The Overlap - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

It made sense and seemed like the right decision at the time, but with hindsight, he wouldn't have made that decision again.

This is how I read it as well , somethings seem right at he time but just don't work out. Does make sense.
 
Ole was class throughout. I didn't rate him as a coach and was extremely critical in my words. But I take no happiness doing so because he's a likeable guy, a legend of the club and always presents himself with honesty.

Good to see him on the Overlap.

Indeed. Additionally there were some absolutely cracking games and moments under Ole too. Just a shame we couldn't build and move forward.
 
That doesn't really make much sense.
Of course it makes sense. I was buzzing when we signed Ronaldo. Guaranteed 20-25 goal a season striker + plus iconic club hero = happy days. However, had we had the right structure in place at the time, then someone above the manager would've vetoed the signing.
 
Interesting to hear him on his last game , even though nothing was said to him he knew it was his last game at halftime as he felt players stopped believing and some even stopped caring.
 
Last edited:
Indeed. Additionally there were some absolutely cracking games and moments under Ole too. Just a shame we couldn't build and move forward.
I was against him to be honest, because it just seemed vibes and hi5s. Looking back he was fine for a season but I don't think he's able to go to the next step. I think he knows that too.
 
That doesn't really make much sense.

It's as this poster says -



Ole just doesn't have the balls to say it.

Did you even watch it? He says later in the video that if he did would not sign him if he could change something, because with hindsight it was the wrong decision both for Ole/United and Ronaldo. The hatred for Ole on this sub is fecking weird.

Really enjoyed watching it! A lot of interesting bits about the mentality of the players. For example how he thinks Maguire was highly affected by the incident in Greece, a lot more then I would've guessed at least.

He also mentions that he (obviously for people with a brain) was not involved in the financial decisions on what to pay for certain players, so everyone giving ETH shit for overpaying can sod off as well. That's "just" on our shit structure above the manager.

The bit about certain players sending coaches to tell Ole that they don't want to captain certain games is... something else.
 
I was against him to be honest, because it just seemed vibes and hi5s. Looking back he was fine for a season but I don't think he's able to go to the next step. I think he knows that too.

Yeah that's true too and from the way he speaks I feel like that too. Mind you, some of the comments are damning of some of the players.
 
Confirmed my suspicions of how things fell apart in those last few months. You could tell at the time that he wanted to transition us from a counter attacking team that finished 3rd and 2nd to a team that dominated games and had more control. It was the right idea but the wrong execution in terms of the players we signed. When you spend big money on Ronaldo, Sancho and Varane in one window and they're not willing to work hard during difficult moments in games, then you know it's the beginning of the end.

I was perfectly fine with counter attacking football, and the whole "can't unpick deep defences" thing was massively overplayed in his last full season as we'd improved a lot in that regard. I think it was really just his naivety in giving into calls to become some high pressing, possession-hungry side that ended him.

Telling his players to press and attack Liverpool in particular was an absolute clanger and we never recovered.
 
A lot of the players need to go, you can’t compete at the highest level if this is the mentality the players have.

 
I was perfectly fine with counter attacking football, and the whole "can't unpick deep defences" thing was massively overplayed in his last full season as we'd improved a lot in that regard. I think it was really just his naivety in giving into calls to become some high pressing, possession-hungry side that ended him.

Telling his players to press and attack Liverpool in particular was an absolute clanger and we never recovered.
I agree however, as he hinted at in the podcast, some of the players during his final few months weren't willing to be a hard-working counter-attacking team vs Liverpool (I assume Ronaldo was a big factor in that). Player power has always been a huge impediment at United post-Fergie.
 
I've got a ton of respect for Ole, always speaks candidly & with dignity in interviews & clearly he gets what it means to be attached to Man Utd. I still feel he got a rough deal at the end, player power, lack of structure that still plagues the club to this day, maybe a little naivety on his part... but he did a great job with a really tough hand and actually made us believe again for a little while. What a fairy tale it would've been to win the league with Ole at the wheel.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rood
I've got a ton of respect for Ole, always speaks candidly & with dignity in interviews & clearly he gets what it means to be attached to Man Utd. I still feel he got a rough deal at the end, player power, lack of structure that still plagues the club to this day, maybe a little naivety on his part... but he did a great job with a really tough hand and actually made us believe again for a little while. What a fairy tale it would've been to win the league with Ole at the wheel.

Let's see how the PL case against City turns out :D
 
The man cares and is very earnest.

That never bodes well for public faces tbh, people will snipe.

I wanted him gone but I regret that.
 
Hope Ineos speak to him as well about the players and what he thinks is wrong - never thought he was right as a coach but can't fault his clear love for the club and what he wanted the team to do, even if he couldn't get the team to do it.
 
He specifically namedrops McTominay, Fred and Matic as players who give everything. I feel like that’s a dig at certain senior players who a lot of us might guess who they are.
 
Great interview - nothing that groundbreaking but good to hear him confirm a few things that most assumed anyway

Still ridiculous the amount of hate he got from our own fans, the Ole years were the best in the postFergie era for me
 
Great interview - nothing that groundbreaking but good to hear him confirm a few things that most assumed anyway

Still ridiculous the amount of hate he got from our own fans, the Ole years were the best in the postFergie era for me
Toxicity gets rewarded with engagement, simply being nice isn't rewarding in the online sphere.
 
A lot of the players need to go, you can’t compete at the highest level if this is the mentality the players have.



This speaks volumes about the club. We all know this but yet another confirmation of how the club sucks under the Glazers.

