The “Ole In” Brigade

So OGS did not want AWB or Maguire?

Yes, he did - James, too and they have been good additions to the team. I am sure he would also have wanted a striker to replace Lukaku and a midfielder to replace Ander, but he didn't get those.

You don't get everything you want in life, but you shouldn't be held to account for responsibilities that are not yours, either.

Fixing things upwards is highly unlikely to be within his influence - I can't say definitely, as I have no insider knowledge of Utd, but it never worked that way when I was a middle manager in a Plc.
 
It's very amusing to me how much people seem to overrate the influence a manager can have on the results of a football team. It's not rational at all to act like one single person is such an all determining factor for the results of a football team. Over the course of a season, a PL coach maybe influences 5-10% of the results with his decisions. Meaning the other 90-95% of the results are down to other factors, mostly the quality and fitness of the players in the squad.

Clubs and directors who appoint managers know this by the way. They know in the end a manager hasn't got that much influence on results, they also know there's a good chance that a manager can have a bigger impact if he's given the time to plan for the future, even more so if he's given at least five years or so, and they know this concept would be a good thing for their club in the long run. So why don't they do what's good for the results of their club in the long run?

Because of the pressure put on them by irrational people and the fear of losing short term profits. A manager at a football club isn't actually a manager who's brought in to improve the club over a longer period of time. A manager gets paid a fortune to be a sacrificial lamb that can be slaughtered to relieve pressure after a bad run of games, and the merry-go round is just a quick little trick to keep the masses happy.

In reality though, it's the quality of the players that's by far the most important factor of success for football clubs. Whether Solskjaer is a good coach I don't know. He seems to fit the club nicely. I've also seen supposed world class managers like Van Gaal or Mourinho or PL proven guys like Moyes come up with worse shite than I've ever seen from Solskjaer so far.

Maybe it's better to replace him with someone else though, just in case, so at least we can optimize that marginal but signficant 5-10% influence a manager can have on a team. One thing I can tell you for sure though, we need much better players on top of that. Just think about some of our squads of the past, this current team is nowhere near the individual quality our 2013 vintage SAF team, neither does it have the cohesion.

With 15 million pounds on Daniel James as our only investment in attacking quality in recent times, we might actually spend more on exit fees for Mourinho and Solskjaer in the meanwhile. Maybe just think about that for a second before blaming it all on the manager.
 
It's very amusing to me how much people seem to overrate the influence a manager can have on the results of a football team. It's not rational at all to act like one single person is such an all determining factor for the results of a football team. Over the course of a season, a PL coach maybe influences 5-10% of the results with his decisions. Meaning the other 90-95% of the results are down to other factors, mostly the quality and fitness of the players in the squad.

Clubs and directors who appoint managers know this by the way. They know in the end a manager hasn't got that much influence on results, they also know there's a good chance that a manager can have a bigger impact if he's given the time to plan for the future, even more so if he's given at least five years or so, and they know this concept would be a good thing for their club in the long run. So why don't they do what's good for the results of their club in the long run?

Because of the pressure put on them by irrational people and the fear of losing short term profits. A manager at a football club isn't actually a manager who's brought in to improve the club over a longer period of time. A manager gets paid a fortune to be a sacrificial lamb that can be slaughtered to relieve pressure after a bad run of games, and the merry-go round is just a quick little trick to keep the masses happy.

In reality though, it's the quality of the players that's by far the most important factor of success for football clubs. Whether Solskjaer is a good coach I don't know. He seems to fit the club nicely. I've also seen supposed world class managers like Van Gaal or Mourinho or PL proven guys like Moyes come up with worse shite than I've ever seen from Solskjaer so far.

Maybe it's better to replace him with someone else though, just in case, so at least we can optimize that marginal but signficant 5-10% influence a manager can have on a team. One thing I can tell you for sure though, we need much better players on top of that. Just think about some of our squads of the past, this current team is nowhere near the individual quality our 2013 vintage SAF team, neither does it have the cohesion.

With 15 million pounds on Daniel James as our only investment in attacking quality in recent times, we might actually spend more on exit fees for Mourinho and Solskjaer in the meanwhile. Maybe just think about that for a second before blaming it all on the manager.

What a load of nonsense. A good manager knows how to plan the way the team plays. Yes if both the teams play equally well and luck determines an outcome then the manager has no say. It does not happen to us. We are usually the lucky side when winning the games. We lost today because Ole Gunnar has not idea what was going on the pitch. Arsenal had much better tactics than us. That included the corner we conceded.
We had Anderson and Cleverly in midfield playing against top opposition and winning. It is all about coaching. A good coach will get the best out of his players. It is not as if we are getting beaten by the top teams. We are getting beaten by teams who are much smaller than us. The only way he knows is to counter attack. He said we had two or three counter attacks going. It is not our attacking play that is the concern but our defence and how we concede goals. We have no other tactics apart from counter attacking football. That is the sign that the manager has not clue about coaching a top football team.
 
