Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion

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Shark said:
There's no issue with a young team being inconsistent, but being consistently poor against lower half opposition is still a worry until it's addressed, rather it's an issue with mentality, tactics or both. There's plenty of young teams built in the past and present that are able to show their quality vs teams like Crystal Palace and Bournemouth. Arsenal's young team under Wenger, years back, although didn't win titles, put away weak opposition fairly consistently which is why they always ended up 4th.
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We haven't been consistently poor against weak teams. We've beaten some lower teams this season but also not beaten some. Which is what inconsistent means.

Arsenal were like Spurs under Poch. Consistently good against weaker teams but consistently bad against top teams. We're good against top teams and inconsistent against weak teams. So I'm not sure what you're trying to say.
 
Rish Sawhney said:
We haven't been consistently poor against weak teams. We've beaten some lower teams this season but also not beaten some. Which is what inconsistent means.

Arsenal were like Spurs under Poch. Consistently good against weaker teams but consistently bad against top teams. We're good against top teams and inconsistent against weak teams. So I'm not sure what you're trying to say.
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We’ve beaten Norwich and Brighton. What I’m saying that being game raisers against the big teams isn’t going to get us back into the champions league. Beating the cannon fodder will, as Poch and Wenger did.
 
Alabaster Codify7 said:
Just to chuck this in there, though.

Last 3-4 games we've looked good - very good / excellent to some.

So if we shit the bed against everton, what will the narrative be?

"Ole lacks the players, this squad is shit?"

"Ole has always been sub-par"

or something somewhere in between? Because I can tell you damn well right now, there will be about 10% of posts that is somewhere in between. So what is it? Is this squad shit and we've fluked some results or done what midtable teams do, and go on a purple patch? Or is this manager shit and he's over-achieved the past few games?

Something to bear in mind when reacting to the result this weekend, whatever the outcome. Bear in mind your previous opinions and reactions.
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The simple truth is - we will drop points against some teams like Everton (who in fairness are a lot better than their table-position is) or away to Burnley. I don't believe for one second that we will win our next 4 League games - it would be unbelievable if we did, but most likely we won't.

And we will continue to do so until we get some more experienced players, and a better squad. Either we sign a few of these players, or we wait 12-18 months until our 18-24 year old players get a few years older. But we WILL get better..with or without OGS - that I am 100% certain of.
 
Shark said:
We’ve beaten Norwich and Brighton. What I’m saying that being game raisers against the big teams isn’t going to get us back into the champions league. Beating the cannon fodder will, as Poch and Wenger did.
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Thats true it'd be a problem if it continues beyond this season. This season I think we will probably be inconsistent in this regard and probably end up missing out on top 4.
 
So I see the latest fad criticism is that we’re game raisers now :lol:. Winning a few games must have been really hard on some of you.
 
lysglimt said:
The simple truth is - we will drop points against some teams like Everton (who in fairness are a lot better than their table-position is) or away to Burnley. I don't believe for one second that we will win our next 4 League games - it would be unbelievable if we did, but most likely we won't.

And we will continue to do so until we get some more experienced players, and a better squad. Either we sign a few of these players, or we wait 12-18 months until our 18-24 year old players get a few years older. But we WILL get better..with or without OGS - that I am 100% certain of.
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The simple truth is we have good players but not a team willing to die for each other - yet.

That shit takes time, a buy in from the players and a manager they believe in ala fergie.

Chopping and changing managers every other season is not the solution for us.
 
Zen86 said:
So I see the latest fad criticism is that we’re game raisers now :lol:. Winning a few games must have been really hard on some of you.
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To be fair, it is actually a valid point to raise. I know people don't like to see any form of criticism of Solskjaer, but, factually, he has done poorly against the teams outside of the traditional top six + Leicester.

Currently, four of our six wins have come against Tottenham, Man City, Chelsea and Leicester. Only two of our wins have come against teams outside of those.

Our record for games outside of the top six is 2 wins in 10 games.

- Southampton D
- Wolves D
- Crystal Palace L
- Newcastle L
- Norwich W
- Bournemouth L
- West Ham L
- Sheffield D
- Aston Villa D
- Brighton W

People will say we could have won some of those games we drew, but I would say we could have lost some of them as well e.g. Sheffield United was a result that flattered us.

We have games against Everton, Watford and Burnley coming up. This will be a major test for Solskjaer to see whether he can start getting results against them because, thus far, it has not been anywhere near good enough.
 
Untd55 said:
To be fair, it is actually a valid point to raise. I know people don't like to see any form of criticism of Solskjaer, but, factually, he has done poorly against the teams outside of the traditional top six + Leicester.

