Ole Gunnar Solskjaer | W15 D2 L4

[Adebesi]

There is an element of 20/20 hindsight here. Maybe if he brought Lukaku on we'd have still lost and people would be saying Mata might have been the better choice.

Also, there were moments in the first half where the camera was on Tuchel and it reminded me of that infamous gif of Moyes throwing his arms up in despair, often used as evidence that the guy had no idea what he was doing. If we hadnt let in that first sloppy goal, if we hadnt had that double injury and had got ourselves ahead early in the second half, the game could have panned out very differently. And today the Ole train would still be very much on the rails, and Tuchel would be facing questions about his own leadership.

It was one game. We have to see what happens in coming weeks and not get too carried away in our reactions.

 

[ash_86]

Tbh, We cannot really afford to take lot of these " learning risks". We need someone who is good enough and steady the ship . Losing is fine but the manner in which we lost is where the problem was. It was Jose all again.He looked really clueless.

Remember, Napoli and Liverpool got better results against a much better PSG team.

Ole has done great until now but next few weeks is extremely crucial. If we lose the bug games same way as yesterday , we will have to say Ole is not ready to take over.

We had proven winner in Jose and it did not end well did it. We cannot judge the result based on 10 games Ole has managed. Livepool and Napoli were playing under their respective managers for years. Ole joined us during Christmas this year. There is a steep difference between the two. First off all we need to be a major force domestically before we could think of Europe. That should be our only ambition for now. The current team is not capable of handling multiple competitions. We need quality in so many positions.

 

[bond19821982]

We had proven winner in Jose and it did not end well did it. We cannot judge the result based on 10 games Ole has managed. Livepool and Napoli were playing under their respective managers for years. Ole joined us during Christmas this year. There is a steep difference between the two. First off all we need to be a major force domestically before we could think of Europe. That should be our only ambition for now. The current team is not capable of handling multiple competitions. We need quality in so many positions.

Ancelotti took over Napoli only last summer and they played PSG back in Sep/ Oct. Thats with in 2-3 months of new manager regime . Were they as clueless as us? Or do they have a better team than us?
PSG came with a plan and executed it very well. Unfortunately i just couldn't see any plan in our game.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Ancelotti took over Napoli only last summer and they played PSG back in Sep/ Oct. Thats with in 2-3 months of new manager regime . Were they as clueless as us? Or do they have a better team than us?
PSG came with a plan and executed it very well. Unfortunately i just couldn't see any plan in our game.

Those are rhetorical questions, right?

Either that or you can't have watched either Manchester United or Napoli for the whole of last season...

 

[Adebesi]

First half we were fairly evenly matched. Our plan was torn to shreds with the double injury. Yes it would have been nice to have a better plan b, but losing two players at once was a hell of a blow and I dont know that a more experienced manager could have done much better.

I would probably have brought on Sanchez and Lukaku but either way I would have been banking on Sanchez delivering a performance, and he didnt. If our best paid player isnt going to dig us out of a hole in a situation like that, we need to look at that.

 

[ash_86]

Ancelotti took over Napoli only last summer and they played PSG back in Sep/ Oct. Thats with in 2-3 months of new manager regime . Were they as clueless as us? Or do they have a better team than us?
PSG came with a plan and executed it very well. Unfortunately i just couldn't see any plan in our game.

Difference being Napoli had a good team with good chemistry. They were fighting Juventus for the tittle last year. Meanwhile our team was stuck with a civil war between the players and manager. I can't understand why you don't see the difference between us and Napoli or Liverpool.

 

[bond19821982]

Those are rhetorical questions, right?

Either that or you can't have watched either Manchester United or Napoli for the whole of last season...

Not really, was trying to reiterate the point that Ole was tactically outclassed. It just doesn't have anything to do with team's quality as multiple teams proved that PSG are very much beatable away from home.

 

[Escobar]

Impossible to judge him just yet imo and that is why I always say let's wait till end of season. We still have obvious issues and I want to see if Ole can fix them over the next 3 months.

Yesterday was disappointing, also from Ole. However, first loss in 12 games is still rather good. Lets see how we do in the next 3 games

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Not really, was trying to reiterate the point that Ole was tactically outclassed. It just doesn't have anything to do with team's quality as multiple teams proved that PSG are very much beatable away from home.

