Well if Ole looks at player profile it's a mystery as to why he signed Sancho. Sancho isn't a direct risk taker, he's a cute & clever player that keeps it simple with quick, short passes & sharp movements. He's like a winger version of Mata, Silva & van de Beek. Ole has already shown us he doesn't fancy that type of player, he's much more route one with his approach and we've already seen Donny suffer because of it and there's early signs Sancho will suffer because of it too. They're exactly the kind of players we're crying out for to dominate games & give us variation in our play but Ole doesn't seem to value their strengths.
Solskjær press conference vs West Ham (A)
- Thread starter Samid
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We scored 73 goals in the Prem last season, 2nd in the league. Pretty good for not having any idea how to play attacking football. Imagine if we had literally anyone else. 120 goals, minimum.
A more apt to the point of scoring desire is the tendency to go on scoring binges. We've put 5 or more goals in the net 10 times under Ole so far. Previous to that we score 5 or more goals two times total under Moyes, Van Gaal and Mourinho. TWO.
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Mate, if you can't see progress, you're blind.
I accept a certain amount of hysterics after every setback, but people getting upset because Solskjær calls football a simple game? Bloody hell.
Cheer yourself up and read about triangles and the underground influence of third division East European formations that I've not even heard about.
It's no different to business. There are people that excel at going into a business that's gone bad and put it back on its feet. Then they leave. Because that's the part they're good at. Ole has done outstanding things and brought us back towards the pedestal. We now have a squad to challenge. I just don't know if he's the man to fully utilise it. He's earned the chance. And for sure we shouldn't be getting rid of him now. But we shouldn't hesitate if it turns out he isn't. My biggest question to Ole is if he says he doesn't coach, why would he surround himself with people as inexperienced as him, rather than getting the best in the business? That makes no sense to me. One young one, sure. But Carrick and McKenna? That's just mental.
You really think these reactions are solely based on a press conference? I hope you're joking.
Of course not. They have little connection to anything that actually occurs.
You are acting as if Ole likes all his wingers to be like James.
Sancho is on another level to Donny. And Ole likes intelligent skillful players which Sancho is. He also likes Martial (who used to be a more intelligent and much better version than what he showed last season).
Donny is unlucky as he is not better than Bruno/Pogba, otherwise he would play more.
Especially since McKenna came through the ranks at United & Carrick spent his career under the same manager as Ole did in SAF. You'd think you'd want a mix of ideas from different backgrounds, I imagine these 3 are their own little echo-chamber because they've all had the same football upbringing essentially. Really don't like the whole chummy atmosphere we have going on, it doesn't sound like the kind of environment where people are challenged to better themselves. I could be proven wrong but it all feels too safe imo.
Yeah, I hope Ole has learned something. Against VR he did nothing. Against YB he actually did, he just didn't do the right things. So, now hopefully he'll realize his mistakes there too. Then again he may just put it all down to unluckiness due to Lingard. Of course we can't blame Ole for a player mistake. But changing to a back 5, giving up the midfield, and inviting a team to attack you for a half was really asking for problems. The biggest issues I have with Ole are his lack of courage and his stubbornness.
Then why against Young Boys, in a situation where we needed to keep possession so we don't expend all of our energy chasing shadows whilst a man down, did he take sub off Donny and Sancho despite them having the greatest ball retention for us in that game? He kept on direct players who kept going route one and giving the ball away. Pogba and Bruno (the players Ole actually does like) gave possession away 24 times between them & won it back twice. Donny gave it away twice in the first half and won it back 4 times. Yet Donny and Sancho, the intelligent players that can keep the ball and be exactly what you need in midfield when you're a man down, got hooked in favour of the direct players that lose possession repeatedly in favour of taking risks. Ole has shown nothing to suggest he likes players that keep it simple in my opinion and in the game against Young Boys his direct approach 100% cost us on the night. Only a lunatic weakens his midfield after going a man down.
100%. And do Carrick or McKenna even look like people that would question his ideas? That's the scariest thing to me. I'm glad we hired the Chelsea dude but we need to go much further. If Ole's not really the coach then he needs someone at the very top to compensate/help him with that. Simple question. Do people think Fergie was a better coach than Ole? A better everything than Ole? And yet he relied on top coaches. So why the hell shouldn't Ole?
