i think he got caught off guard. In trying to both keep his cards close to his chest but be seemingly honest, he got caught and fumbled a bit n his words. I don't think it was him not showing tactical competence. At the same time, Pep is a unique type of manager. Tactically he literally created a unique spatial organization on the pitch. Ole isn't a tactician, like many other managers aren't. Doesn't mean he doesn't understand tactics or doesn't know the importance of organizing a team. There have always been managers who are more forthcoming with their tactical ideals like LVG and Mourinho, whilst others like Fergie and Wenger just went about their business.
Solskjær press conference vs West Ham (A)
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i think he got caught off guard. In trying to both keep his cards close to his chest but be seemingly honest, he got caught and fumbled a bit n his words. I don't think it was him not showing tactical competence. At the same time, Pep is a unique type of manager. Tactically he literally created a unique spatial organization on the pitch. Ole isn't a tactician, like many other managers aren't. Doesn't mean he doesn't understand tactics or doesn't know the importance of organizing a team. There have always been managers who are more forthcoming with their tactical ideals like LVG and Mourinho, whilst others like Fergie and Wenger just went about their business.
Give it a rest, enough managers go into more details about tactics. And especially don't romanticise the things Ole is talking about.
Since when do any managers give in depth tactical presentations to the press during pre-match press conferences ffs? They don’t, ever.
Jeez you can be unhappy with the manager, whatever, but people are trying to encapsulate his entire ethos and understanding of the game he’s played professionally and coached in his whole life purely from a rushed answer to a journo asking a random question which is totally unrelated to the game the conference was held for.
If this were an interview about Ole the manager and his ethos and vision for the game then sure pick it apart word for word (and I would do the same) but managers in these press conferences just give vague and often quite unrelated answers to the questions posed, they just want to get through them and avoid anything unrelated to the upcoming game, we all know this.
Jeez you can be unhappy with the manager, whatever, but people are trying to encapsulate his entire ethos and understanding of the game he’s played professionally and coached in his whole life purely from a rushed answer to a journo asking a random question which is totally unrelated to the game the conference was held for.
If this were an interview about Ole the manager and his ethos and vision for the game then sure pick it apart word for word (and I would do the same) but managers in these press conferences just give vague and often quite unrelated answers to the questions posed, they just want to get through them and avoid anything unrelated to the upcoming game, we all know this.
Ofcourse, drag it to the extreme of in-depth tactical presentation and make it as unrelevant as if he asked Ole what barber does he go though. Ole was asked by the midfield situation, which is very relevant as it has been poor.
And even if, you don't even have to look into what he didn't say, but what he did say.
That's fair. Tactics aren't the only thing to the game. Ole has always been more of a manager than a coach and has never hidden away from that fact. He also clearly has an understanding of tactics and that has been clear throughout his tenure, particularly in the big games. I also believe managers have their styles, which dictate how they want to play, who they buy and how they organize the team. Trying to deviate from that could lead to them not being nearly as successful as they would have been. For example, Wenger playing the back 3 in his last season or Pep trying to play a back 3 at the start of 17/18. I feel people are expecting Ole to become something he's not, and you see it a lot when people talk about how Pep would have been able to use Pogba and Bruno in a midfield 3...etc.
My point is, let him implement his football. Most managers, even the best ones, don't have a specific pattern to their teams like Pep or Tuchel. Most have a few things they want their teams to do, but aren't too focused on the rigidity of having consistent patterns. We heavily complained about the lack of expression we had under LVG, something we never had under Fergie. Zidane's teams haven't had those specific patterns either.
Do you expect the manager to say we have poor midfield options and should have strengthened the area but couldn’t because of the outlay on other players?
Obviously he can’t say that. Instead what happens is you skirt around the answer, start rambling and end up coming out with all sorts. It’s a human reaction.
If you think Ole looks at Fred and Scott and sees Keane and Robson then your too entrenched in your own opinion to reason with.
This is not a pre-match conference……
The transfer window is closed.
A loss here and the Ole Out Brigade will be in full force again. Crazy how sentiment switches per minute ha
Why should he talk about his tactics? Seriously - there are people on here who think you can be United manager without a tactical plan? Have a word with yourself.
Ole is starting to get pissed off. That is probably a good thing. I don't think he is the guy to take United to the next level, but I sure hope I am wrong.
The only way he could have answered this question worse isif he had just said "we have no philosophy i have no idea what im doing."