It's very amusing to me how much people seem to overrate the influence a manager can have on the results of a football team. It's not rational at all to act like one single person is such an all determining factor for the results of a football team. Over the course of a season, a PL coach maybe influences 5-10% of the results with his decisions. Meaning the other 90-95% of the results are down to other factors, mostly the quality and fitness of the players in the squad.

Clubs and directors who appoint managers know this by the way. They know in the end a manager hasn't got that much influence on results, they also know there's a good chance that a manager can have a bigger impact if he's given the time to plan for the future, even more so if he's given at least five years or so, and they know this concept would be a good thing for their club in the long run. So why don't they do what's good for the results of their club in the long run?

Because of the pressure put on them by irrational people and the fear of losing short term profits. A manager at a football club isn't actually a manager who's brought in to improve the club over a longer period of time. A manager gets paid a fortune to be a sacrificial lamb that can be slaughtered to relieve pressure after a bad run of games, and the merry-go round is just a quick little trick to keep the masses happy.

In reality though, it's the quality of the players that's by far the most important factor of success for football clubs. Whether Solskjaer is a good coach I don't know. He seems to fit the club nicely. I've also seen supposed world class managers like Van Gaal or Mourinho or PL proven guys like Moyes come up with worse shite than I've ever seen from Solskjaer so far.

Maybe it's better to replace him with someone else though, just in case, so at least we can optimize that marginal but signficant 5-10% influence a manager can have on a team. One thing I can tell you for sure though, we need much better players on top of that. Just think about some of our squads of the past, this current team is nowhere near the individual quality our 2013 vintage SAF team, neither does it have the cohesion.

With 15 million pounds on Daniel James as our only investment in attacking quality in recent times, we might actually spend more on exit fees for Mourinho and Solskjaer in the meanwhile. Maybe just think about that for a second before blaming it all on the manager.

Maybe we should do a social experiment and get rid of all the managers in the prem. I wonder if Liverpool would still be top I wonder who will identify the style of play, pick the team and sort our the punctuality.

But yes it’s only 5%
 
It's very amusing to me how much people seem to overrate the influence a manager can have on the results of a football team. It's not rational at all to act like one single person is such an all determining factor for the results of a football team. Over the course of a season, a PL coach maybe influences 5-10% of the results with his decisions. Meaning the other 90-95% of the results are down to other factors, mostly the quality and fitness of the players in the squad.

Clubs and directors who appoint managers know this by the way. They know in the end a manager hasn't got that much influence on results, they also know there's a good chance that a manager can have a bigger impact if he's given the time to plan for the future, even more so if he's given at least five years or so, and they know this concept would be a good thing for their club in the long run. So why don't they do what's good for the results of their club in the long run?

Because of the pressure put on them by irrational people and the fear of losing short term profits. A manager at a football club isn't actually a manager who's brought in to improve the club over a longer period of time. A manager gets paid a fortune to be a sacrificial lamb that can be slaughtered to relieve pressure after a bad run of games, and the merry-go round is just a quick little trick to keep the masses happy.

In reality though, it's the quality of the players that's by far the most important factor of success for football clubs. Whether Solskjaer is a good coach I don't know. He seems to fit the club nicely. I've also seen supposed world class managers like Van Gaal or Mourinho or PL proven guys like Moyes come up with worse shite than I've ever seen from Solskjaer so far.

Maybe it's better to replace him with someone else though, just in case, so at least we can optimize that marginal but signficant 5-10% influence a manager can have on a team. One thing I can tell you for sure though, we need much better players on top of that. Just think about some of our squads of the past, this current team is nowhere near the individual quality our 2013 vintage SAF team, neither does it have the cohesion.

With 15 million pounds on Daniel James as our only investment in attacking quality in recent times, we might actually spend more on exit fees for Mourinho and Solskjaer in the meanwhile. Maybe just think about that for a second before blaming it all on the manager.
Wow. Just...wow. So manager is irrelevant? No mate, manager is 50% of the team and most important person in club. Good manager will make team better, make players better, win games, have playing pattern, play good football, outsmart oppo manager with good choice of formation and lineup, buy good players, recognise what players are good and have potential and what players don't, good manager will make good moves during the game, manager is responsible for motivation, morale, etc...

That is why some managers have success everywhere, some are coaching midtable clubs and some in division 2.
 
It's very amusing to me how much people seem to overrate the influence a manager can have on the results of a football team. It's not rational at all to act like one single person is such an all determining factor for the results of a football team. Over the course of a season, a PL coach maybe influences 5-10% of the results with his decisions. Meaning the other 90-95% of the results are down to other factors, mostly the quality and fitness of the players in the squad.

