You mean if he is allowed to buy some midfielders.
Gotta love the board.
Gotta love the board.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2021/22 Discussion
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He has the job and for me he has to keep it for at least two years more. This is actually a long term plan at last. The recent years have shown scattergun signings don't work and if even klopp came here he can't fix everything in a window or two. I'm behind ole the legend all the way. If He can't deliver the league he will at the very least leave us in a much better place.
Seems so we're a team which is ruthless, yesterday we punished all of Chelsea's mistake. We were a bit nervous and easy to pass by in 1st half but when the gates opened we were relentless. Braking quickly on the counter, taking as few touches as possible to come to opposing box. We're a work in progress it seems and a mid or 2 would help greatly.
I love the man and would like nothing more for him to be the man to bring us back to the top but honestly, i dont see how he's the man for the job. He says the right stuff but we don't see it materialize on the pitch.
That first half was frightening. It looked like all he spoke about was what Chelsea were doing. Us on the other hand were wilting under pressure. Our team was failing both on and off the ball. The pressing was rudimentary at best and and least said about the passing the better. Not much structured attacking play was on show.
The intesity that is required to compete at the elite level of todays football wasn't on show for even a 5 minute period. That for me has me worried more than anything. I hope that he figures it out cause there'd be nothing better than winning with one of our own at the helm. will it happen? I sadly don't see it.
That first half was frightening. It looked like all he spoke about was what Chelsea were doing. Us on the other hand were wilting under pressure. Our team was failing both on and off the ball. The pressing was rudimentary at best and and least said about the passing the better. Not much structured attacking play was on show.
The intesity that is required to compete at the elite level of todays football wasn't on show for even a 5 minute period. That for me has me worried more than anything. I hope that he figures it out cause there'd be nothing better than winning with one of our own at the helm. will it happen? I sadly don't see it.
Thing is, if Chelsea had scored first, when they hit the post for example I don't see how we would have turned the game around. Us scoring first and the way Chelsea attacked and defended after the pen was the perfect scenario for our counter attacking.
It was a bit of a gamble going with only two central midfielders in Pogba and McTominay while Chelsea still had their 3 central mids which allow their CBs to go forward, especially Emerson. Years past, it was Alonso going forward and he's had good moments against United from the left side, similar to Emerson yesterday.
AWB had a lot to do yesterday, a lot of ground to cover. Chelsea are a couple of notches below because of Hazard's absence and their reliance on Mount, Abraham, etc.
When you're pressing so much, your shape goes out the window a little bit with only two central mids who were close together without the ball. Just think United will have to change it up when going against 3 center mids and go 3 center mids as well to account for overloads and players getting sucked into the middle of the pitch.
AWB had a lot to do yesterday, a lot of ground to cover. Chelsea are a couple of notches below because of Hazard's absence and their reliance on Mount, Abraham, etc.
When you're pressing so much, your shape goes out the window a little bit with only two central mids who were close together without the ball. Just think United will have to change it up when going against 3 center mids and go 3 center mids as well to account for overloads and players getting sucked into the middle of the pitch.
We did go 3 center mids though(Periera) and Lingard often drifted inside.
The problem was that they were both pretty poor in helping us control the midfield.
It's my worry too.
I'm obviously thrilled with the 4-0 win, but I can't get over how poor we looked at times in ball circulation and control.
When we go up against teams who sit back, are we going to be able to break them down? I still think we lack structure during build-up.
I disagree, I think we would have won that game regardless. Chelsea were really open whenever they lost the ball, they had no idea of how to get into position when there was a turnover. It could have finished 2-1 or 3-2, but i think we were always going to win that game.
Yeah I was thoroughly impressed with how we passed out from defense but all that coordination seems to diminish the further the ball got. There's still some work to be done with our ball retention and breaking down defenses
I am not sure about that, we obviously tried to press very well but on the man and basically, Chelsea was forced to play long. But because our wingers didn't track back, Chelsea had chances to play with short passes on the side and yes, we were a bit lucky they don't have finishers.
After that, Ole switched to zonal marking, and counter attacking. I think he's been reactive the whole time so that's not too bad, but only because Lampard also was changing constantly.
That’s very interesting RB. I didn’t know anything about Olsen.
I have been thinking Perreira May have been offered a new deal and could feature a lot this year because of his accuracy from free kicks and corners. We have been terrible at them for some time.
He may have been a little nervous/excited yesterday but he is very good at dead ball situations. It was good to see, he had important influence on the game with his assist and then tackle and pass to Pogba for his through ball for Rasford’s goal.
I also think, one of the many reasons Solskjaer was so adamant about getting Maguire at any cost, was his heading ability in the opposition box.
We saw Perreira pick out Maguire a couple of times yesterday. It could become a deadly combination.
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Hopefully. I was watching that too and saw two occasions where Maguire got his head on the ball off our corner.
United should be able to use him for knockdowns or scoring direct off his massive head
Sunderland used Quinn and Kevin Phillips to great effect (affect?) back in the day.