Currently, four of our six wins have come against Tottenham, Man City, Chelsea and Leicester. Only two of our wins have come against teams outside of those.

Our record for games outside of the top six is 2 wins in 10 games.

- Southampton D
- Wolves D
- Crystal Palace L
- Newcastle L
- Norwich W
- Bournemouth L
- West Ham L
- Sheffield D
- Aston Villa D
- Brighton W

People will say we could have won some of those games we drew, but I would say we could have lost some of them as well e.g. Sheffield United was a result that flattered us.

We have games against Everton, Watford and Burnley coming up. This will be a major test for Solskjaer to see whether he can start getting results against them because, thus far, it has not been anywhere near good enough.
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The sensible answer is we are playing a young team - youth being generally less consistent - and have a lack of creativity in the middle which means we can struggle to break down defensive teams. That’s the sensible answer, and it’s something that will improve.

But don’t let that stop people from lazily characterising us as a bunch of game raisers.
 
On presenting Woodward a vision
I have always had a vision of how I want this team to look in 18 months when that season (2021-22) starts.

We need some transfer windows before then, but I set that plan out for Ed within a couple of weeks when I came here.

I’m old school. I am not the iPad or powerpoint-presentation type. For me it’s a flip chart – write it down and put in the names. Yep, yep, no, no, yes. Players, gaps, holes. With what’s happened since, one or two things have changed – but he has known from the start what I think this group needs.

I’d been watching. I had a clear idea of what a United team should look like. I have been part of a United team and I wanted to go back to our traditions of attacking.

Quick, attacking football with pace, power, and personalities out there. And that is what we are doing. I can see fruits of what we’re doing. The seeds we’re laying are starting to pop up.

Obviously we are one or two players down in numbers but it doesn’t have to be all done in this (January) window, it might be the summer window. But we are going to strengthen. We are going to get starters into this team. We need to.
 
On improved fitness levels
You see every single day now that these players don’t need an operation. Sometimes they need some medicine but we’re on the right track.

If you don’t pull your weight or put a shift in you’re the odd man out in training. It didn’t always used to be like that, I have to say.
 
On changing the mood at the club
I’d been there once since I left and I didn’t feel that I could go in so it was important to change the mood.

It’s about being part of the family when you work for us. It doesn’t matter if you’re Kath on reception, Mike behind the cooking plates, or Alec doing the kit, we as coaches, or the players.

We are one team, that’s always been United. Now I’m getting more confirmation of that by ex-players coming back who have not been here for many years.

Last week we had Patrice (Evra) and Anderson in. Berba (Dimitar Berbatov) has been in. So too Nemanja (Vidic), and Rio (Ferdinand). Roy Keane hasn’t been in to talk to my players…but he has been in. But he hasn’t spoken to my players. They’re all coming in.

When I have Norwegians meeting us here, other clubs, agents – they get a great feel.

That’s a big thing for me, Mick Phelan and Michael Carrick because we’ve been part of this club for so long.
 
Zen86 said:
So I see the latest fad criticism is that we’re game raisers now :lol:. Winning a few games must have been really hard on some of you.
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The latest one is that we need to win all of our next 4 league games or beating Spurs and City proves nothing.

As if runs of 6 straight league wins are easily done with a young weak squad.
 
Tarrou said:
So its confirmed, Anderson is the reason for the good performances lately
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He brought take-out and had a great speech in Portuguese. So only Pereira and Dalot could really understand it, but the others were, by all acounts, very taken by the passion in his voice!
 
hungrywing said:
https://thebusbybabe.sbnation.com/2...ery-different-performances-tottenham-man-city
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This is a very good analysis and goes to show that ole is not a tactical novice. Getting the better of both pep and Jose is no mean feat.

Against lesser teams he'll need a bit more in terms of personnel, especially a creative midfielder and maybe attacking full backs who can overload the flanks and allow rashford and James to move inside.

I'm hoping that by next season, the likes of laird, dalot and Williams will be viable options to use in such games. A high pressing attacking midfielder would be even better.
 
Untd55 said:
To be fair, it is actually a valid point to raise. I know people don't like to see any form of criticism of Solskjaer, but, factually, he has done poorly against the teams outside of the traditional top six + Leicester.

Currently, four of our six wins have come against Tottenham, Man City, Chelsea and Leicester. Only two of our wins have come against teams outside of those.

Our record for games outside of the top six is 2 wins in 10 games.