Clubs and directors who appoint managers know this by the way. They know in the end a manager hasn't got that much influence on results, they also know there's a good chance that a manager can have a bigger impact if he's given the time to plan for the future, even more so if he's given at least five years or so, and they know this concept would be a good thing for their club in the long run. So why don't they do what's good for the results of their club in the long run?

Because of the pressure put on them by irrational people and the fear of losing short term profits. A manager at a football club isn't actually a manager who's brought in to improve the club over a longer period of time. A manager gets paid a fortune to be a sacrificial lamb that can be slaughtered to relieve pressure after a bad run of games, and the merry-go round is just a quick little trick to keep the masses happy.

In reality though, it's the quality of the players that's by far the most important factor of success for football clubs. Whether Solskjaer is a good coach I don't know. He seems to fit the club nicely. I've also seen supposed world class managers like Van Gaal or Mourinho or PL proven guys like Moyes come up with worse shite than I've ever seen from Solskjaer so far.

Maybe it's better to replace him with someone else though, just in case, so at least we can optimize that marginal but signficant 5-10% influence a manager can have on a team. One thing I can tell you for sure though, we need much better players on top of that. Just think about some of our squads of the past, this current team is nowhere near the individual quality our 2013 vintage SAF team, neither does it have the cohesion.

With 15 million pounds on Daniel James as our only investment in attacking quality in recent times, we might actually spend more on exit fees for Mourinho and Solskjaer in the meanwhile. Maybe just think about that for a second before blaming it all on the manager.
This is possibly the biggest load of nonsense ive ever read on here. Let that sink in
 
Wow. Just...wow. So manager is irrelevant? No mate, manager is 50% of the team and most important person in club. Good manager will make team better, make players better, win games, have playing pattern, play good football, outsmart oppo manager with good choice of formation and lineup, buy good players, recognise what players are good and have potential and what players don't, good manager will make good moves during the game, manager is responsible for motivation, morale, etc...

That is why some managers have success everywhere, some are coaching midtable clubs and some in division 2.

May I add to this? A good example was our match in the EL Final against Ajax. Everyone before the game talked about how we would struggle to deal with the Ajax midfield. With one stroke Jose took that out with Fellaini and the high balls on to his chest bypassing the Ajax midfield. They never had a sniff.
 
It's very amusing to me how much people seem to overrate the influence a manager can have on the results of a football team. It's not rational at all to act like one single person is such an all determining factor for the results of a football team. Over the course of a season, a PL coach maybe influences 5-10% of the results with his decisions. Meaning the other 90-95% of the results are down to other factors, mostly the quality and fitness of the players in the squad.

Clubs and directors who appoint managers know this by the way. They know in the end a manager hasn't got that much influence on results, they also know there's a good chance that a manager can have a bigger impact if he's given the time to plan for the future, even more so if he's given at least five years or so, and they know this concept would be a good thing for their club in the long run. So why don't they do what's good for the results of their club in the long run?

Because of the pressure put on them by irrational people and the fear of losing short term profits. A manager at a football club isn't actually a manager who's brought in to improve the club over a longer period of time. A manager gets paid a fortune to be a sacrificial lamb that can be slaughtered to relieve pressure after a bad run of games, and the merry-go round is just a quick little trick to keep the masses happy.

In reality though, it's the quality of the players that's by far the most important factor of success for football clubs. Whether Solskjaer is a good coach I don't know. He seems to fit the club nicely. I've also seen supposed world class managers like Van Gaal or Mourinho or PL proven guys like Moyes come up with worse shite than I've ever seen from Solskjaer so far.

Maybe it's better to replace him with someone else though, just in case, so at least we can optimize that marginal but signficant 5-10% influence a manager can have on a team. One thing I can tell you for sure though, we need much better players on top of that. Just think about some of our squads of the past, this current team is nowhere near the individual quality our 2013 vintage SAF team, neither does it have the cohesion.

With 15 million pounds on Daniel James as our only investment in attacking quality in recent times, we might actually spend more on exit fees for Mourinho and Solskjaer in the meanwhile. Maybe just think about that for a second before blaming it all on the manager.
What a load of nonsense. This is top level team sports, every single player is supremely talented to even reach that standard. The difference is getting the best out of team and forming a team which makes the difference. Which is why teams fortunes swing wildly depending on whether they land on a good coach or not. This is clearly more visible amongst mid table teams where there is more parity in the quality of players, the teams with the better managers fair better more consistently and those that don't struggle.
 
It's very amusing to me how much people seem to overrate the influence a manager can have on the results of a football team. It's not rational at all to act like one single person is such an all determining factor for the results of a football team. Over the course of a season, a PL coach maybe influences 5-10% of the results with his decisions. Meaning the other 90-95% of the results are down to other factors, mostly the quality and fitness of the players in the squad.