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Yes. It’s almost like when the attacking players have time to think, they just don’t know what to do.
Very good debuts for Wam Bissaka and Maguire, plus McTomminay was decent, Pogba always looks like the most talented player on the pitch. But still our midfield needs something, don’t have a clue what type of player it is thou. Is it a Kante, or Verratti, or Jorginho type player.
Solskjaer’s problem this season is defo gonna be lack of a playmaker.
We have zero players who can control a game... including Pogba. Angel Gomez could well be our answer in the future if he drops into midfield. Who knows?
Would kill for a player like De Jong or Thiago at the club. Imagine how calm we’d be in possession
We have zero players who can control a game... including Pogba. Angel Gomez could well be our answer in the future if he drops into midfield. Who knows?
Would kill for a player like De Jong or Thiago at the club. Imagine how calm we’d be in possession
I think you’ve got A) some lofty expectations and B) something that prevents you from seeing things that are there.
A) We were no 6. We are rebuilding, it’s a several-seasons-project. It is obvious there will be ups and downs. We’ve played six preseason games and won five (plus one shoot out), and we start the season playing last season’s no 3 who also won the EL. First game. If we were carved open most of the game and lost with three goals, it might still have been part of a season of ups and downs. Yet we play a pretty even game, and win 4-0. What do you expect?
B) We had parts of the game we pressed high and it worked, prts were we tried to press high and it didn’t. Parts we stood off medium high because we were cautious/uncertain, parts becaus we wanted to. Sometimes we fell back in a block because Chelsea played well, sometimes because we were goals up and wanted to strike them on the counter. You seem to only have noticed or remember a few parts of the game, perhaps the first parts of the two halves.
It’s one thing to come in after a 4-0 loss darkeyed and pessimistic, it’s one thing to watch a year of football and say something about lack of progress, it’s one thing to see a 4-0 drubbing of a good team and say ‘yes, but let’s not go overboard either’, but it’s something entirely different to wipe out all signs of positivity and go out and declare doom after this season start.
Agree with this. I think it likely that it’s partly down to us focusing on the other two thirds on the pitch first, partly because we want to leave more rrom for improvisation in attack, partly because we are eager to be direct, and partly because of the characteristics of our best attacking players. We have players that were (Mata, Sanchez) and will be (Gomes, Greenwood) able to play like that against tight defenses, but it’s not the main force of Rashford, Martial and Pogba.
I think it’s a work in progress for this season, and likely will we buy one or two players next summer who have the skill set to play both in open and tight spaces.
I really wish many, many, many more of our fans saw it this way.
Even if Ole finishes 6th this season... it is IMPERATIVE that he remains manager.
The reason we are in such a mess is down to the thinking from the board that we can get over the post-Fergie blues with a quick fix.
That is why our squad has been such a mess; it has been made up of 4/5 different managers. We keep sacking managers for finishing outside the Top 4. This is not going to make the team/club any better.
We HAVE to stick with one boss and let his philosophy evolve over many seasons. That is the only way we are going to improve and get right back up there. There is no quick fix... we know. Because we tried it. We brought in two of the most decorated managers in European football (LvG andJose), we opened up a cheque book for them (some of the signings were insane; to think that we've signed -and let go - Ibrahimovic, Schweinsteiger, Di Maria, Falcao, Lukaku as well as players like Pogba and Sanchez is just utterly insane! If somebody had have told you in 2014 that these players will come in over the next four years, you'd think they were nuts.
This is not - and never will be - the route back to the top of the Premier League.
We have to give a manager time and patience to evolve his philosophy and his dressing-room spirit until, slowly, but surely, we have the right mentality and belief.
Solskjaer needs to be given the years it will take to make us compete at the top table once again.
If we are sixth come April and fans are on here saying "we ned to get rid and hire (insert 'great manager's name here)", then those are the worst kind of fans to me.
The last words Sir Alex ever said to us fans were this. "It is your job to support your new manager". Personally, I feel the match-going fans were still right behind Davey Moyes right up until he was sacked. Unfortunately, it was the board themselves who didn't take Fergie's words to heart. And now look at the mess we're in fr not backing managers. A squad made up of different parts from five different managers. Insane!
Our job is to support the manager. 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, or even 7th place finish this season, we mark it down as groundwork... we back the manager, we go again! The longer we give Ole, the more chance he has of evolving the dressing-room into the dressing-room he wants and a dressing-room that would draw blood for him.
Only then could we start to compete. We have to have a dressing-room that pulls together. You can only get that when the manager is fully backed by everyone at the club.
You would think our fan base - more than any other - would know this. But a huge number don't. Our two big dominant spells at the top table of English/European football came because we gave managers time to evolve a dressingroom and a mentality that they wanted.
Now it's time to do it again.
I would genuinely say that anybody who calls for 'Simeone' or 'Allegri' or whoever to be our manager come April/May next year is the most deluded and disappointing type of Man Utd fan.
