That's the crux of the issue for me. The leak claims that he wished for a central midfielder and he didn't get one. It took him 3 years and nearly 400 million to understand that he needed one, but fair enough, i suppose. The next question should be, who is this magical midfielder, or at least, what type of midfielder are we talking about?
What's most alarming about the quotes you posted is that Solskjaer is actually totally honest there. You see, it's simply surreal to suggest that another 100 million pounds on Declan Rice would make our structural issues go away. Not because he's a bad player, mostly because he currently performs well under a manager (two, if we count Southgate in) whose approach is very cautious. At WHU, Rice has a designated role, specific instructions (on & off the ball) and an area of responsibility in which he operates. On the other hand, our midfielders, as Solskjaer alludes to in the aforementioned quote, don't have designated roles, they should be #6s, #8s with a bit of a #10 in them and they should also feel comfortable anywhere on the pitch. Therefore, they should be Keanes and Robsons etc. Sadly, not only was each one of these players one of a kind, nowadays, they are in increasingly short supply.
In my part of the world, there's the saying that if you can't go through a wall, you must find a way around it, no matter how long you'll have to walk. Right now, Solkjaer deploys tactics on the pitch which create a demand for midfielders who are not available in the market. People scream on here about the need to control matches and to treat the ball better in the centre of the park, but the truth of the matter is that even if we snapped our fingers and brought Busquets and Kroos here tomorrow, they would look utterly lost and they would get ridiculed week in and week out in our version of 4231. Similarly, there were fans and pundits saying that Jorginho, one of the best deep-lying playmakers in the world, was too weak and slow to screen Chelsea's backline. Of course, when Tuchel arrived, he wasn't a madman to trade the control and the stability that the Italian brings to the table for brawn and tackles. He fixed Chelsea's abysmal defensive transitioning, and he worked on build-up tactics that would allow Jorginho to do what he does best. It can almost make you believe that this is what managers are being paid for to do at their respective clubs.
So, we don't have a world-class play-maker like Jorginho. But we do have some good options. Fred for all his brain farts, he can collect second balls, his short-passing (safe, most times) is adequate and he doesn't hide away from the action. Matic doesn't have the legs to cover the whole of the pitch, but he can still help in the build-up and his positioning is still good. Pogba doesn't do much off the ball (offensively and defensively), but he has an incredible passing range. Even VdB was a part of a side that knew how to treat the ball well by creating triangles on the pitch. McT has dynamism and vertical movement despite being very raw atm. Try something different with these players... don't just throw your hands in the air and cry "oh woe is me" because you don't have the players who will allow you to shoehorn all of Ronaldo, Bruno, Rashy, Mason and Sancho up front. I also believe it's unfair, even as a leak to protect yourself, to McFred who, despite not being midfield gods, worked their socks off to help you finish second last season and, to an extent, to Matic, who played his part in our temporary renaissance during project restart. It was something Mourinho would do.
Since for some strange reasons some people like to draw parallels between Klopp and Solskjaer's careers, the main difference between Liverpool's defence and our midfield is that, in the case of Liverpool, you would watch them on the pitch and you would think "yes, for their system, Virgil's worth the exorbitant fee". As you watch us play, can anyone come out with heart in hand and claim that "this one is the final piece to the puzzle. This midfielder will come into Solskjaer's 4231 and elevate us to 85+ points"? That's why all the made-up tables and the juxtaposition of winning percentages never made any sense. Klopp used the time and patience he was afforded at Anfield to adapt both his vision to English football and his preferred tactics to his players. You can take the few bumps on the road when you are working toward a specific goal. We just keep changing roles, tactics and formation with hope that something will stick. First we press, then we don't press. First we play with a false #9 (Lingard, Martial given a new contract), then we get classic forwards like Ronaldo and Cavani. First the inside forwards must get on the ball in the half-spaces with the FBs on the overlap, now we want them to hug the touchline with the FBs on the underlap. McFred will do the job in the midfield with their energy until we decide that we should control games with Matic-Pogba in the centre of the park. Honestly, how long did people think this could go on?
Last but not least, i wish we could avoid the sarcasm in this thread, but i'm afraid that's where the "proven CV" plays its part. OK, he may claim that he needs another 150-200 million to sign Rice/Phillips to make his system work. Which, if i'm not mistaken, will take his total spending north of half a billion Euros. Where has he shown that he can be trusted with this kind of money? Would you trust him with this kind of money when the defence looks a shambles after all his investment in it?
