinced about Woodward and co either. My point was mainly about how quickly you hit the panic button.
 
An Irish Red said:
I think he did as well as expected. We pinned Barcelona in their own half for large chunks of the game. That we couldn't take advantage of that was down to Young, Lukaku and Rashford; not Ole.

He's got the team performing above themselves but there's a limit to how much you can get out of bad ingredients.
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He needs a summer to add players but us pinning Barcelona back is misleading. They hogged the ball for most of the game, and never got out of 2nd gear because they didn't need to. They didn't need to as we offered sweet feck all in attack apart from effort. It isn't just players unable to find a final ball. It's a team that doesn't play with much cohesion and attacking identity.
 
Ole can only do so much with what he has in front of him, I thought we did well today but we are really lacking in end quality.

It's growing pains. I think that winning period made some think we were a ready-made team all along but was being shackled by Mourinho, riding that high and as we gradually came back down to earth some are starting to complain like as if we were never dross.

It's a good thing in one sense that we crashed back down, as clearly, this squad needs serious investments and hopefully the board really back Ole.
 
During the fantastic run recently which propelled us into a position we couldn't even have dreamt of a couple of months back - so many kept saying a bad streak would be Ole's first proper test. Well now they're in one - and it seems to me it's some of the supporters who are failing the test by instantly crumbling in face of these hardships. I'm more worried about the strength of character displayed amongst us to be honest rather than that of the team's. And it's not even a horrible streak nor was it unexpected. One game won where we played bad, one lost where we actually did good evening it out and then something I would consider a decent performance right now considering we were up against perhaps the best side ever to have surfaced in the history of this game.

We still have some hard fixtures to go and some we should definitely win - a lot of points to fight for all of which will be extremely important for us - and no matter how it turns out in the end I hope us fans at least can claim to have "done our part" once it's done with. Any supporter who's got their team's best interest at heart should focus on doing what benefits the team most - and that's lifting them up and carrying them along (a.k.a. "supporting" them) - not dragging them down.
 
Inter Yer Nan said:
Considering his options he wasn't outdone tactically. He actually had a patched up side outplaying Barca for large stretches. We were about 15 points from Champions League places and facing an impossible PSG tie when he took over now we are still in the quarters (a 2-1 win and we are through) and right in the hunt for 4th (or 3rd) whilst managing three failed managers players.

Perspective.
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Finally some sense. fecking load of brats in here tonight.
 
Aloysius's Back 3 said:
Ole is the LVG for this club.

He may not win trophies but this time next year - he will have the right young players at the club with a British core.

At that point we can upgrade to a better manager if need be - but I am more than happy to go a year without winning a trophies as long as ole builds a United club again.

That's what's important to me and ole will do it.
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Well I would hope he buys better than LVG.
 
Why Dalot on the left is the biggest question I have after the game. Other than that no real worries about Ole yet. Needs to be backed properly come summer.
 
It was a good game from our side , with some lack of luck ( for the goal ) and quality absence in front - with Martial and Lingard in form that would be different .

We also lacked Herrera , which was not so obvious , cause Scott and Fred were tremendous , but Paul did nothing for our attack .

I am OK with how we played .
 
There's two ways to look at it. On one hand, it wasn't the embarrassment some thought it would be, and at times United looked better than Barcelona which is more than you can ask for given the gulf in quality between the two teams. On the other hand, this was the time to take advantage of the fact that this was a subdued Barcelona and it's unlikely they will be that bad in the second leg, so to have not just failed to score but also put a single shot on target is disappointing.
 
Kush said:
Not play Young for starters. Not go with a weird 5 at the back formation with Luke Shaw as LCB and Dalot as LWB. Not sub Lukaku if we were going to put bazillion crosses in. Not sub Young off.

Also, people need to take off their red specs and judge the match for what it was. Zero shots on target at home again, and we've been playing utter shit for couple of months now.
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We didn’t play 5 at the back, Dalot was further up and tuck in to assist Shaw with Messi. Dalot should have doubled up on Suárez when he pulled away for the goal.

The recipient of the crosses is irrelevant if they were accurate. The crosses were atrocious, even Jancker won’t get to any of them if he was in the box. I agree with the Young part.
 
You can't really blame Ole for what's going on (apart from him playing Young + the Dalot on the left thing). Its not his fault that United spent so many millions to amass this pile of crap. Apart from Pogba and Martial none of the players on the pitch can dribble past opposition. How can you win with that?
 
devilish said:
You can't really blame Ole for what's going on (apart from him playing Young + the Dalot on the left thing). Its not his fault that United spent so many millions to amass this pile of crap. Apart from Pogba and Martial none of the players on the pitch can dribble past opposition. How can you win with that?
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Those two being absolute shite doesn't help either. I was firmly in Martial FC camp when Mou was here but I'm beggining to see why Mou wanted to get rid of him him. As talented as he is, You cannot rely on players who put in 6/10 in most of the games they play and still expect to compete for top honours.
 