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This is what we're missing:
If we could find a player to do this for us we'd be set.
Hopefully in the next transfer window or the one after, eh?
As for Ole, I can't see how anyone can be unhappy with what he's doing. We all know the deficiencies in our squad. Yet Ole is getting us 4-0 wins, playing with an obvious idea and a clear shape. He dropped a lot of the players who aren't up to it, even putting Tuanzebe on the bench in front of our other underperforming defenders, and he's taking us forward. Ole doesn't have a bench as good as City's thats not his fault. However, he is getting a very decent amount out of what he's got. If he gets to buy players as good as Rodri, Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne and we still struggle to control midfield then maybe we can blame him. With what he's got though, I think he's doing a damn good job.
I've been thinking about this as well. A prime Carrick would've been perfect for this team. It makes the Longstaff links makes sense. I think he's gonna come next summer.
United have one, the only problem it requires a little patience as he is only 17yrs; James Garner. Garner is a 'once in a generation' talent, so it would be really stupid to buy an OK talent to delay his progress.
He is a yes man - and apparently he only agrees to what Woodward and Glazer says
As long as he is in charge of the mens team - it is ok.
The Leicester-match at home might have been our best game all season. One of few matches where we completely dominated the opposition and destroyed them before the break.
I watched Longstaff against Arsenal . He's a long way off being Carrick.
Yes, one of only a few. Was 4-1 that day! But we certainly never smashed any big teams under Jose.
Under the circumstances and in what is clearly a difficult period for the club I think Ole is doing really well.
His signings have all hit the ground running, AWB and Maguire look spot on and Dan James already has a league goal under his belt. So although we haven't had the full rebuild some were hoping for at least our money this window looks very well spent.
We at least look like we have a much faster and purposeful attack now and so far, pre season and the league couldn't be going much better. There was a clear tactical shift to the 2nd half on Sunday which at least shows Ole can make changes mid game to positive effect.
His signings have all hit the ground running, AWB and Maguire look spot on and Dan James already has a league goal under his belt. So although we haven't had the full rebuild some were hoping for at least our money this window looks very well spent.
We at least look like we have a much faster and purposeful attack now and so far, pre season and the league couldn't be going much better. There was a clear tactical shift to the 2nd half on Sunday which at least shows Ole can make changes mid game to positive effect.
My question will be this.
How will Ole break down teams that park the bus and counter?
Can't wait for the Wolves game. Will be really interesting to see how Ole will line up. Players like Mata will actually be valuable in games like this.
How will Ole break down teams that park the bus and counter?
Can't wait for the Wolves game. Will be really interesting to see how Ole will line up. Players like Mata will actually be valuable in games like this.
Players like Mata will be valuable on dodgy pitches east in Europe where we can rest our main players. Other than that the further they're away from the starting XI the better.
A Kante type next to Pogba, and a Verratti infront of him would be ideal, if not just a Kante type player which is more vital. Pogba could play 8 or 10 with a lot more freedom.
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If he's able to instill this kind of belief in the players for the full season we'll be alright.
Lots of work to do and midfield signings needed but I watched the game back and we didn't play as badly as I'd initially thought.
You can see the style of play/patterns, along with the way he way he wants the team to press emerging and hopefully things improve as the players get more used to Ole's direction.
Interesting comments from McT there, I think you're right too. If he can instill that confidence all season top 4 is nailed on, especially with our solid back 4 (finally).
This is the kind of thing sir Alex could do. His last few years he had an average looking squad. They were always the underdogs. But made them perform way more then expected.
I hope McTominay is right there.
Our midfield did look like a complete bag of nerves on the ball for much of the Chelsea game though. Himself included. Pereira also admitted he was nervy. Hopefully we'll see that our midfielders can have more conviction in collecting and passing the ball in the middle of the pitch.
Our midfield did look like a complete bag of nerves on the ball for much of the Chelsea game though. Himself included. Pereira also admitted he was nervy. Hopefully we'll see that our midfielders can have more conviction in collecting and passing the ball in the middle of the pitch.
The big test will come when an opposing team allows United to have the ball and thus make counter attacking at will a bit more difficult.
The real test of his presence would be how he'd react to a bad loss or two. See if he can still have that effect when he comes in the dressing room after we get bummed by City or Liverpool.
We should be a huge aerial threat now - we have Pogba, McTominay and Maguire who are huge. If I were in charge of United and were playing Wolves I would tell AWB to keep back as much as possible, as he is probably the best player to avoid counter-attacks against. Wolves will probably let us dominate the ball - put in a lot of crosses to win corners. And line up Pogba and McTominay for shooting.
So was Carrick at the same age. Do we wait till he's the finished product and cost 5X more, or gamble on a young promising player?
If he still has that effect after we lost eight of the last twelve games last season, I dare say he’s passed that test.
Well I guess it's a bit different now as it's a new season and Ole doesn't really have the excuse of coming in mid-season during a horribly messy period.
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