It’s obviously got to do with quality. What other teams - that aren’t quality - have also beaten PSG away from home?

 

[bond19821982]

It’s obviously got to do with quality. What other teams - that aren’t quality - have also beaten PSG away from home?

Lyon, Liverpool, Napoli - any half decent team they have been up against, they just couldn't dominate .

 

[Funky Futurista]

I do think Ole got some decisions wrong yesterday. Bringing on Mata for Martial and waiting with Lukaku, as I think he could've done a better job on the right wing. He could've also done a bit more in-game decisions to try an alter our play.

That being said, it seemed more down to our own player material yesterday. Lingard was good at pressing but really sloppy in attack. Martial didn't look at sharp as he was against Fulham and was being crowded out by Alves and Kehrer, and Rashford was being pushed all over the field. We have quite a young attack and against such a big european team, and with PSG having Silva to back up Kimpembe (who arguably should've been sent off) and Kehrer, they had more experience in the back to deal with our players. Pogba might've been man-marked by Marquinhos, but god damn isn't Pogba supposedly one of the best midfielders in the world? He himself didn't really show up yersterday. Teams have been crowding him before and he has showed his brilliance, but yesterday he was weak in the duels and did not play at his best. It's also clear (and have been for a while obviously) that Young is such a weak link in our defence. They exploited that to great effect in the second half and got a goal for it. The fact that we really didn't have anyone to bring on except Diogo Dalot says a lot about our fullback situation. Someone on the forum talked about bringing on Dalot as a right wing for extra cover and that just says it all about doesn't it.

Yes, Ole got the tactics wrong yesterday, but I don't really think the team showed up either. It's down to both the players and the managerial team to show that they can bounce back from this against Chelsea, and maybe at least give PSG a run for their (oil)money in Paris.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Lyon, Liverpool, Napoli - any half decent team they have been up against, they just couldn't dominate .

Liverpool and Napoli are demonstrably better than we are. You can’t possibly have watched either team for the last 12-18 months and not realised that.

Lyon was a one off result, against a team that is coasting in the league and was utterly focussed on last night’s game. You shouldn’t read much into that result.

 

[Eriku]

If we bounce back at the Bridge next Sunday, doubts will evaporate once more. Rightly so. Not expecting it necessarily, but if we do then we’ve shown yet another trait that United had under Fergie.

 

[Adebesi]

Chelsea have their own problems, we should certainly take some encouragement from that.

 

[Judas]

I've got very low expectations for at least the Chelsea game. Awful record there, Chelsea desperate to prove a point, and if we're without Martial and Lingard, yeah it's not going to be an easy game. Massive test, bigger one than last night in many ways.

 

[Adebesi]

We both have points to prove. we dont have a great record there, that's true. But Im still reasonably optimistic.

Was it Rants that said Ole's United are Imodium FC? We stop runs.

 

[Van Piorsing]

I would love to see Ole's suggestions for players he would want in the club during summer. Perhaps then he could be judged in full spectrum.

Now he needs to manage what was given to him by managers in not the best years of their careers.

 

[Camilo]

Last night was poor. It's easy to pretend all is well and PSG are "just better", but I don't think they are..

Watching the first half I was thinking "this is a bit drab, but they're nothing special". They weren't really doing much. Fine, you can say the ref wasn't great...but both teams had him. And sure, Jesse and Martial going off was hardly ideal, and you could say it was the big turning point... I dunno, it all seemed a little slow and listless throughout. Did they make us seem like that? I honestly didn't see it that way.

I worry that Ole is a great person but not a great coach. Being positive and enthusiastic when things are going well is easy - the players like it, the fans like it, the media like it. I worry how he'll do when things aren't looking so good.. Is he the kind of guy to drag a team back up when the levels drop and the wins dry up? Is he a leader?

Don't get me wrong, he's doing a fine job and I'm every bit behind him, but last night felt like an opportunity to stamp all over Europe....and by full time I was wondering how last seasons Jose would've done in this game. I know, I'm a twat.

 

[0le]

Last night was poor. It's easy to pretend all is well and PSG are "just better", but I don't think they are..

Watching the first half I was thinking "this is a bit drab, but they're nothing special". They weren't really doing much. Fine, you can say the ref wasn't great...but both teams had him. And sure, Jesse and Martial going off was hardly ideal, and you could say it was the big turning point... I dunno, it all seemed a little slow and listless throughout. Did they make us seem like that? I honestly didn't see it that way.

