There seems to be some news on this theme. I hope Ed is not stupid enough to let Poch go to some other club unless he can get someone better in the summer.
Would you sack or keep Ole? (Poll reopened)
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There seems to be some news on this theme. I hope Ed is not stupid enough to let Poch go to some other club unless he can get someone better in the summer.
This is why I believe it’s fine for the jury still to be out over Ole’s actual ability as a manager but I’m willing to give him the summer and at least until Christmas to see whether I see the club continue to make progress on and off the field
It’s not a free pass, I just like his approach so far
Yes, haha. Its a character from a series of movies about 2 guys, 1 clueless swede and 1 over the top norwegian with an inflated ego. Its brilliant.
I think it is too late now. We need to spend in the market and changing a manager would not help things. Bring in someone better this summer if we can find anyone.
We have declined with Ole, but there is talent in the squad that could take us far with the right players in. The biggest problem I guess is those above that do not want to spend what is needed or could negociate well once they decide to spend big.
If Pogba leaves this summer as I do expect we got to spend big on midfield surely. Although I do like the options we have apart from the lack of creative options amongst them.
We have declined with Ole, but there is talent in the squad that could take us far with the right players in. The biggest problem I guess is those above that do not want to spend what is needed or could negociate well once they decide to spend big.
If Pogba leaves this summer as I do expect we got to spend big on midfield surely. Although I do like the options we have apart from the lack of creative options amongst them.
Where's all the WUM's and rival fans when Ole needs 'em? Let's be 'avin you, C'Mon 
SAF is Scottish. Matt Busby was Scottish... Shankly was Scottish, George Graham is Scottish, Kenny Dalglish is Scottish... heck even Souness crap as he was as a manager managed Liverpool. So yeah the benchmark for Scottish managers in the English game has been set pretty high.
Ole got a personal shoutout from the Norwegian PM so him being United manager is a source of national pride
Come on, your post is indeed a classic example of many that we see on here that pretend to be neutral but in fact refuse to be balanced in the analysis.
Apparently you just spent a few seconds looking for Chelsea's poor record and knew nothing about them. It's also obvious that you have not watched any of their game and neither you have read my post thoroughly. Of course I know they lost to West Ham, Bournemouth and Southampton, but I have already clearly explained in my previous post that they "had some bad time with back 3 and Kante". When they deputize a back 4 without Kante, they always play brilliant attacking football and easily break down smaller sides. They have bagged 33 league goals against non-big 6 teams this season while we've only got 24, and you say they struggle in the same way we do?
Squad wise I don't think Chelsea are stronger than we are, even so it's Ole who makes that happen. We had Lukaku and Alexis, who were at least comparable to Giroud and Pedro, but Ole claimed to let them go to provide more opportunities to youngsters. However, it turns out Ole has no confidence in youngsters, ending up overplaying Rashford and Martial and as I mentioned in #11041 it's a matter of time that they get injured. In defence, they had no choice but to play Zouma, Emerson and Tomori who had terrible performance and made plenty of mistakes. Yet they have only conceded 4 more league goals than United which spent 80m on Maguire and 50m on Wan-Bissaka.
There's a reason why people are patient with Lampard but not Ole. They believe the end will justify because they see how Lampard is working towards his goal. In Ole, I can hardly see any of his philosophy works out, not even close.
long story short. Lampard is making some very good lemonade with lemons while Ole’s got cherry’s, run, vodka, olives, whisky, mint and instead of making a cocktail just talks about what he hasn’t got
Sunday will probably go tits up for us, and the Ole out crybabies will be everywhere.
We’ve beaten Chelsea twice and are 5 points behind them in the table.
The idea that Lampard is doing a great job and Ole has been horrendous is a bit of a stretch.
Crystal Palace are 5 points behind United.
We’ll announce Bruno and Ole in fans will tell everyone about his rebuild.
All is even in the fan base again!! Have faith... don’t make the Ole out’s bring you down.
That doesn’t make anything I said any less true mate.
Maguire calms our team down - makes sure we keep the team in the ball. Sure - we make mistakes and are punished, but I can't recall the last time I saw a United-defense so composed against good opposition. I agree Smalling is a better defender, but Smalling is not good enough on the ball to play in a defense who want to play out from the back. First sign of problems and he will kick the ball out of defense, straight to a defender.
Jeez. It's like players who leaves us automatically become better. No smalling is not a better defender than Maguire. Look at some of the past threads of Smalling and people were done with him. He joins ROma and now suddenly he is a top defender thing is bs. Smaling is a decent defender but he has left so let us stop pretending that he is a better defender than Maguire.
What you said doesn’t make what you think true mate.
It is true that it’s a stretch.
Both managers are through in the FA cup, one beat the other in the league and knocked them out the league cup.