Ole did well, the players aren't good enough. 5 at the back worked fine and if we'd been a bit sharper or luckier we could have gotten the 1-0 win we'd need to have a good chance to go through.

Put together the two starting lineups and only Pogba definitely gets in the Barca team, and probably De Gea unless the manager is obsessed with possession and a high line in which case Ter Stegen would probably be the #1.

Pogba was average and Herrera out, which basically means Shaw, Fred and Lindelof were the only players qualified to be out there, along with Smalling when we're not in possession.
 
devilish said:
You can't really blame Ole for what's going on (apart from him playing Young + the Dalot on the left thing). Its not his fault that United spent so many millions to amass this pile of crap. Apart from Pogba and Martial none of the players on the pitch can dribble past opposition. How can you win with that?
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To be fair, it worked. Messi was largely anonymous last night, he couldn't get in the game.
 
I think many are way too harsh on Ole. Watching how we set up against Barca was interesting and also sign of things to come (off the ball) hopefully. I mean there were many instances where we didn't let them cross their half. Pressed very well, especially when they had goal kick, didn't let them to pass the ball in defense so they went long ball route with Smalling, Fred, McT winning them with ease and many a times won the ball in their defensive third.

Obviously we can't sustain it because of poor fitness levels but going by Ole's words in previous interviews, I'm guessing we will see lot of this next season.

We did well in build up play, got into promising positions and then missed the final ball (mostly thanks to Young). Either we should play Dalot as RB or sign a new RB.

Edit: Also never saw Messi being so ineffective in the game. He was key for their goal but apart from that we handled him very well and this is without parking the bus and actually working with a proper plan. I was happy with the way we pressed after their first goal.
 
His clear favoritism towards players like Rashford and Lingard is baffling. How can you sub Lukaku before Rashford last night? Absolutely shocking decisions in recent weeks.
 
Our pressing was really good at times yesterday. We just lacked the final ball and were pretty wasteful in a final 3rd.
 
MuFc_1992 said:
Those two being absolute shite doesn't help either. I was firmly in Martial FC camp when Mou was here but I'm beggining to see why Mou wanted to get rid of him him. As talented as he is, You cannot rely on players who put in 6/10 in most of the games they play and still expect to compete for top honours.
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MuFc_1992 said:
Those two being absolute shite doesn't help either. I was firmly in Martial FC camp when Mou was here but I'm beggining to see why Mou wanted to get rid of him him. As talented as he is, You cannot rely on players who put in 6/10 in most of the games they play and still expect to compete for top honours.
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Martial played for how long? 30 minutes? I wouldn't blame them for not being able to drag this tripe to victory against Barcelona
 
We completely controlled the game and looked good with the 3-5-2 but didn’t have the that last bit of quality in the final 3rd to get the goal. Ole had to gamble by adding attacking options but unfortunately the change in shape meant we lost control.

This isn’t the finished product by any means but there are plenty of positives to take from the game.
 
devilish said:
You can't really blame Ole for what's going on (apart from him playing Young + the Dalot on the left thing). Its not his fault that United spent so many millions to amass this pile of crap. Apart from Pogba and Martial none of the players on the pitch can dribble past opposition. How can you win with that?
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The problem I have is if he plans on making Rashford and Lingard key members of the team. Both of them not good enough if you want to win the league. Atleast with Lukaku he’s a donkey but he’d get you 20 goals a season. What’s Lingard going to do? Do a stupid celebration twice a season when he rarely scores. Doesn’t even assist or do anything remotely threatening.

Ole needs to be ruthless in the summer. There’s still redemption in terms of Ashley Young. I’m sure some premier league team near the bottom would take him. Sean Dyche would love him booting it up the pitch.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Not at all happy with that peformance. We need to start progressing as a football team and after the early positivity I'm seeing the same issues we had under Mourinho since we pro actively decided to become more defensive - little cohesion, relying on individuals rather than a proper cohsive attacking unit, priority on grit and route one football.

We need to start seeing some progressive football. I assumed that's why we hired Ole rather than continuing to play plucky scrappy football.
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A good post overlooked because it doesn’t heap praises on Ole.

I see same patterns in our play as I saw under previous 2 managers. Zero off the ball movement, no fresh ideas of play. It’s basically waiting for space to open up on either flanks and then a shit cross is put in. We lose possession, get countered. Rinse and repeat.