Clubs and directors who appoint managers know this by the way. They know in the end a manager hasn't got that much influence on results, they also know there's a good chance that a manager can have a bigger impact if he's given the time to plan for the future, even more so if he's given at least five years or so, and they know this concept would be a good thing for their club in the long run. So why don't they do what's good for the results of their club in the long run?

Because of the pressure put on them by irrational people and the fear of losing short term profits. A manager at a football club isn't actually a manager who's brought in to improve the club over a longer period of time. A manager gets paid a fortune to be a sacrificial lamb that can be slaughtered to relieve pressure after a bad run of games, and the merry-go round is just a quick little trick to keep the masses happy.

In reality though, it's the quality of the players that's by far the most important factor of success for football clubs. Whether Solskjaer is a good coach I don't know. He seems to fit the club nicely. I've also seen supposed world class managers like Van Gaal or Mourinho or PL proven guys like Moyes come up with worse shite than I've ever seen from Solskjaer so far.

Maybe it's better to replace him with someone else though, just in case, so at least we can optimize that marginal but signficant 5-10% influence a manager can have on a team. One thing I can tell you for sure though, we need much better players on top of that. Just think about some of our squads of the past, this current team is nowhere near the individual quality our 2013 vintage SAF team, neither does it have the cohesion.

With 15 million pounds on Daniel James as our only investment in attacking quality in recent times, we might actually spend more on exit fees for Mourinho and Solskjaer in the meanwhile. Maybe just think about that for a second before blaming it all on the manager.

We're leaking goals too with 120m addition on defence. Or that's got nothing to do with ole?
 
It's very amusing to me how much people seem to overrate the influence a manager can have on the results of a football team. It's not rational at all to act like one single person is such an all determining factor for the results of a football team. Over the course of a season, a PL coach maybe influences 5-10% of the results with his decisions. Meaning the other 90-95% of the results are down to other factors, mostly the quality and fitness of the players in the squad.

Clubs and directors who appoint managers know this by the way. They know in the end a manager hasn't got that much influence on results, they also know there's a good chance that a manager can have a bigger impact if he's given the time to plan for the future, even more so if he's given at least five years or so, and they know this concept would be a good thing for their club in the long run. So why don't they do what's good for the results of their club in the long run?

Because of the pressure put on them by irrational people and the fear of losing short term profits. A manager at a football club isn't actually a manager who's brought in to improve the club over a longer period of time. A manager gets paid a fortune to be a sacrificial lamb that can be slaughtered to relieve pressure after a bad run of games, and the merry-go round is just a quick little trick to keep the masses happy.

In reality though, it's the quality of the players that's by far the most important factor of success for football clubs. Whether Solskjaer is a good coach I don't know. He seems to fit the club nicely. I've also seen supposed world class managers like Van Gaal or Mourinho or PL proven guys like Moyes come up with worse shite than I've ever seen from Solskjaer so far.

Maybe it's better to replace him with someone else though, just in case, so at least we can optimize that marginal but signficant 5-10% influence a manager can have on a team. One thing I can tell you for sure though, we need much better players on top of that. Just think about some of our squads of the past, this current team is nowhere near the individual quality our 2013 vintage SAF team, neither does it have the cohesion.

With 15 million pounds on Daniel James as our only investment in attacking quality in recent times, we might actually spend more on exit fees for Mourinho and Solskjaer in the meanwhile. Maybe just think about that for a second before blaming it all on the manager.
 
May I add to this? A good example was our match in the EL Final against Ajax. Everyone before the game talked about how we would struggle to deal with the Ajax midfield. With one stroke Jose took that out with Fellaini and the high balls on to his chest bypassing the Ajax midfield. They never had a sniff.
Shhhh, that season was shit i heard. Only two trophies. Ole could have do it also
 
Shhhh, that season was shit i heard. Only two trophies. Ole could have do it also

I wanted Jose gone too in the end as he became too toxic. But lets not take away the facts that he has won the CL twice and won everything at club level in every country he has managed. I am a bit surprised his start at Spurs but I guess and everyone who knows him will accept that Spurs right now is not a Jose team.
Coming back to the shenanigans at United now in hindsight would it have been better to sell Pogba and bring in a new player that Jose wanted?
 
What a load of nonsense. This is top level team sports, every single player is supremely talented to even reach that standard. The difference is getting the best out of team and forming a team which makes the difference. Which is why teams fortunes swing wildly depending on whether they land on a good coach or not. This is clearly more visible amongst mid table teams where there is more parity in the quality of players, the teams with the better managers fair better more consistently and those that don't struggle.