Comparing the current squad with any other squad is a bad move. It's like comparing your husband with another man.
Obviously he won't go to deep into tactics because it's clear that he's not that kind of manager. His coaches will be going into the intricacies but aren't very establishes and your manager not being very heavy on tactics plays a part.
Not at all surprised that Ole doesn't want to emphasize on the details as our football tells you that he's simply not on the same level as other top class managers in this regard. It's why our football is usually disjointed but functional. In an era where football has become highly methodical /tactical with managers being coaches first and the club in a way part -managing, we've gone for someone whose thoughts align with previous eras. But that's not even the biggest which is that he isn't a top manager.
Not really the point. It's ahout how good a manager is in organising their players to play a specific way (a system). You watch a Klopp team and an Ole team and they're world's apart in the level of tactical organisation. And it's just those two - all managers have a different level of expertise when it comes to this, across Europe you'll see some teams that are incredibly well drilled and others that play simpler (sometimes semi route one) football.
Ole isn't inept like some claim. But he's not comparable to the best managers, which is sadly what you need to win big trophies.
He should ideally talk about it because this is Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs on the planet, where we're trying to compete with Guardiola and Klopp, and fans see a lack of quality in this regard. But like I said I don't think he's that type of manger so not sure what he can say.
Exactly. That wasn't so hard, was it?@jem so because I pointed out that his loan ended, I'm close with Ole? Calm down mate.
Yeah I would have sold him to get a DM, but in the future us getting a DM will likely not be tied to a sale of Lingard.
You clearly don't rate him which is fine, but if you think he should be frozen out, I'm glad you're not in charge.
Right now he'll get fair chances and if he does well he gets into the team on merit, if he doesn't, guys like VDB, Mata, Martial go up in the pecking order. I really don't get what's so upsetting to you about his refusal to be sold or Ole's attitude towards him.
He's being treated fairly and you think that shouldn't happen because he didn't move so we could buy a DM? How dare he! He deserves to be frozen out for that!
He is the opposite of over analyzing passage of play. Which I can relate with the history of the club.
Some of the fans wants a manager/head coach who has a methodical method.
It'll wind up the haters, but I understand his philosophy.
Up to him now to show if we can win that way.
Some of the fans wants a manager/head coach who has a methodical method.
It'll wind up the haters, but I understand his philosophy.
Up to him now to show if we can win that way.
False. There are questionable managers who won major titles over the years.
You can win titles by being a real manager instead of being a headcoach+manager.
Ole has shown he is a very good manager, now he needs to prove it by winning titles.
Exactly. Ole should have thrown Shaw under the bus, moaned about the 3 signings he didn't get, then deploy Fellaini as a CF. /i
People act like a press conference is sworn testimony.
Yeah I don't have a problem with his overall philosophy. I really don't enjoy very methodological football anyways. Its whether he can implement his own philosophy well enough to win trophies is what I am increasingly sharing concern with others. But the mass hysteria on his comments about the midfield are too funny for me. He is our manager for this season (unless everything goes dramatically bad!) and he has assembled an exciting team. Why don't we enjoy this season's ups and downs and come back to the manager question at the end?
Shhhh.. He is just not spilling out his tactics to us normal folks
Hello Ole,
I didn't know you visited the caf. I would like to point out that the idea that you don't need tactics against 9 out of 10 teams is utter nonsense, as evidenced by your dismal mangaerial performance against Young Boys. I would also like to remind you that in the 15 games you managed against Arsenal, City, Liverpool, Leicester, Spurs & Chelsea last season you managed 3 wins, 6 draws & 6 losses so no you definitely don't have even remotely close to a decent record against big teams. Hope you turn things around Ole, once again, nice to see you on the Caf.
It's so funny people think that's a real defense. All clubs have employees that watch film at an excessive rate that shows how clubs play. Answering a question like it's a national security threat is hilarious
Arsenal are not a big team.
Makes our record against them under Ole even more embarrassing then doesn't it?
I remember around 2011-12 SAF was asked about buying a new midfielder, and he said something like he's looking for the next Keane/Robson, but there's no value in the market.
Not the point. The topic was his record against big teams. Arsenal is Ole's bogey team, that's true.
Sorry to be a smug arsehole but this is what I have been saying.