- Southampton D
- Wolves D
- Crystal Palace L
- Newcastle L
- Norwich W
- Bournemouth L
- West Ham L
- Sheffield D
- Aston Villa D
- Brighton W

People will say we could have won some of those games we drew, but I would say we could have lost some of them as well e.g. Sheffield United was a result that flattered us.

We have games against Everton, Watford and Burnley coming up. This will be a major test for Solskjaer to see whether he can start getting results against them because, thus far, it has not been anywhere near good enough.
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Southampton, Wolves, Crystal Palace, Newcastle all got results that were massively flattering for them. I ranted about this earlier in the season when Rashford, McTominay and everyone else were missing shots on open net, and Pogba and Rashford decided to miss penalties for fun.

The 4 games I listed, we should have won. We didn't and that is purely down to personal mistakes in the front. .
 
Samid said:
On changing the mood at the club
I’d been there once since I left and I didn’t feel that I could go in so it was important to change the mood.

It’s about being part of the family when you work for us. It doesn’t matter if you’re Kath on reception, Mike behind the cooking plates, or Alec doing the kit, we as coaches, or the players.

We are one team, that’s always been United. Now I’m getting more confirmation of that by ex-players coming back who have not been here for many years.

Last week we had Patrice (Evra) and Anderson in. Berba (Dimitar Berbatov) has been in. So too Nemanja (Vidic), and Rio (Ferdinand). Roy Keane hasn’t been in to talk to my players…but he has been in. But he hasn’t spoken to my players. They’re all coming in.

When I have Norwegians meeting us here, other clubs, agents – they get a great feel.

That’s a big thing for me, Mick Phelan and Michael Carrick because we’ve been part of this club for so long.
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This is great to hear and for the first time since Fergie left I do believe in the project.
 
SteveW said:
The latest one is that we need to win all of our next 4 league games or beating Spurs and City proves nothing.

As if runs of 6 straight league wins are easily done with a young weak squad.
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We could win the next 10 games, with a loss in the 11th being clear proof that Ole’s not up to it.
 
Judas said:
I actually think that's a load of shite. Some people are obsessed with laughing at people worried and uncertain about the clubs current direction. Weird fanbase.
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Nope. There’s a good number of people on here who are determined to find the negatives in absolutely everything we do. Until a new manager comes in that is.
 
Zen86 said:
Nope. There’s a good number of people on here who are determined to find the negatives in absolutely everything we do. Until a new manager comes in that is.
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But going around being the extreme opposite and drawing attention to the moaners by moaning yourself doesn't do much for the mood on this site does it?
 
Judas said:
But going around being the extreme opposite and drawing attention to the moaners by moaning yourself doesn't do much for the mood on this site does it?
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I get your point, but idiots should be called out. And believe me, there are some idiots here.
 
If you don't get behind him after those quotes I don't know what it takes

Moyes was... feck knows. LVG was trying to turn us into an Ajax or Barca I guess, Mourinho was all about the quick fix, Ole is bringing back what United always was and successful with
 
Gasolin said:
I know... every day I am amazed.
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The incredible about-face of some of the (former?) Ole haters on here really is a sight to behold huh? Then they'll carry on like nothing's happened, spouting more rubbish and expecting people to take them seriously.
 
ScarleyUtd said:
The incredible about-face of some of the (former?) Ole haters on here really is a sight to behold huh? Then they'll carry on like nothing's happened, spouting more rubbish and expecting people to take them seriously.
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mate I have been on this site for almost a decade now. I don’t know how some people do it. They’ve been constantly negative for years.

I have a sneaky suspicion there’s a lot of people on this site who don’t actually enjoy watching football. They enjoy FIFA and transfer gossip and twitter banter, but watching the sport isn’t for them.
 
Judas said:
If we go into the new year top 5, without Pogba barely playing all season I'll be quite impressed. Long way to go though, this period of the season is a nightmare for teams even with squads much deeper than ours.
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Quite impressed :lol:
 
Wumminator said:
mate I have been on this site for almost a decade now. I don’t know how some people do it. They’ve been constantly negative for years.

I have a sneaky suspicion there’s a lot of people on this site who don’t actually enjoy watching football. They enjoy FIFA and transfer gossip and twitter banter, but watching the sport isn’t for them.
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I do not get posts like this. Why are you on a forum if you want everyone to have the same opinion? People like you say anyone who is not convinced by Solskjaer is a negativity-dwelling fake fan.

How about we make a forum for all the people with similar opinions to you. You can have some riveting conversations about how you all agree with each other.

Maybe you can have some really heated discussions on how someone agrees with someone to a higher degree than another person. Exciting stuff.