Actually, what you are saying is utter nonsense. All EPL players are most certainly not good-enough quality for success. Mourinho is one of the most successful coaches in the world but he failed at United and he will likely fail at Spurs as well, because in both cases he didn't have the players he needed. Whether it was also partly his fault, the fact remains that you cannot just coach any group of EPL players to success. Same for Manuel Pellegrini and Unai Emery, who are both top coaches in their own right. For the same reason, clubs like Everton and West Ham have had no trophies and probably won't have until they start buying much more expensive players.

Success is a combination of:
1. Better players
2. Better manager + staff
3. Better club organization

You take any one of those things out and things start falling apart. Arguing that any one of the ingredients can alone bring success is nonsensical.

Coming back to the shenanigans at United now in hindsight would it have been better to sell Pogba and bring in a new player that Jose wanted?

We have been playing without him all season, pretty much and will likely not have him for a while, so the reality is - we don't have him, we just pay his salary. That's just a reality.
 
I wanted Jose gone too in the end as he became too toxic. But lets not take away the facts that he has won the CL twice and won everything at club level in every country he has managed. I am a bit surprised his start at Spurs but I guess and everyone who knows him will accept that Spurs right now is not a Jose team.
Coming back to the shenanigans at United now in hindsight would it have been better to sell Pogba and bring in a new player that Jose wanted?
I think that too but i gave up from that topic. People judge Jose by his third season and he is Voldemort for most of Caf so.....
But yeah, after his second season board fecked up and then Jose lost his mind
 
Actually, what you are saying is utter nonsense. All EPL players are most certainly not good-enough quality for success. Mourinho is one of the most successful coaches in the world but he failed at United and he will likely fail at Spurs as well, because in both cases he didn't have the players he needed. Whether it was also partly his fault, the fact remains that you cannot just coach any group of EPL players to success. Same for Manuel Pellegrini and Unai Emery, who are both top coaches in their own right. For the same reason, clubs like Everton and West Ham have had no trophies and probably won't have until they start buying much more expensive players.

Success is a combination of:
1. Better players
2. Better manager + staff
3. Better club organization

You take any one of those things out and things start falling apart. Arguing that any one of the ingredients can alone bring success is nonsensical.



We have been playing without him all season, pretty much and will likely not have him for a while, so the reality is - we don't have him, we just pay his salary. That's just a reality.
Not sure where I said anywhere that there is one single contributing factor to success? There very obviously isn't.

My argument was that a good coach can change a teams fortunes dramatically as evidenced by teams like Sheffield United for example.
 
It's very amusing to me how much people seem to overrate the influence a manager can have on the results of a football team. It's not rational at all to act like one single person is such an all determining factor for the results of a football team. Over the course of a season, a PL coach maybe influences 5-10% of the results with his decisions. Meaning the other 90-95% of the results are down to other factors, mostly the quality and fitness of the players in the squad.
It's amusing to me how much people seem to underrate the influence a manager can have on the results of a football team just because They like the person. It's not rational at all to act like We didn't know who Sir Alex was, his achievements at the club and the impact of his successors.

90-95% of the results are down to other factors, mostly the quality, fitness of the players and TACTICAL decisions. You keep moaning about quality of the players but a manager is also the person who can decide to sell or buy players at United. Hypocrisy #1.

Also, if it's true that if managers only count for 5% of our performances, then Why did We sack three of them after Sir Alex already? the club is still trying to find the correct person for the job, We all know about this. I bet you never said such idiotic things like "Managers only influence 5% ..." for the previous 3 managers before Ole? Hypocrisy #2.

I've also seen supposed world class managers like Van Gaal or Mourinho or PL proven guys like Moyes come up with worse shite than I've ever seen from Solskjaer so far.
You then mentioned the previous managers by blaming them. Yes, even you did it yourself. A person gets criticized for the result of their jobs first and foremost, unless if there's a significant improvement in the 'process' regardless of the end results. So far, when you compare Van Gaal, Mou and Ole, there haven't been a lot of improvement in the process either. Which should include our tactical decisions to win matches, play style and transfer strategy. Just because Ole isn't a "proven manager" doesn't mean you can excuse him more. Hypocrisy #3.

Whether Solskjaer is a good coach I don't know. He seems to fit the club nicely.
That's cute for someone who somehow got this otherworldly conclusion that a manager can only influence a team by 5-10%. When you're not even sure what you're talking about. This time it's not Hypocrisy, just a baseless, stupid statement, helped by rose tinted googles.

Hint : Look at Liverpool and Klopp.
 
My argument was that a good coach can change a teams fortunes dramatically as evidenced by teams like Sheffield United for example.

You said "This is top level team sports, every single player is supremely talented to even reach that standard. " implying that pretty much anybody playing in EPL is good enough. Which is what I disagree with.