The other is only 5 points ahead in the league and both are through to the knockouts in Europe (one in Champions league and one in Europa) it’s hardly like Lampard is doing miles better when you look at all the comps mate!
Just because people on here claimed he wasn't good doesn't mean it's true. In terms of defending Smalling is the best we have. There's a reason he was a mainstay under most managers post Fergie.
The idea to start our rebuild by buying ballplaying defenders was misguided. As I have previously said that is the last thing we or anyone should be focusing on. Seeing as most people like to compare us with Klopp's Liverpool, look at when he signed VVD. He was the final piece as they had built a functioning attack and midfield which allowed them to overcome a weaker defence for a season or so.
This season should have seen us building a better midfield and attack. Instead we blew most of the budget on a player who was never going to massively improve our win rate and our already adequate defence. Rather than signing Fernandes now we could have had him starting over Lingard and getting used to the pace of the league from the start rather than hoping he can turn our season around when we're playing catch up.
You said they’re only 5 points ahead of us in the league, Crystal Palace are only 5 points behind us in the league. So by your logic we’re doing just as good as Palace, were we add team size, player quality, budget and expectations then relatively Palace are doing miles better then us under Hodgson.
Speaking about relativity. Lampard in one summer has actually instilled a style of play, despite losing his best player, not being able to sign anyone; and playing 2-4 kids, and a bunch of loan returnees
Already prepared posts for it. I will tag you so you don't miss out.
All I’m saying is Ole and Lampards seasons have been far too close for the idea that one is doing massively better than the other, which can’t really be denied, which is why you haven’t tried to.
Of course, by that same logic, we’re not doing miles better than Palace in the league, which is a compliment to them because you wouldn’t expect them to be where they are, although they are out of both cups and aren’t in Europe, unlike us.
As for instilling a style of play, what would you say their style is exactly?
If we’re comparing the amount of kids playing then it’s pretty clear Ole would be smashing them on that, most of our team are kids.
One of the undue praise Pep gets which I’ve been saying for years is that he trusts youth! In reality he doesn’t. All of his signings whether they be 20 y/o or 23 y/o already have 2-4 years experience in the top league of whatever country they were signed from. He never plucks players straight from the academy. As now people are seeing.
You say “most of our team are kids” Greenwood isn’t a regular starter and William’s isn’t a main starter. Rashford is a young player but not a kid, same for Martial, 28 yo Lingard is the only kid that regularly starts.
I'd love to hear your analysis of Chelsea's style of play if you get the chance.
As for the idea of us not having a young team
Players at United under the age of 24 at the start of this seasopn:Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial, Andreas Pereira, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Axel Tuanzebe, Diogo Dalot, Scott McTominay, Andreas Pereira, Daniel James, Mason Greenwood, James Garner, Brandon Williams, Tatith Chong, Angel Gomes.
All of these players have played a part this season, and they're all young players. We're obviously not going to play a full team of Teenagers, but its clear we have one of the youngest squads in the league, its younger than Chelseas, thats for sure.
interesting to see if you could not have done the same count with Mourinho I charge two seasons back?
I think they were all here bar Axel, Pereira, Diogo (signed last year), James. The difference now is obviously that much more of these youngsters are getting significant minutes, and we've given bigger roles in the squad to Rashford, Martial, McTominay whilst bringing through youngsters like Mason and Brandon.
Ok folks, let me put it like this. If you're in a crisis, and you hire a coach in that crisis an he gets a full off season along with funds to spend and in the next season the team doesn't improve, then the man probably isn't the right man for the job.
Now in our case we have zero evidence that he could be the right man for the job. He's not a big name, no history of it so I'm not sure what all this faith is based on. No, playing a bunch of kids is no basis for faith.
Now in our case we have zero evidence that he could be the right man for the job. He's not a big name, no history of it so I'm not sure what all this faith is based on. No, playing a bunch of kids is no basis for faith.
Maguire is definitely better on the ball, there is nothing to argue about that. Problem is, whether such attribute is that important and helpful to the team.
I understand Ole wants to play out from the back, but we can barely benefit from it. How many goals do we score from that? More often than not, we give the ball away unnecessarily in dangerous positions leading to opposition's counter attack.
The idea of playing out from the back is to keep the ball and bring the ball forward safely. However, with the lack of quality in midfield and movement off the ball up front, we can hardly achieve such purpose. Instead, we often swing the ball forward eventually, making the whole philosophy meaningless.
As we all know, we are more threatening playing direct football. Playing out from the back is just overcomplicating things and sometimes backfiring us. England paid a heavy price in Nations League and I'm reluctant to see United do the same.
It's not about scoring goals - it's about not giving the ball away to the opposition and constantly being pegged back. Apart from the City-game at home, we have actually been able to keep the ball without being put under too much pressure in most other games. Maguire has a lot of the credit for that.
So lets see how he does next season.
I’m increasingly of the view that Ole is really just an interim manager tasked with assembling a young squad before we appoint the next real manager - possibly Poch in the summer.
I think you're giving a lot of credit to Woodward there.
It makes perfect sense and I think it's actually a fairly smart strategy, but I severely doubt it was planned that way.
Yeah the opportunity to have so many good candidates conveniently available really just fell in his lap...and he'll likely still screw it up. That the Ole appointment would result in saving 30m from not having to buy out Poch's contract is luck falling to the blind
Interesting to hear, as I’m of the same opinion. We don’t have a DOF and have never fully built a squad since SAF left. I think Woodward and Co recognized this failing and tasked Ole with the job. In the interim, if Ole grows into the manager role, the job is his. If not, no harm done, and he’s replaced when a big name comes available.
If there was a fight between Ole “in” posters and Ole “out” posters - who do we think would win.
The scenario for this fight is that it takes place at Old Trafford.
Based on the posts in this thread I’ve compiled a list of pros and cons for both sides.
Ole in pros:
Often more knowledgeable and local fans. Would find it easier to mobilise.
Higher level of intelligence would mean they could strategise more.
Ole in cons:
Have families that care about them. Ole out fans could exploit this.
Have real jobs that means it would be hard to pick a specified time to meet up.
Ole out pros:
Have “Neanderthal” strength.
Probably have access to weapons.
All virgins so would not mind the sweet release of death.
Ole out cons:
Would be hard to organise flights from all the sporadic countries
Don’t understand nuance so would probably be fooled by simple traps.
Not sure who would win.
The scenario for this fight is that it takes place at Old Trafford.
Based on the posts in this thread I’ve compiled a list of pros and cons for both sides.
Ole in pros:
Often more knowledgeable and local fans. Would find it easier to mobilise.
Higher level of intelligence would mean they could strategise more.
Ole in cons:
Have families that care about them. Ole out fans could exploit this.
Have real jobs that means it would be hard to pick a specified time to meet up.
Ole out pros:
Have “Neanderthal” strength.
Probably have access to weapons.
All virgins so would not mind the sweet release of death.
Ole out cons:
Would be hard to organise flights from all the sporadic countries
Don’t understand nuance so would probably be fooled by simple traps.
Not sure who would win.
Ok. Now you’re changing the goalpost and gone from Ole is giving youngsters a chance to “we have one of the youngest squads in the league” I’m not going to debate further as to me it’s a mute point. Rashford and Martial have played in this league for 4 seasons anhave “loads” of experience, the only two youngsters of note are Greenwood and Williams, Greenwood rarely starts, Williams gets the occasional start so it’s not an excuse.
Chelsea have
Reece James 11 starts this season
Timori 14
Hudson-Odoi 14
Abraham 23
Mount 22
All of the above are players with less then 2 Premier League starts before this season started are now basically first teamers.
Haven’t counted Pulisic as he’s 24 and had “loads” of experience in Germany, or the CB that returned from loan vs our £80m CB.
By style of play I mean they know how to pass and break down opposition, and vs top teams they don’t just defend and hold on for dear life and hope to get the sucker punch.
I see it the opposite though. In my opinion, we are still giving the ball away constantly, at even more dangerous positions. In the last game against Wolves, we almost got punished by Neto and were lucky to get away. Pereira and McTominay were also caught on the ball plenty of times this season, leading to many goals conceded (e.g. against Norwich anf Sheffield).
Don't get me wrong, I agree Maguire is a composed defender and is comfortable on the ball. What I doubt is whether it is worth to so-called "play out from the back", and let Smalling go for such philosophy which doesn't work for me.
What? No I’m not. Us having the youngest squad in the league is a direct result of youngsters playing, that is obvious no?
Greenwood: 20 matches, 9 goals
Williams: 7 matches
James: 21 matches
Tuanzebe: 10 matches (been injured)
McTominay: 21 matches
Gomes: 6 matches
Chong: 6 matches
Tammy Abraham spent a season with Swansea and played 31 matches there in the premier league.
Knowing how to pass and break down opposition isn’t a style of play. As for us hanging on for dear life in big matches that happened against Liverpool and that’s it.
Chelsea have scored three more goals than us this season, despite having a style of play.
They also lost 4-0 to us.
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Gomes has made 2 Premier League appearances this season.
Chong has made 2 Premier League appearances this season.
you’re either being disingenuous or don’t know what you’re talking about. Either way no point continuing this discussion with you.
I've no time for Woodward but I think this could be SAF's advice and they are listening. Get the culture right, get the right characters on board and the wrong ones out. Then hand over to top-coach.
We could be totally wrong of course but hopefully there is some sort of 'strategy' to this whole approach.
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