I know it's only early in this season but this is looking spot on. Already there's such a clear and obvious improvement for us at set pieces after hiring a set-piece coach from outside the mates rates clubhouse. Sadly I don't think Ole will replace Carrick & McKenna etc with outside experience in order to benefit other areas of our game, particularly in open play, as he's too familiar with them.
Oh, look, another thread bashing Ole. Jesus, people really have no life.
I think...that we still don't have a structure where it's obvious that someone other than the manager (United don't have a "head coach" - we still have a "manager") is ultimately responsible for recruitment on the football side.
So - I see the players brought in as pieces he (Ole) has deemed worthy of adding to the puzzle. And on the whole - what has been added has been good (not to say very good - compared to where we were before he took over).
(I will admit that I stated - explicitly - that I didn't think he'd want Ronaldo added to said puzzle, though - so make of that what you will...).
That’s tactical mistakes on his side (wrong subs apart from Sancho which was the correct decision) and have nothing to do with transfers.
Also Sancho isn’t in good form yet so taking him off for Dalot was the right move.
What does someone who questions ideas look like?
You're learning.Its so obvious though. The man always highlights players who were terrible and says they played really well. Matic a couple games back and also VDB after a disastrous game last season.
Why not take off Pogba from the other wing? Play a 4-4-1, that way you keep Sancho's pace down the flanks so you can alleviate pressure when you need to hit it wide & you keep on a player that keeps the ball in high pressure situations. Sancho is so calm and relaxed in possession in attacking areas. Pogba on the other hand passed it to Young Boys 8 times, got tackled 4 times & we all know he doesn't put in the biggest defensive shift. Just seemed utterly bizzare to me to remove your pace out wide when you're going to spend the next 60 minutes under siege.
THIS. Everyone looks at AWB and Lingard as the reason why we failed. But taking off the one midfielder who could hold onto the ball was really dumb. And why even bother doing it when they weren't even creating loads of chances against us. It was such a safety-first approach. But borderline stupid. I'd argue he should kept Varane in to help build his partnership with Maguire for the West Ham and Everton games. Then I'd have brought Dalot in against weaker opposition to provide the crosses for Ronaldo. Surely that would've made more sense? AWB has been an accident waiting to happen. He's just not playing well right now, frequently plays the wrong passes and loses the ball. He needs to sit it out a bit. Then if he wanted to take Ronaldo and Bruno off, surely Martial was the way to go, someone to hold up the ball and prevent it coming back at you, as opposed to Lingard who can run around a bit but can't hold onto the ball.
I thought it was hilarious that he said he brough Lingard on for his legs. It was the 70th minute. He could have brought Tom Heaton on for Ronaldo and Heaton would have been able to chase the ball for 20 minutes. He didn't need to pick Lingard for his legs.
I really have nothing to add to this as we were talking about transfers. Sancho has not been in form and not even looked match fit, playing him when we are a man down would not have been right.
Apart from that the game after the red card was a tactical mess but again, doesn’t have anything to do with why he bought Sancho.
only on the quoted part.
Tony Kroos, by his own words speaking to the Athletic, said that he was interested to join us, Moyes had come to see him and the contract had basically been done but then Moyes was fired and LvG came in and didn't go for him.
With that, we can assert that a Manager decides who comes into the club, even if a player is an obvious choice, so Ole, since his appointment, has a massive influence on who comes in, and that includes obvious choices like Maguire, Varane and even Ronaldo
I wonder how many of those losing there shizzle in here have actually watched the press conference and not just read what’s reported here and in the news. The context gets lost in written text, you don’t see Oles facial expressions, hear the intonation and emphasis in his voice. The whole press conference is available on the app for those who care enough….. The controversial answer certainly wasn’t delivered in the manner of a man who hasn’t got a clue.
Yea, and I'm happy with the signings but the question was if I thought he had no impact on the signings or some impact and I think he has had some. I don't think if we had Zidane for example he would have turned down Varane and Ronaldo etc. Ole no doubt gets credit for rebuilding the team, it's the thing I'm most happy with him doing, I just don't believe that it could only have been him that did it.
Press conference of the year award should be a thing. Players get goal of the year. Ole probably would never win it though.
Ole answered a question like a politician with platitudes and bulletpoints and this place lost its mind. So many posters are legitimately feeding off others being irrational and reactionary, seeing people quote them just motivates them to continue in the same track ad infinitum.
I actually enjoy the few posters who can formulate criticism that is factual and investigatory, not raging negativity over one result without bothering to look at what happened "because it doesnt matter".