As for Sheffield United. How do you know that their good fortunes is all about Chris Wilder? I don't know any such thing. Maybe they have an amazing scouting organization, or fitness or analysis staff? Maybe he is just asked to deliver on realistic goals (top half of the league) and that helps him achieve goals suitable to the team he has, versus Mourinho thought he had to win the league? Chris Wilder is not some genius coach. Definitely not anything at Mourinho level or even Poch level.

Yes, of course good coach improves the team he's got, but that coin has a flip side – if you don't have a team you need, even best coaches will fail.

What do you think Pep would have achieved this season if he had our current squad. The verbatim one?
 
You said "This is top level team sports, every single player is supremely talented to even reach that standard. " implying that pretty much anybody playing in EPL is good enough. Which is what I disagree with.

As for Sheffield United. How do you know that their good fortunes is all about Chris Wilder? I don't know any such thing. Maybe they have an amazing scouting organization, or fitness or analysis staff? Maybe he is just asked to deliver on realistic goals (top half of the league) and that helps him achieve goals suitable to the team he has, versus Mourinho thought he had to win the league? Chris Wilder is not some genius coach. Definitely not anything at Mourinho level or even Poch level.

Yes, of course good coach improves the team he's got, but that coin has a flip side – if you don't have a team you need, even best coaches will fail.

What do you think Pep would have achieved this season if he had our current squad. The verbatim one?


From seeing his play at Barca and how he has coached with this team, he would get us to play in a different way. He is not going to win the league but he is not going to play Lingard and Shaw for sure. I do not think he would have sold off Smalling and bought Maguire. I would say he would have a quality midfield player instead of Matic. Push Martial and Rashford up front. Get Pogab on top of the diamond and play Fred and Scott in midfield with a new defensive midfield player who can control the game. He needs quick CBs. which we do not have and he is suffering now because he is injured. His theory( not really his but Cruijff) is that if you have one option then it can be blocked. If you have two it is more difficult but still can be stopped but if you have three then it is not possible. That is the way he plays in a diamond. City play the diamond the way Cruijff got Pep to play. Yes he has tweaked it but the basics are the same. Sometimes you have to try other means to see how things work. Lingard has shown it does not work with him playing in that position. The three up front is also not working as we are getting ripped apart.
Honestly I will play Jones in midfield. People are going to get up in arms but he has to be given one job and that is be a destructive force. He is not a bad a player as people make him out to be. He is strong and fearless and has decent pace and also can dribble a bit and head and tackle a bit. He is prone to make errors in defence and in midfield would be not so crucial if he makes a mistake. Other teams are not going to go through our midfield like a knife through butter.
 
From seeing his play at Barca and how he has coached with this team, he would get us to play in a different way. He is not going to win the league but he is not going to play Lingard and Shaw for sure. I do not think he would have sold off Smalling and bought Maguire. I would say he would have a quality midfield player instead of Matic. Push Martial and Rashford up front. Get Pogab on top of the diamond and play Fred and Scott in midfield with a new defensive midfield player who can control the game. He needs quick CBs. which we do not have and he is suffering now because he is injured. His theory( not really his but Cruijff) is that if you have one option then it can be blocked. If you have two it is more difficult but still can be stopped but if you have three then it is not possible. That is the way he plays in a diamond. City play the diamond the way Cruijff got Pep to play. Yes he has tweaked it but the basics are the same. Sometimes you have to try other means to see how things work. Lingard has shown it does not work with him playing in that position. The three up front is also not working as we are getting ripped apart.
Honestly I will play Jones in midfield. People are going to get up in arms but he has to be given one job and that is be a destructive force. He is not a bad a player as people make him out to be. He is strong and fearless and has decent pace and also can dribble a bit and head and tackle a bit. He is prone to make errors in defence and in midfield would be not so crucial if he makes a mistake. Other teams are not going to go through our midfield like a knife through butter.
Good post, thank you.

Interesting idea about Jones in midfield. I must admit I am very biased against Jones, at this point and don't want to see him anywhere near Old Trafford. But I had the same feeling about Lindelof, at least before the total feck up today. But if we ignore today, given that he seems to be OK on the ball, has had some stretch of reliable defensive work, but isn't really a great CB, maybe Lindelof can move up as a DMF, and we could play Tuanzebe in his position instead.

The hope is that he can at least do better than Matic. And realistically we are not getting a DMF anytime soon. We are lucky if we get a #10 / playmaker, instead.
 
If a 45 year old Fergie had took over after Mourinho everybody would have been calling for his head, if it had have panned out like it did 86-90. I dont know if Ole is the answer im 60/40 against at the moment, but lets see who he gets in in January, if anyone, and more importantly who comes and goes in the summer.
I'm tired of this bullshit argument. Ole will never be SAF.
 
Good post, thank you.