The moment you have a player say that he doesn't want to be captain for a specific match, you know he is not a Manchester United player. You have to move away from those players. But yet here we are.
 
A lot of the players need to go, you can’t compete at the highest level if this is the mentality the players have.



I don't see an issue with not wanting to be captain. Some players are built for leadership, while others aren't. Fair play if you know you're not up to it.

Paul Scholes, for example, could never have been captain material. We didn't have many standout candidates after Keane was shown the door.

They should be man enough to tell Ole directly, though.
 
I wanted him gone but I regret that.
Don't be. He made mistakes and once things go wrong it's sometimes impossible to recover in that job. That's just how it is. You know he made mistakes, he knows he made mistakes, something had to change, that's just how it is. Just be fond of the good memories he gave you and appreciate what good he did.
 
“So yeah that’s the name generator. Basically it takes your first and last name, drops your first name and then adds a y to the end of your last name and hey presto there’s your nickname”
Nice one Pexboy
 
I don't see an issue with not wanting to be captain. Some players are built for leadership, while others aren't. Fair play if you know you're not up to it.

Paul Scholes, for example, could never have been captain material. We didn't have many standout candidates after Keane was shown the door.

They should be man enough to tell Ole directly, though.
If some players don't want to be captain it's not an issue, I agree. But when it's necessary to tell the manager that, then we are obviously talking about players who are at least seen as potential captain material by the manager. That's either bad character judgement on Ole's side when he wanted to make someone captain who doesn't feel for it, or really a lack of leadership material in the squad when there are no obvious candidates. Both would be a problem.
 
Don't be. He made mistakes and once things go wrong it's sometimes impossible to recover in that job. That's just how it is. You know he made mistakes, he knows he made mistakes, something had to change, that's just how it is. Just be fond of the good memories he gave you and appreciate what good he did.
He did but my word the players let him down. Yet, they're still here!
 
I don't see an issue with not wanting to be captain. Some players are built for leadership, while others aren't. Fair play if you know you're not up to it.

Paul Scholes, for example, could never have been captain material. We didn't have many standout candidates after Keane was shown the door.

They should be man enough to tell Ole directly, though.
It was for one game ffs. Not club captain.
 
Nostalgia but gimme 442, two centre forwards, two traditional wingers, two inverted full backs and give me the perfect players for that system.
 
Urgh that Leverkusen semi in 2002 is fecking depressing. Good interview, the Overlap have a good thing going.
 
I don't see an issue with not wanting to be captain. Some players are built for leadership, while others aren't. Fair play if you know you're not up to it.

Paul Scholes, for example, could never have been captain material. We didn't have many standout candidates after Keane was shown the door.

They should be man enough to tell Ole directly, though.

I think it says more about the mentality/mindset of some players that they don't want to be captain for certain games, probably because they are worried about what would be said in social media. I don't mean this in the sense that they are weak but more that they are focusing on the wrong things.

He also mentioned that quite a few would refuse to do the pre-match interviews because they were worried as well. Namedropped a few that would always be up for it, think it was Bruno, McTominay, Maguire, De Gea, Lindelof or something like that.
 
If some players don't want to be captain it's not an issue, I agree. But when it's necessary to tell the manager that, then we are obviously talking about players who are at least seen as potential captain material by the manager. That's either bad character judgement on Ole's side when he wanted to make someone captain who doesn't feel for it, or really a lack of leadership material in the squad when there are no obvious candidates. Both would be a problem.

The actual captain's armband is more of a symbol than anything. You don't need it to be vocal or provide leadership. A good team will have 3-4 big influences in the dressing room.

There are less obvious leaders in modern football, in my opinion. Keane, Vieira, Terry, etc. You just knew they were the boss, the guy, the man.

Gundogan was a good captain at City. Not as much presence as traditional leader, but a good communicator and inspirational with his ability to score important goals.
 
Met him recently when he visited India last month. Was fortunate enough to shake his hand and sit on the next table while we watched the Villa game in the hotel pub. Seems really earnest and his love for United is also undoubted.

However, in his interactions in India and also on the Overlap, he wasn't asked any tough questions. Particularly regarding the money spent on Maguire, AWB, Sancho. He's sitting there saying that Sancho didn't want to play on the right and also that we chased him for a year and a half. Think Ole wants back in PL or another top job and hence the PR (Bayern links and all) has been in overdrive.
 
Still the best manager we've had since Fergie. Nice to hear him speak on the things that happened, sounds more clued up than any of the managers we've had.
 
Met him recently when he visited India last month. Was fortunate enough to shake his hand and sit on the next table while we watched the Villa game in the hotel pub. Seems really earnest and his love for United is also undoubted.

However, in his interactions in India and also on the Overlap, he wasn't asked any tough questions. Particularly regarding the money spent on Maguire, AWB, Sancho. He's sitting there saying that Sancho didn't want to play on the right and also that we chased him for a year and a half. Think Ole wants back in PL or another top job and hence the PR (Bayern links and all) has been in overdrive.
He said on the Overlap that he was never involved in those conversations (regarding price).
 
You can't say that the ultimate goal was to gradually move away from counter-attacking tactics in favour of a more possession-based style and, then, suggest that you thought it was a good idea to have a team with a 37 yo Ronaldo, Rashford, Bruno in the starting line-up. Something's off there, it just doesn't add up. Kudos to him for assuming responsibility, though, instead of blaming everyone and anyone under the sun. You rarely see it nowadays (and not just in football).