Hardly a tactical loss when two of your best attacking players go off injured and the opposition team are much more cohesive. It just shows how far we have to go with recruitment before we're at this level. There wasn't much else Solskjaer could have done to be honest.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer | W15 D2 L4
- Thread starter Tom Van Persie
- Start date
We need to realistically spend another £200m at least before we can even consider a CL push no matter who is in charge anyway. No CL winning team will have Mata, Sanchez and Lukaku in it.
This.
He has a record of giving a chance to an academy player in last 16 CL tie?
I wonder if Poch would still keep playing Mata on the right in piss easy games like Burnly abd fulham , even though he consistently crap there? If he did he might have a youngster blooded, who could have offered something in an emergency like tonight.
Still, if you are consistently crap enough, then you are good enough (to disjoint our attack and effectively play with 10.3 men)
I saw Alardyce shouting at his team once, and he was really loud, he should be your number 1 if that's the criteria nowadays.
I do worry that he's carried over some of the squad usage of the old manager. Mata is still being used on the right, Sanchez is still used as a left winger, whoever plays that left side whether Martial or Rashford is still too far from goal, essentially a winger when the personnel there screams wide forward
In other news Ole hasn't passed an Amadeus test and is now below Tuchel in Amadeus table.
I think the last few matches show that Zidane is a better in game tactician than Ole. I'm not sure he has it in him to outfox Klopp and/or Pep.
Mad to criticise him for his subs when there were two injuries to contend with. The truth is there's a significant drop off in quality between the players who started the game and the ones who were on the bench, there really isn't much you can do about that.
Agree.
Tonight’s defeat cannot be solely on the doorstep of Ole. They were just simply the better team and tonight showed our depth is shit when Lingard & Martial got injured. He could only work with the tools in front of him.
Need to back him massively in the summer with money to bring in some quality additions that will add to the team.
I do believe we have the nucleus of a very good team but just needs a couple more quality signings in the weak areas as you mentioned and watch us go from there!
We've been lacking on the right for ages now, that's why we play a past it left winger as a right wingback. I would still prefer having Mata as a RW than anyone from our youth sides in games we have to win, which is basically every one right now. Tonight, maybe could have moved Rashford to the left, Lukaku center and Sanchez to the right but I also can't see Sanchez doing any beter there than Mata. I really can't blame Ole for this.
Try to get Marco Rose. OGS is a decent coach that suits United, but there are plenty more fish in the sea and I would like to see Marco Rose at United. Actually I want to see him at Bayern but wth. He has proven he is capable of improving players, he constantly loses his best to other clubs(mainly Leipzig) and still manages to compete and he is playing modern, attractive football that could suit pogba, rashford & lingard. So yes, OGS is a good choice, but I think there's someone (way) better.
I can see the general feeling is shifting towards "our squad is shit" again and that Ole is completely blameless. Few bad games doesn't make a manager bad but few good games doesn't make him great either. Our squad is not shit, we played PSG at the perfect time and we very completely toothless, couldn't create anything going forward. Ole is an inexperienced manager and there is no shame admitting that your plan didn't work, hopefully Ole will learn something from today. However we shouldn't see everything through rose tinted glasses. As I said earlier, creating a positive atmosphere is great but we don't need to forget tactics as well. And this is the area Ole still has until the end of the season (assuming board didn't make a decision on permanent manager yet) to convince everyone that he can be a permanent manager.
Lukaku woukd have been a betrr choice tonight
I can't agree with your Mata point though. He has been consistently poor on the RW and I can't see how the academy stars can do any worse
OGS could at least give someone else a chance, otherwise he is subscribing to the definition of insanity
This.
But now you'll get people who'll say he isn't good enough because we lost a game against a good team because for some reason they were expecting a thrashing of PSG, we didn't do bad but game was over after our 2 injuries and psg took advantage as they had nothing to worry about with mata or sanchez.
There are clear improvements in our game after 2 months but obviously there's plenty left to do but at the moment we're beating teams we should be beating and completing against tougher teams, I'm not sure why everyone now thinks with our squad we're going to turn into CL elite because of a manager change. People forget it took "Genius " pep a small country's budget to build his squad who already had some WC players and then some more to rectify his mistakes, same applies to the weatherman who spent lots of money to build his squad and still hasn't won anything yet but Ole is expected to win every game with great football and 4 or 5 nil wins. So far he's doing well and there is still alot to be improved and now we'll see how the team reacts after getting beat.
+1
Mata was a bad sub but PSG are a better side, end of.
Poor subs tonight, after 2 injuries Lukaku and Rashford should have switched to the wings and Sanchez through the middle. Sanchez and mata offers nothing on the sides.
"Today was a reality check from the level we need to be" paraphrasing Ole. He knows the score. Trust in him and with the right backing he'll get us to where we should be.
Lukaku on the wing? I don't see him offering anything either to be honest. Mata is too slow but at least he has champions league experience and shat it less on the ball.
Our bench just isn't great.
Last edited:
Yes, at least he can run on the sides and has the best cross, mata did nothing to influence it.
A first real test against a better team
Well, he managed to beat Sevilla, Zenit, Celtic, Fenerbache and others in the CL and EL with Molde. I think he has adjusted his style and tactis for years already. Otherwise he would never have managed to beat those with small Molde.
I think he plays very modern football.
Upgrade squad, practice and work hard and I think we will see the United we have seen perform excellent in the PL, also against the best teams in the CL.
Anyways, Ole as a player was one of those most wager to get better and analyse what he could do better. I expect the same goes for him as a coach.