The coaching staff pick a side based on attributes. It usually approximates to a 6, 8, 10 in midfield but they allow intuitive play with general instruction rather than making each decision for the players and overloading them with info.
A lot of fans won't like it because they play FM and huff each others farts but this approach is still valid.
The coaching staff pick a side based on attributes. It usually approximates to a 6, 8, 10 in midfield but they allow intuitive play with general instruction rather than making each decision for the players and overloading them with info.
A lot of fans won't like it because they play FM and huff each others farts but this approach is still valid.
I was today years old when I watched him give this answer and fully realized that we are not going to win JACK SQUAT with Ole. Not a chance in hell. Doesn't matter if we have Ronaldo, Bruno, Pogba, Greenwood, Varane or anybody else. Even if we had bought world-class DMF, we would still not win anything. Not with Ole...
Damn this hurts
Not Ole out, but most fans see that he just can't seem to fix our biggest issues on the pitch and that he seems clueless himself. There are also big question marks around his coaching team.
For me it is obvious that if he does not improve, we will again not compete for titles. This season, we have not looked good at all except for the first game and against YB, it showed once more that he's clueless tactically
Every top half of the table team is Ole's bogey team.
If he really were as bad as some of y'all claim results wise, we wouldnt have finished 2nd last season.
Every top half team is Ole’s bogey team, every low block team is Ole’s bogey team. These hyperbole trolls being allowed to spout the same garbage day after day after day is why this place is so toxic.
We got 74 points. In the 5 previous years that wouldn't have been good enough for top 4 on 2 of the years and it wouldn't have gotten 2nd place in any of the other years. The only solace I have with Ole is knowing his excuses have been taken away from him and when we fail in every competition once again this season this painful chapter will finally be over.
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.
A manager can get by and possibly win things but you need to get a few more calls right more often by instinct. It's possible to make mistakes and learn. I would put last years CL campaign as a debacle, so far this one is no better, it's a new scenario possibly but one he was flapping awfully at in my view with icing on the cake taking Fred off with Lingard on for legs. Ole has been the architect of the shambles we've seen in so many games, players do game recovery after going a goal or two down, we have such attacking potential.
Getting out of the group should be expected, we need to get past R16 and at least give the team we meet in the quarters a good game if we are to lose. Bombing out in R16/quarters again would be reason to look for someone else. Problem is we keep missing the boat and hope Ole can get it right, sadly the last game has shown there's still a lot to learn.
Scrapping for 4th in the league looks likely. I really hope we can do better, Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure at Juve while they struggled with Pirlo and scraped 4th at the death. We don't have Lampard or a decimated Liverpool defence to help us.
Getting out of the group should be expected, we need to get past R16 and at least give the team we meet in the quarters a good game if we are to lose. Bombing out in R16/quarters again would be reason to look for someone else. Problem is we keep missing the boat and hope Ole can get it right, sadly the last game has shown there's still a lot to learn.
Scrapping for 4th in the league looks likely. I really hope we can do better, Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure at Juve while they struggled with Pirlo and scraped 4th at the death. We don't have Lampard or a decimated Liverpool defence to help us.
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Carrick or Mckenna should do the pressers with him to answer these kinds of questions whenever they come up.
This thread is full of ridiculous strawmen.
Ole didn't say that tactics were irrelevant.
He just deflected the question by saying that passion is also important, because discussing abstract tactical minutiae during a press conference would mean missing bigger picture.
McTominay and Fred are not 'just' DMs. Pogba isn't 'just' an AM. They each have their own ways of playing the same position and desire factors massively into that.
Pogba has more talent in his little toe than Fred has in his whole body. But Fred's passion is miles higher than Pogba's. So passion has to factor into the manager's thinking.
Ole is a manager of men, not a FM player manipulating a glorified spreadsheet.
Ole didn't say that tactics were irrelevant.
He just deflected the question by saying that passion is also important, because discussing abstract tactical minutiae during a press conference would mean missing bigger picture.
McTominay and Fred are not 'just' DMs. Pogba isn't 'just' an AM. They each have their own ways of playing the same position and desire factors massively into that.
Pogba has more talent in his little toe than Fred has in his whole body. But Fred's passion is miles higher than Pogba's. So passion has to factor into the manager's thinking.
Ole is a manager of men, not a FM player manipulating a glorified spreadsheet.
Lindelof shows more passion than Varane. Maybe we should keep James instead of Rashford or buy Sancho. Passion.