Forget progressive football, even in this archaic setup our main source of creativity is Young. I refuse to believe manager doesn’t see that.
 
Have to say reading some comments here is terrible. Disgrace some of the fans of the club. Not Ole fault he has come in to a club with majority of the squad that are average players. He set the team up last night that he thought could get a result and what would be positive. I'm looking forward to summer transfer window as Ole knows what is needed to upgrade that starting 11 and what shite needs to go.
 
Lots of people on here talking about the pressing aspect of our game, saying it is good. Many are saying we just cannot get that final pass and create chances. The reasons are simple, pressing takes more effort than skill, getting that final pass takes more skill than effort. We have plenty of effort but not enough skill in the team. I see this problem in most games but it cannot be changed without changing the staff. Roll on the transfer window.
Yes, we need grafters to do the spadework but we need artists to provide and score who are also prepared to put in the work as necessary. This transition will be slow and eventful but that just shows how far off the pace we have dropped in recent years. Too many games are difficult for us now, even when we win, and I cannot remember the last time we really put a team to the sword.
 
Starting Young consistently.
Dalot left wing back.
Not starting Martial.
Playing 3-5-2 or the crazy back 4/5 hybrid system.
No Greenwood on bench anymore.


Poor since his permanent appointment but we have been unlucky too.
 
Kostov said:
His clear favoritism towards players like Rashford and Lingard is baffling. How can you sub Lukaku before Rashford last night? Absolutely shocking decisions in recent weeks.
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People dont like to see it but he made many mistakes recently. His favorism of certain players (Young included) as well as not being able to install an attacking play philosophy is really disappointing.
 
I thought tactically we were set up very well last night, crowded out the middle of the pitch very effectively for large portions of the game which helped nullify Messi. Which takes some doing.

Unfortunately we lacked the quality at the top end of the pitch to make the difference on the scoresheet.
 
Kush said:
A good post overlooked because it doesn’t heap praises on Ole.

I see same patterns in our play as I saw under previous 2 managers. Zero off the ball movement, no fresh ideas of play. It’s basically waiting for space to open up on either flanks and then a shit cross is put in. We lose possession, get countered. Rinse and repeat.

Forget progressive football, even in this archaic setup our main source of creativity is Young. I refuse to believe manager doesn’t see that.
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To be fair, Ole deserves a summer to add the players he needs but the point stands. He has to instill that brand of football which you begin to identify with Manchester United.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Not at all happy with that peformance. We need to start progressing as a football team and after the early positivity I'm seeing the same issues we had under Mourinho since we pro actively decided to become more defensive - little cohesion, relying on individuals rather than a proper cohsive attacking unit, priority on grit and route one football.

We need to start seeing some progressive football. I assumed that's why we hired Ole rather than continuing to play plucky scrappy football.
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The thing that confuses me - and yes I know all new managers often have honeymoon periods - but we played so much better when he first arrived. What's happened to that football??
 
Don't want to pile on him too much, as the squad he has inherited isn't great but simple things such as starting Young last night is just not acceptable. The sub of Pereira was a strange one aswell, we need a goal and he takes of a striker for a midfielder who is a jack of no trades. Weird.

The fact the running behind the lines has stopped is a major concern for me. We seem to of gone back to the lazy sitting back on our heels style we had under Jose.
 
Ban said:
Our pressing was really good at times yesterday. We just lacked the final ball and were pretty wasteful in a final 3rd.
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The problem was our pressing. It's was always at about 70-80%. Thats a very dangerous game to play. You may as well stand off. There was a few occasions when Rashford and Lukkuka pressed, but the 3rd man was not pressing enough. You see Liverpool and City press, it's how it should be done. You can press with average players and if you get it right, it still is effective. (Milner and Henderson prime examples)
Having said that, I'm not blaming Ole. It takes time to do and players mentality needs to be spot on.
 
Coxy said:
The thing that confuses me - and yes I know all new managers often have honeymoon periods - but we played so much better when he first arrived. What's happened to that football??
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For me, the players have stopped making the runs trying to break the lines, And that is a major difference. Putting Lukaku back upfront and Rashford out wide probably doesn't help in terms of that, but then again Rashford, Martial and Lingard have been poor for a while. Lingard isn't good enough anyways tbh.
 
Coxy said:
The thing that confuses me - and yes I know all new managers often have honeymoon periods - but we played so much better when he first arrived. What's happened to that football??
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Quality of opposition has risen.

Let’s be honest we were playing Cardiff, Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Newcastle in his first four games. But the footballs got worse since the first PSG game.
 
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