Interesting idea about Jones in midfield. I must admit I am very biased against Jones, at this point and don't want to see him anywhere near Old Trafford. But I had the same feeling about Lindelof, at least before the total feck up today. But if we ignore today, given that he seems to be OK on the ball, has had some stretch of reliable defensive work, but isn't really a great CB, maybe Lindelof can move up as a DMF, and we could play Tuanzebe in his position instead.

The hope is that he can at least do better than Matic. And realistically we are not getting a DMF anytime soon. We are lucky if we get a #10 / playmaker, instead.

I have not seen enough of Tuanzabe to make up my mind. I would not have sold Smalling because of the reason of a DM. I also feel that in these circumstances Lindelof may be an option in midfield. If you never try in a match situation then you never know. He may turn out to be a good DM. He has the attributes to be one for sure. He is also much quicker than Matic. His passing is also good and he wont be one v one under pressure in midfield like in defence.
 
OGS seems to be fixing an important issue and that is the culture or mentality within the squad. Molde over the years have developed a good culture/mentality (if this can be quantified) within the club, and this is the one thing OGS is able to and currently doing, and should replicate from the SAF years.
:lol::lol:.

By losing games constantly and not managing to tie a run of wins together? He is doing the exact opposite of what you are saying.
 
I'm tired of this bullshit argument. Ole will never be SAF.
SAF is the greatest manager in EPL history. Comparing most managers to him is a joke. Expecting Ole to be next SAF is a joke. We just need Ole to steady the ship and get us to long-term improvement where we are consistently top-4 team, at least fighting for the league title in 2-3 years. Because right now we are simply horrible.
 
I have not seen enough of Tuanzabe to make up my mind. I would not have sold Smalling because of the reason of a DM. I also feel that in these circumstances Lindelof may be an option in midfield. If you never try in a match situation then you never know. He may turn out to be a good DM. He has the attributes to be one for sure. He is also much quicker than Matic. His passing is also good and he wont be one v one under pressure in midfield like in defence.
Yeah, would love to see him play as a DM, even if in FA cup game or something. Technically, Smalling is not sold he is on loan, but he had his share of feck-ups. Maybe it was caused by being surrounded by mediocrity, I don't know. How is he doing in Roma?
 
Classic. Lose a game, insults everywhere.

Win a game, praises all over.

Never change, CAF.
 
It's very amusing to me how much people seem to overrate the influence a manager can have on the results of a football team. It's not rational at all to act like one single person is such an all determining factor for the results of a football team. Over the course of a season, a PL coach maybe influences 5-10% of the results with his decisions. Meaning the other 90-95% of the results are down to other factors, mostly the quality and fitness of the players in the squad.

Clubs and directors who appoint managers know this by the way. They know in the end a manager hasn't got that much influence on results, they also know there's a good chance that a manager can have a bigger impact if he's given the time to plan for the future, even more so if he's given at least five years or so, and they know this concept would be a good thing for their club in the long run. So why don't they do what's good for the results of their club in the long run?

Because of the pressure put on them by irrational people and the fear of losing short term profits. A manager at a football club isn't actually a manager who's brought in to improve the club over a longer period of time. A manager gets paid a fortune to be a sacrificial lamb that can be slaughtered to relieve pressure after a bad run of games, and the merry-go round is just a quick little trick to keep the masses happy.

In reality though, it's the quality of the players that's by far the most important factor of success for football clubs. Whether Solskjaer is a good coach I don't know. He seems to fit the club nicely. I've also seen supposed world class managers like Van Gaal or Mourinho or PL proven guys like Moyes come up with worse shite than I've ever seen from Solskjaer so far.

Maybe it's better to replace him with someone else though, just in case, so at least we can optimize that marginal but signficant 5-10% influence a manager can have on a team. One thing I can tell you for sure though, we need much better players on top of that. Just think about some of our squads of the past, this current team is nowhere near the individual quality our 2013 vintage SAF team, neither does it have the cohesion.

With 15 million pounds on Daniel James as our only investment in attacking quality in recent times, we might actually spend more on exit fees for Mourinho and Solskjaer in the meanwhile. Maybe just think about that for a second before blaming it all on the manager.
Bullshit. How can you come with that tripe and be a Manchester United fan? We have won a PL title with Anderson and Cleverley midfield under SAF.

Also did Liverpool or City play 90% of what they do now under the previous managers?
 
SAF is the greatest manager in EPL history. Comparing most managers to him is a joke. Expecting Ole to be next SAF is a joke. We just need Ole to steady the ship and get us to long-term improvement where we are consistently top-4 team, at least fighting for the league title in 2-3 years. Because right now we are simply horrible.

He is not steadying the ship. He is going down with it. This is the problem. The Ole in Brigade will be playing You are my Solskjaer while the ship goes down taking all us with it.
 