People are odd. Just accept not everyone is a Solskjaer brown nose.
 
Untd55 said:
I do not get posts like this. Why are you on a forum if you want everyone to have the same opinion? People like you say anyone who is not convinced by Solskjaer is a negativity-dwelling fake fan.

How about we make a forum for all the people with similar opinions to you. You can have some riveting conversations about how you all agree with each other.

Maybe you can have some really heated discussions on how someone agrees with someone to a higher degree than another person. Exciting stuff.

People are odd. Just accept not everyone is a Solskjaer brown nose.
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In no way shape or form did I suggest everyone needs the same opinions. There are many posters here who clearly know football who disagree with me. That is fine. That is acceptable, I just don’t like people who post absolute drivel. Who have no intelligence and in general ruin the discourse on the board. You know people who say things like...


Untd55 said:
I actually think it will be in Manutd's interest to lose. I know some will say 'you're not a true fan', but losing points in the short run and sacking Solskjaer will be a bigger positive than scrapping out a lucky point and keeping Solskjaer for another game.
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Untd55 said:
How do people think McTominay will be good enough for a first-eleven is beyond me.
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Untd55 said:
You could get anyone and he will get at least the same results as Solskjaer. He is a league 2 standard manager who has been bumped up due to his connection with the club.
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We got one of the most kind christmas runs ever. Although easy games for other sides are hard for us this season.
Then in January we will hopefully have lots of cup games as well. We should reach the league cup semi final then hopefully advance in the Fa cup too.
Need to add numbers up front and in midfield to cope with this well.

I would personally rest players in the league and focus on the cups. Against Colchester though we should be able to rotate a lot.
 
Paul_Scholes18 said:
We got one of the most kind christmas runs ever. Although easy games for other sides are hard for us this season.
Then in January we will hopefully have lots of cup games as well. We should reach the league cup semi final then hopefully advance in the Fa cup too.
Need to add numbers up front and in midfield to cope with this well.

I would personally rest players in the league and focus on the cups. Against Colchester though we should be able to rotate a lot.
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We can get to 2 points of 4th if we win today. The league has to be our number one focus surely
 
Tom Cato said:
Southampton, Wolves, Crystal Palace, Newcastle all got results that were massively flattering for them. I ranted about this earlier in the season when Rashford, McTominay and everyone else were missing shots on open net, and Pogba and Rashford decided to miss penalties for fun.

The 4 games I listed, we should have won. We didn't and that is purely down to personal mistakes in the front. .
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I'm not into "what ifs" but the stats suggest we wouldn't have conceded 5 goals against Sheffield and Aston Villa if McTominay hadn't been injured, I tend to agree and believe we'd have beaten both sides had he played.
 
SteveW said:
We can get to 2 points of 4th if we win today. The league has to be our number one focus surely
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Definitely. Finishing in the top 4 has to be our main priority. Not only for the money or prestige but it could well affect our chances of signing players who may not want to go to a club that's playing outside of the CL.
 
Does anyone really expect Ole to be our manager in two seasons from now? Hell, even one?

If not, then get rid of him now, why extend the pain? Never won anything as a manager, not playing a style of football that looks like winning anything, not picking players who look capable of winning anything.

We're Utd, we accept the best and only the best.
 
AltiUn said:
I'm not into "what ifs" but the stats suggest we wouldn't have conceded 5 goals against Sheffield and Aston Villa if McTominay hadn't been injured, I tend to agree and believe we'd have beaten both sides had he played.
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If we had another decent CM and striker in the squad to cover injuries I don't think this thread would exist. Lack of decent cover has cost us in several games.
 
JK-27 said:
Does anyone really expect Ole to be our manager in two seasons from now? Hell, even one?

If not, then get rid of him now, why extend the pain? Never won anything as a manager, not playing a style of football that looks like winning anything, not picking players who look capable of winning anything.

We're Utd, we accept the best and only the best.
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Yes, yes.

He's won the league twice with his previous club.
The football is improving. We've been scoring plenty in recent weeks and just beat Sours and City pretty comfortably.
Which ones has he wrongly omitted?
 
SteveW said:
If we had another decent CM and striker in the squad to cover injuries I don't think this thread would exist. Lack of decent cover has cost us in several games.
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Agreed. Although we'd probably still have this thread considering it's his performance thread and not his sack watch one ;)
 
I'd say Ole has a 50/50 chance of being here in two years time. He'll almost certainly get until the end of the season. If he's done well he'll get the summer and start of next season. If at the start of next season we start to struggle, he's toast.
 
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