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It's not so much that @Big Andy has been reported, they're always some melt that reports after whining for 150 posts, it's more than a mod actually felt compelled to give a warning.
His best signings have pretty much been players that the whole world already sees as top talent. If any of them don't work out that would be a surprise. The players he bought that weren't considered some of the best talent (whether or be future or current) have been mediocre at best. James was meh. Dvb has been a disaster with his agent talking about promises of playing time. His claim to fame is Shaw turning into a great LB and Greenwood. That's fine. But he's also kept deadwood around like martial and Lingard while moving on some players that have succeeded elsewhere and only gotten better since leaving.
Anyone can sign players like maguire, varane, Ronaldo, Bruno, and cavani. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know they're superb players. Not sure why a manager should get credit for bringing in those types of players, in fact that is what everyone criticizes managers like pep and mourinho for, but they give ole credit for doing it
Yea, there were no concerns about Ole beforehand and this presser didn't reaffirm any suspected issues or anything like that. Ole in fact has never lost a game in his life and the press conference is the only thing anyone has ever taken issue with. It's also not super reactionary to hire a manager and backroom staff team off the back of a champions league game in Paris. Definitely not reactionary.
We dont know that, we have examples like Kroos who we missed out on because LvG didn't fancy him, we've seen Mourinho sell KdB & Salah instead of being patient with them, we wouldn't know if Ole for example was offered a good player and said no, we can only judge a manager on who they actually bring and if for example Sancho fails, I would blame Ole for the signing as much I will credit Ole for Bruno's success with us.
Again, this is only on player incomings and outgoings
Generally that term isn't allowed anymore and any mod that sees it will issue a warning.
Before the Young Boys game we were (and are) sitting on top of the Premier League. I get that that's not good enough for you, but that's where we are after gameweek 4.
My main issue is that you're all very, very quiet when we win, but if we lose a game it's like you take out a vacation day form work so you can really tell everyone how you feel.
This is an absolute fallacy of an argument. You are advocating a strategy of being a man down and controlling possession on the road in the Champions League against a high pressing team. We aren’t 2009-11 Barca. We have problems playing out of the back under normal circumstances, much less a man down. Pogba and Bruno stayed on for almost the entire match, 60 minutes of being a man down. Of course they are going to give the ball away more. Bruno plays much higher up the pitch, Essentially chasing passes between fullbacks and CBS, really high percentage passes. Donny spent 35 of 45 minutes in a 11v11 situation and didn’t look great in those 35.
This whole outrage at going to a back 3 is ridiculous. It was designed to give us more central defenders so they can step out and deal with the midfielders setting up between the lines. When you have 2 CBs and playing a man down, there is always a 3v2 situation in the midfield. Putting another CM seems to resolve that, yes? Well, it doesn’t, because you have to then sacrifice a wide player, which gives them a numerical advantage with attacking fullbacks. There is no easy solution. Ole chose to reinforce the middle, have the fullbacks work extra hard, but also concede crosses into the box (because you can’t cover all areas of weakness), betting that Maguire and Varane would head away danger. It mostly worked, but the Shaw deflection bounced into the path of the attacker.
I've not wanted Ole as manager from the day he got his first contract. Our form had already started to take a downturn and it made no sense to make him a permanant hire before the season end. I've always felt like we won't even get near major honours with him in charge and so far there's been 3 years and no evidence to the contrary.
Are you holding a grudge because I challenged your view that Ole should freeze out Lingard for refusing a transfer?
That's so sad. You poor soul.Awesome insult. Enjoy the game this weekend.
Yep, absolutely! That’s called reasoned rational debate, and is what the forum is actually intended for!
I understand people are passionate about there club, and these topics can be emotive, but it’s a real shame so often the conversation gets waylaid by a minority who want to shout the loudest, and degenerate the conversation to name calling, sarcasm and abuse.
Pogba and Bruno give the ball away the most even in 11v11 situations. We just deal with it because we're not outnumbered and can counter-press and let them try a worldy pass again and again. To do that in 10v11 situation is suicide. Literally anyone with any basic knowledge of the game knows that you need to pack the midfield when you're down a man but Ole took off two midfielders for two defenders. Sorry but there's no defending his decisions against Young Boys, it was a shambles.
@MichaelRed isn’t allowed to celebrate in May when we lift the league trophy!
Europa league?@MichaelRed isn’t allowed to celebrate in May when we lift the league trophy!