He is not steadying the ship. He is going down with it. This is the problem. The Ole in Brigade will be playing You are my Solskjaer while the ship goes down taking all us with it.
Maybe. I like some things he's done and am very worried by others, but that's beside the point since I was just saying what is even the goal for him, actual job performance being a whole separate thing. I would be shocked if anybody seriously expected or expects him to be anything like SAF, if that is even possible, anymore.
 
:lol::lol:.

By losing games constantly and not managing to tie a run of wins together? He is doing the exact opposite of what you are saying.

Compared to how we looked like under Jose when we were 1 or 2 nill down? At least there is an effort from the players on the pitch.

If you read my earlier posts from this thread you will see that this is the one positive element, however intangible it is, from OGS tenure as a manager.

My general opinion is that this "rebuild" is based on the wrong premises on what type of football should be played today to be competitive over time and what type of players are needed to play this type football.
 
I'm tired of this bullshit argument. Ole will never be SAF.

Any club in the world could make the argument that any manager might turn into Saf if they are given 6 years. It's mental. Other big clubs sack managers all the the time when they are not performing. Having Saf for 26 years was unique. It's not going to happen again. Pep didn't stay at Barca to build a dynasty, Klopp didn't spend the rest of his career at dortmund, Ancelotti, mourinho etc. Maybe if we gave Moyes 6 years, he would have become Saf. Who the feck knows.

Leceister sacked Raineri the season after he won the league. Look at that.
 
Why is it not fair? Those that has fallen before ole doesnt given the same excuse. They live by their signings and sackes by them.

"They live by their signings and sackes by them" - my point, exactly.

They should not be sacked for the failure of the club to make the signings - the club let Fellaini, Herrera (and Lukaku) go and did not replace them - the midfield cupboard is nearly empty, with McTominay punching well above his expected weight at this stage in his career, before his injury and Fred rapidly improving to hold the fort. Given Pogba's recent injury record, we have been without 3 midfielders and now have no squad backup to come in at atime of year when injuries are quite normal. The other 'proven' alternative for DM being Matic (who seemed to be on his way out, too) :confused:

Ole is not responsible for that and we got well beaten by an Arsenal team that can draw on a midfield squad depth that we simply do not have.
 
Suck it up, this young side will take a couple of seasons to mature

I wouldnt have a problem with this if he didnt waste time on Matic, Mata, etc. What is the point of even giving them time if we end up losing anyway. I could understand if they were playing and carrying us through to top4 but its not like we are any better. Id actually rather he put in some younger players at the expense of these players.
 
"They live by their signings and sackes by them" - my point, exactly.

They should not be sacked for the failure of the club to make the signings - the club let Fellaini, Herrera (and Lukaku) go and did not replace them - the midfield cupboard is nearly empty, with McTominay punching well above his expected weight at this stage in his career, before his injury and Fred rapidly improving to hold the fort. Given Pogba's recent injury record, we have been without 3 midfielders and now have no squad backup to come in at atime of year when injuries are quite normal. The other 'proven' alternative for DM being Matic (who seemed to be on his way out, too) :confused:

Ole is not responsible for that and we got well beaten by an Arsenal team that can draw on a midfield squad depth that we simply do not have.
This. I don't know how anybody cannot see how threadbare this midfield is.

It's frankly obtuse and narrow minded to believe Ole was happy to ignore the midfield. Herrera wanted crazy wages for his age and that was exactly part of the problem we had with the poor club strategy of rewarding older players, he wanted out so we let him go.

Fellaini was on the verge of leaving for a while and needed to go, nobody complained when he finally left.

Now to say Ole was happy for the two to leave and not bother replacing them is complete nonsense. Say what you want about Ole but he is not an idiot and knows how competitive and grueling this league is. He would never have been happy with the midfield regardless of what he says when he is towing the company line in interviews.

It's clear as day when you look at our net spend in the summer that we should have had more to spend in Midfield. I mean we are supposed to be the biggest club in the world and one of the richest.

Now it's not all about buying players, I understand that, but compare our net spend in the summer to that of another club giant in Real Madrid, who have a supposedly 'established manager' - as I've pointed out before the difference is night and day.

Madrid show what it takes to complete a rebuild a lot quicker, not everything but a hell of a lot is gained through recruitment and the speed at which a rebuild takes place is almost entirely dependent on it, unless you have Klopp as your manager who turns water into wine.

I mean the first thing Pep does at a new club is spend money like it's going out of fashion.

How people thought that Ole was going to totally transform us and correct 5 years of woeful player recruitment and mismanagement is beyond me, especially when you factor in the net spend in the summer and our injuries to key players.
 
Suck it up, this young side will take a couple of seasons to mature
I'll suck up if you people make up your mind for once. "Couple of seasons" is two or three or 10 ? Give us a number.
Last season's excuse were "solskjærtabellen " to "he needs a transfer window" to "players need pre season fitness" now it's "couple of season" :lol: . I wonder what's next? "We need to replace Tea lady"