I worry that Ole is a great person but not a great coach. Being positive and enthusiastic when things are going well is easy - the players like it, the fans like it, the media like it. I worry how he'll do when things aren't looking so good.. Is he the kind of guy to drag a team back up when the levels drop and the wins dry up? Is he a leader?

Don't get me wrong, he's doing a fine job and I'm every bit behind him, but last night felt like an opportunity to stamp all over Europe....and by full time I was wondering how last seasons Jose would've done in this game. I know, I'm a twat.

Its clear as day the the backup players aren't good enough and that is why we lost. Nothing to do with coaching. No amount of coaching is going to allow Mata and Sanchez to rediscover any pace they once had and Mata was already slow to begin with. Besides, we have already seen improvement under Rashford and Matic is also playing better, with more forward passes.

If you want to be critical of Ole, his substitutions were poor. He should have brought on Lukaku and Dalot instead of Mata and Sanchez.

 

[Loon]

I think it’ll be interesting in the return what he does tactically and who he has at his disposal. Be nice to give a good show of ourselves.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

Last night was poor. It's easy to pretend all is well and PSG are "just better", but I don't think they are..

Watching the first half I was thinking "this is a bit drab, but they're nothing special". They weren't really doing much. Fine, you can say the ref wasn't great...but both teams had him. And sure, Jesse and Martial going off was hardly ideal, and you could say it was the big turning point... I dunno, it all seemed a little slow and listless throughout. Did they make us seem like that? I honestly didn't see it that way.

I worry that Ole is a great person but not a great coach. Being positive and enthusiastic when things are going well is easy - the players like it, the fans like it, the media like it. I worry how he'll do when things aren't looking so good.. Is he the kind of guy to drag a team back up when the levels drop and the wins dry up? Is he a leader?

Don't get me wrong, he's doing a fine job and I'm every bit behind him, but last night felt like an opportunity to stamp all over Europe....and by full time I was wondering how last seasons Jose would've done in this game. I know, I'm a twat.

Suppose were about to find out, as you say easy to be a nice guy manager when it is all going well, but the next week or two, will really show whether he is just a feel good coach until the summer or the real deal, if he can pull off a result on Monday (even a replay would be a good result especially with no Lingard/Martial), then the Liverpool game at home which is mega, followed by the return leg (no one is expecting us to go through but a decent performance and us having a go, creating a few chances maybe scoring).

I agree with Neville that we should not give him the job now based on a knee-jerk reaction and likewise we should not rule him out of it due to one bad performance where, a bit of luck (injuries, their man being sent off) the tie might be looking a lot different.

It is what it is, lets see where we are come the 25 Feb.

 

[JPRouve]

Liverpool and Napoli are demonstrably better than we are. You can’t possibly have watched either team for the last 12-18 months and not realised that.

Lyon was a one off result, against a team that is coasting in the league and was utterly focussed on last night’s game. You shouldn’t read much into that result.

And Lyon are a good team, an inconsistent team but still good. They beat PSG regularly enough, 3 times in the last 10 games.

 

[Sarni]

Liverpool and Napoli are demonstrably better than we are. You can’t possibly have watched either team for the last 12-18 months and not realised that.

Lyon was a one off result, against a team that is coasting in the league and was utterly focussed on last night’s game. You shouldn’t read much into that result.

100% this. Napoli have had a cohesive team that has played together for a while. Liverpool are miles better than us.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Imagine blaming the loss on the manager last night.

We went at PSG head to head, pressed the hell out of them, and caused problems for 40 min. Problem was our attack, specifically a few wayward passes, screwed up some golden opportunities, and then 2 of our 3 attackers got injured and the gameplan was fecked. You can't counter anything with Sanchez and Mata, not to mention the just come to the middle of the field and provide 0 width or running. 2nd half our lack of depth was exposed, and we didn't have anyone else capable of producing something since PSG set out to nullify Pogba. People really aren't pointing out that Herrera was absolute crap going forward when he had so much space to operate and time on the ball in the final 3rd.

Also: I don't know what subs Ole could have made instead. Lukaku maybe, but I simply don't think he has the quality for a game like this. Fred? Give me a break the guy hasn't played in a month he's not all of the sudden going to be used as a game changer, and its quite clear that he hasn't shown enough in training to warrant a shot.