Good interview, needs to show some ruthlessness and get rid of Sanchez/Mata and give time to some of the younger players coming through, they can't be any worse at this moment in time. He needs to take some risks.
Plus lukaku coming on with only 7 minutes left shows you what oles opinion is. He'll know exactly what needs to be done with the squad and I can only hope the board will give him the backing he needs to shape a formidable squad.
Mata did nothing and in all likelihood Lukaku would have done nothing either, and then the argument would have been why didn't Ole bring on Mata instead. None of it matters tbh, the lot of them are trash. We'll just have to endure it for a few more months and hopefully we'll rectify the appalling lack of quality we have on the bench in the summer
It will take time. We need Woodward or the incoming DoF on the same wavelength. Think there is no point in offering Mata a new contact to be fair. As much as I like him as a player, he just doesn't have the pace for how we're utilising him. Neither does Sanchez to be fair but he's on massive wages and contract so I doubt will end up selling him.
It's really two poor options. We were fecked with only one injury let alone two. As it will mean rash would have to move from the centre to the wing or Sanchez on left.
Trust the man, he looks like he knows what to do, with the right backing from the board he can succeed here.
Lukaku woukd have influenced the game more just by being a more dangerous option on the break than Mata. He doesn't necessarily need to have a blinder to influence games.
PSG saw we had no pace upfront and just started dominating us.
PSG saw we had no pace upfront and just started dominating us.
Nothing could have changed the result, but could have given us more attacking threat with a few runs, those subs actually made us toothless in attack.
Still if we see how we could have used them to have the best impact we could get than pace on wings was essential if you look back at it, Sanchez can play false 9 as well.
Last edited:
Disagree. Get Dalot on (for Martial) to play RM and him and Young would shut out the threat on the right hand side. Getting Mata on was just criminal. Against a side of this quality he offers absolutely nothing in attack, he doesn't have the legs to run and his defensive work is non-existent. Very stupid and naive sub. At least Dalot would have served a purpose and added energy to the team on the flank.
'Tactically outclassed' is just silly but I'm sure Tuchel must have licked his lips when he saw Mata getting ready. They shifted gear at the start of the second half and started stretching our defence big time. That sub is the only thing I blame Ole for tonight. Think he got a bit carried away with it being a home game and possibly underestimating PSG a fair bit based on their first half. They were always going to go for the away goal in the second half and we played it into their hands by bringing a passenger on at half time.
As long as he learns from this experience and shows ruthlessness in the summer I don't mind crashing out to a team that quite frankly is a class or two above. He hasn't spent a penny, yet has brought us back from the dead by catching up 11 points on 4th place in 8 games.
Ole is quite right. Tonight was a reality check.
The reality is that there is not enough depth or quality in the squad to mount a challenge v a team like PSG when key personnel pick up injuries. Made worse by another dubious referee in a European tie.
It should also be a reality check for Woodward. Ole has made a decent fist of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse but he needs to be supported to bring in players that fit his vision.
The reality is that there is not enough depth or quality in the squad to mount a challenge v a team like PSG when key personnel pick up injuries. Made worse by another dubious referee in a European tie.
It should also be a reality check for Woodward. Ole has made a decent fist of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse but he needs to be supported to bring in players that fit his vision.
Today of all days was a reality check??? Countless posters have been saying this squad isn't good enough for several months. But some were so obsessed with the manager that they weren't having it. Unbelievable that some think that this is a squad that can challenge for major honours but was being mismanaged. Ask fans of the elite clubs and most of them will say the manager isn't all that important for winning things, player quality is what is important. Any decent manager can get Madrid and Barca playing because they do everything they can to improve the quality of players.
We finally get a manager that knows the club and I fear he'll be shafted by the poor structure of the club just like the previous two managers.
We finally get a manager that knows the club and I fear he'll be shafted by the poor structure of the club just like the previous two managers.
Are you seriously suggesting that at present, Pochettino isn't a better manager than OGS...? That's crazy.
Look at his work with Southampton, look what he's built with basically nothing to spend (compared to our squad) at Spurs.
He's got the PL down, finishing 2nd and 3rd regularly with a squad whose wages and cost is a lot less than this United side.
Pochettino with United backing would be a terrifying prospect.
OGS is a great interim, but for feck sake we're SO sentimental as a fanbase it's actially dangerous for the club.
OGS has shown that he's worth another go at another PL club, and that's a big compliment to him, but those clubs, right now, would be a Watford, a Southampton, a Bournemouth.
He's not ready to be the manager to wrestle Klopp and Guardiola.
That's just my opinion.
Why couldn't ole with backing wrestle Klopp and guardiola?
He's outperformed both in the league so far. And poch.
Something I haven't seen said here, the players have been playing at full throttle and in great form for the better part of a dozen fixtures. Fatigue seemed to be a factor as the boys looked out of pace throughout the match. I stand for Ole and believe he will deal with this hit appropriately.
He's taken over a talented team who were relieved to simply see their previous manager leave, and he's then had a lovely run of games.
He was lucky to win against Spurs, and in a number of other games it was individual brilliance (Rashford and Pogba) that won the games.
He's done really well, make no mistake, and, as I've stated numerous times, with what he's shown thus far I think he's shown he's a better manager than the Cardiff showing - but I honestly think that a lot of Utd fans actually play down the actual size of the club and the size of the job of being Utd manager.
Pochettino has experience of PL footy at the top level, and has shown consistency over a number of years.
For me, I don't think OGS is at Elite level at present, and I believe firmly that Utd isn't a place for managers to learn on the go.
Last edited: