Ole has been managing his 100th games for United, at this point he should have his formation/philosophy/tactics well taught to his players. Yet each of them are clueless on what to do, what their teammates does, no cohesion at all, except when we play counter attacking, which I consider as Primal Instinct football that relies on player's basic instinct to attack empty spaces. While not every team needs to be a tiki-taka proponent I'd expect a certain savvy and swagger from a Manchester United team, we were never a very tactical team under SAF but we sure can handle our balls when pressed, we seldom dilly dallying with the balls but we do keep our balls when the push comes to the shoves. Everyone knows where everyone is, when you press one player he have avenue to release the ball, the off the ball movement is subtle yet always presence. This video is actually Ronaldo's debut compilation, but the amount of passing between our old side is visible, we seldom lose the ball. There's no fancy skills / trick necessary, just moving to the right place and making the right pass, basically football 101.
For me the greatest indication of a good coach is how systematic he can get his teams rolling, and how fast he could attain it. That's what separates the real manager and the lucky go happy manager. They might not get the best results and probably won't win a trophy but their work in the team is solid, visible, and regardless of whether they work or don't you actually see what they're trying to do.
It's like seeing a Roman Battle formation, they know exactly what to do, where to push, which flank to cover, even if they lose being sucker punched you know that 8/10 they'd won their fight. With Ole it's more like a bunch of savage barbarian baying for blood when they feel up for it, and meekly contained / routed when they don't feel like showing up. Ole's team leave too much to chances we're seeing what we're seeing, a very erratic result. You need defensive stability first and foremost, you need the mainframe of a tactics, the doctrine, then you tweak a little here and there to suit different opponent.
I haven't seen the big formation up until today, and it's been 100 games it's worrying. I doubt Ole has what it takes and if he indeed understand the fine arts of battle formation (cough... football tactics)
1. What are we trying to do? Was it contain? Was it counter? Was it Gegenpress? Was it route one? Most baffling stuff for me is the high press when we're actually a counter attacking team. It's just logically contradictory. I'm not a fans of counter attacking football, but if you must play it like that at least play it like Jose, soak the pressure up, defend deep, exploit spaces with pace and directness. You don't play counter attacking and camp at your opponent half, you'll only make things harder.
2. No clear vision on player purchase. The direct result of no.1, not knowing full well how we wants to play we ended up buying players that are tactically hampering our own. A slow CB, a weak going forward RB, a Left Winger who's pretty bog standard technically. Bruno was a fine player, but I chalk it up as luck, he's just good enough, but he could be much better in a more tactical team that's build correctly. When you put Zidane in our team he doesn't suddenly becomes Djemba2, but putting him in the France team he'll become something else, the Maestro. My point is that Bruno is the shit that sticks on the wall.
3. Ole is clueless to the whole situation, he doesn't know what he's lacking, he's the dwarf in the middle of the melee he can't see where/what/how/who and when things' happening. It's very simple to notice, he never got up his seat and barks instructions. It only indicates that he's either "happy with what his players are showing" or "doesn't know what to do with it" or "doesn't know that whatever it is it's not working". Pep/Klopp even SAF are animated near the sidelines, not because they're showing off, but because they see something they don't like, and constantly reminding / demanding / changing / inspecting / analyzing / watching for changes in the battlefield like a proper strategist. When the opponent make instructions, they're there to see and adapt. Our beloved Ole seems clueless that Jose is targeting Shaw and bombards our slow CB with pace, that's basic error you can't make at top level football.
Playing football is pretty basic for some of us, but I always believe that at the top level every 0.1% is the difference between winning and losing. The amount of details pep went through is insane, he even analyzed the way some players trap a ball and make improvements. Now some of us probably thinks that's a lot of bull and all we need is go out there and enjoy the game, which I think it's a lot of crap. Anyone that has any experiences in a competitive sports would know that you need a lot more than simply go out and enjoy your game. Other professions and sports such as E-sport, NFL, Basketball, Chess, even Michelin star chef pays lots of attention to the finer details, which is the 1% extra that differentiates you and the rest. Our team and fans attitude towards this is often underestimating and sniffling at, as if it's our god's given right to win a football match just by showing up.
Often we heard lines as "Play pogba in Diamond" or "Play 3 at the back" or " X is not a 6 he's an 8" as if they understand what it really meant. Do you know that between Johan Cruyff and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer they actually play the same formation : 433. Some call it 4321, some call it 433, it's just a number. Any bored kids at school used to make mockup formations,
What Cruyft draw and What I draw and What Ole Draw is probably the same thing, but the applications on the field is night and day. It's not about formation, but the finer details that lies within. What to pass, where to press, triangles, diamonds, collective positioning, 2 on 1, 3 on 2, and lot of the finer details. Any ex footballer can pretend to be a football manager, but you really need to be the master of the arts to squeeze that last 1%. And that 1% in the longer run of the campaign is the difference between champion and runner up. Even in buying player you'll devote an extra amount of attention to details, just like SAF even analyze their mentality. Our coach seems to fail at basic analyzing that his 80M defender are too slow and aren't suited to how he wants to play, and that his 50M fullbacks can't cross.
We seems to have the notion that if he served under SAF he must be good enough, if he knows where the kitchen is he must be good enough, if he knows our culture (what is our culture btw?) he definitely can make us play like one. Which is all bollocks. Most of us speaks English here quite fluently, but I doubt many of us could ended up become a BA lecturer at community college, let alone the top 1% university. Which is what we expect from Ole, a PE teacher teaching at rural Norway suddenly puts in charge at Cambridge , not only as a lecturer but as the complete package to oversee the whole University.