There are always going to be people wanting to jump on Ole for this loss as they were waiting for any cracks to show, since they most likely simply want another manager. But the vast majority of the fanbase needs to look at this game from an analytical perspective and understand what went wrong, as it was quite clear if you didn't let your emotions/ annoyance at us losing a match all of us were dying to win get in the way.

 

[el3mel]

The problem yesterday was some of our players had shockers.

Ole's only wrong move was putting in Mata but the replacement was Lukaku who has god awful record in big games anyway so not that it was going to change anything imo, and even Martial who was subbed due to injury was one of those players who were having shockers in first half.

Simply several players could have done far more than what they did.

 

[#07]

Its eye opening how many people really want Ole to fail. Some of you lot have clearly been waiting since before Xmas to take a swipe at him.

Imagine wanting to see your own team lose, just so you can campaign for someone else to be manager.

 

[Moonwalker]

Its eye opening how many people really want Ole to fail. Some of you lot have clearly been waiting since before Xmas to take a swipe at him.

Imagine wanting to see your own team lose, just so you can campaign for someone else to be manager.

I know. Dickheads, the lot.

 

[Van Piorsing]

Its eye opening how many people really want Ole to fail. Some of you lot have clearly been waiting since before Xmas to take a swipe at him.

Imagine wanting to see your own team lose, just so you can campaign for someone else to be manager.

They come and go, story of the last 6 years. Ole was hell of a striker, deadliest type in Europe but as for manager the fans must prepare to face the day that he may be sacked by the cluelles men in charge.

Pochettino will also be sacked, don't you worry.

 

[Rish Sawhney]

Jesus this place is such a knee jerk its almost painful. One loss against PsG where we lost two of our forwards in the first half, and now Ole's getting tactically outclassed and out of his depth. Was Fergie out of his depth when we lost 3-0 to Milan?

To everyone saying "we can't afford Ole to have growing and learning experiences" thats the biggest load of shite I have heard on here. I thought Manchester United actually was a football club not just a mercenary franchise where the biggest professionals come to earn their big payday. Hence giving youth a chance, and hence developing our own talent and hence, yes letting our managers learn on the job. I'd rather have that than say a Sarri or a Mourinho (and maybe even a Poch) who are all "I don't change I'm perfect, the players just aren't doing my tactics right"

I'll come back the after our next winning run when everyone's licking Ole's backside again.

 

[Canagel]

It’s ridiculous. There were people saying that PSG were no longer the big test it was because two of their attackers Neymar and Cavani were out and they were massively weakened. But when two of our attackers get injured we are expected to perform better or as well.

Yeah that's quite annoying. The double standards.

 

[Cassidy]

Jesus this place is such a knee jerk its almost painful. One loss against PsG where we lost two of our forwards in the first half, and now Ole's getting tactically outclassed and out of his depth. Was Fergie out of his depth when we lost 3-0 to Milan?

To everyone saying "we can't afford Ole to have growing and learning experiences" thats the biggest load of shite I have heard on here. I thought Manchester United actually was a football club not just a mercenary franchise where the biggest professionals come to earn their big payday. Hence giving youth a chance, and hence developing our own talent and hence, yes letting our managers learn on the job. I'd rather have that than say a Sarri or a Mourinho (and maybe even a Poch) who are all "I don't change I'm perfect, the players just aren't doing my tactics right"

I'll come back the after our next winning run when everyone's licking Ole's backside again.

Couldnt agree more. A bit pathetic the lack of support after losing 1 game in 13

 

[RedDevil@84]

The shedding of the deadwood has to be an ongoing project,

We are not shedding any deadwood. The only player likely to leave is Darmian and maybe Valencia (I doubt though). Everyone else is staying/getting extensions.

 

[Kapardin]

We are not shedding any deadwood. The only player likely to leave is Darmian and maybe Valencia (I doubt though). Everyone else is staying/getting extensions.

Young isn't deadwood if he is a back-up as opposed to first choice in any position. He can play in the FA and league cups and help out in the odd game against the likes of Burnley, Brighton etc when we have fixture congestion. So keeping Young till 2020 isn't too bad in my opinion, that will be about the time he goes the Valencia way and becomes absolutely useless.

The real deadwood are Darmian, Valencia, Mata and Jones who are of absoutely no use. Out of these, only Jones has been given a contract. The other 3 are likely to leave.

 

[el3mel]

Young isn't deadwood if he is a back-up as opposed to first choice in any position. He can play in the FA and league cups and help out in the odd game against the likes of Burnley, Brighton etc when we have fixture congestion. So keeping Young till 2020 isn't too bad in my opinion, that will be about the time he goes the Valencia way and becomes absolutely useless.

The real deadwood are Darmian, Valencia, Mata and Jones who are of absoutely no use. Out of these, only Jones has been given a contract. The other 3 are likely to leave.

I'm ready to bet on Darmian and Mata staying next season.

Valencia is going to leave on free though.

Don't get your hopes up for the next summer.

 

[RedDevil@84]

The real deadwood are Darmian, Valencia, Mata and Jones who are of absoutely no use. Out of these, only Jones has been given a contract. The other 3 are likely to leave.

Mata is leaving only if he does not accept a 1 yr extension and demands a bigger contract. And after the Jones contract extension, I am not exactly confident that Valencia will not be offered a 1 yr extension.
Anyways, guess we will have to wait and watch.

 

[RedDevil@84]

I'm ready to bet on Darmian and Mata staying next season.

Valencia is going to leave on free though.

Don't get your hopes up for the next summer.

Think Darmian would ask to be let go. And club wouldn't stand in the way.

 

[el3mel]

Think Darmian would ask to be let go. And club wouldn't stand in the way.

The fee we're asking for him, simply no one is going to pay that much even by Italy standard. The only way he's leaving is if we decrease our demands a lot.

 

[RedDevil@84]

The fee we're asking for him, simply no one is going to pay that much even by Italy standard. The only way he's leaving is if we decrease our demands a lot.

But he has only 1 year left on his contract. I am guessing we would have come down on the fee, compared to what we asked last year.

 

[Yoro99]

I don’t get these united fans who want Ole to get the job full time at this stage atleast wait until the end of the season. Bollox about he knows the club, he gets us, he comes across brilliant interviews, who gives a feck about interviews and he gets us crap.

We have to be very careful who we appoint we have had 3 managerial failures the last thing we need is another.

If the club has already decided on Ole then they are run by idiots we should atleast wait until the end of the season to make a decision. 10 games or so is not enough football to convince me.

I like ole as a player and manager so I am not anti ole I want him to do well, but more so I want United to do well.

 

[Amadaeus]

It is a knee jerk reaction. Even without Neymar, they are an incredibly good side and when we lost Martial and Lingaard at the same time, it was always going to be an uphill battle. Both the team selection and the set up was fine. Parking the bus at home in a CL fixture is a bad idea and if we did just that and got a draw, im pretty sure the knives would be out regardless.

What would Poch have done? Magically turned Sanchez into a footballer and hacked the system and given Mata 99 pace? The notion that Lukaku who cant make an impact vs Fulham would have changed anything is laughable. If Poch was in the dugout tonight instead of Ole, playing with the same team, would you have thought: "Ah, beaten by PSG, time to go shopping for a new manager"

Fergie was here for 26 years, most would agree the best manager of all times. In that time he won the CL twice and he usually had much, much better squads than this one.

Disappointing result yes, but people who thought we were going to challenge for the CL with this squad needs a reality check

Pochettino has a successful record of turning around a players career and developing average players to good team players. Sissoko is a great example. Last season, he was on the oust and many taught he was a poor signing. His performance was below par most of the time. Pochettino with his incredible man management ability has made Sissoko a key part of their team and he has been rewarded by Sissoko putting in some great performances. When they lost Kane, many taught Spurs will struggle, yet just like Tuchel with the lost of Neymar, Pochettino found a way to get the best out of his subsidiary player. However, Poch has less quality to deal with as a player in Llorente is arguably one of the worst striker in the league when he is not played to his strength.

As such, I have no doubt Pochettino would do the same with Sanchez and help him find himself. One of a Managers jobs is to instill confidence in their players and Pochettino will do that more effectively than Ole.

If Pochettino was on the dugout, we would have definitely troubled Buffon. Pochettino knows attacking football and he will get these player to provide an attacking onslaught onto PSG goal like he did to United and other teams when they needed a result.