Solskjær... on borrowed time + board/ownership issues

[Converge]

Whilst I agree that the football at times is better and more exciting, it only seems to come when the opposition means something to the players.

For me it doesn’t also hide that Solskjær comes across as a bit of a chancer and it’s not down to him/his choices typically that they win.
As I’ve moaned about before, he needs to have a better balance with his overt positivity. Maybe it’s just for the cameras though...

Hopefully it will change in Jan/Summer but we can’t be relying on an average set of players for our midfield in McTominay, Fred, Lingard, Perreira, Matic and Mata. Young and Jones need to be gone, and Shaw is borderline now when you see Williams demonstrating how a left back should be playing at Utd.
I don’t include Pogba, because Pogba.

So a whole new midfield essentially!

I hope January is an interesting window

 

[adam cool dude]

Fred has been fantastic the past month. Almost Kanteesque.

 

[Robbo]

I don't really want to say too much at the moment, yes the past few games have been a lot better, but I can see more major issues ahead.

 

[ThestigGT999]

why isn't ed woodward on borrowed time? he should have gone ages ago

 

[BaZ87]

why isn't ed woodward on borrowed time? he should have gone ages ago

Because he's made the Glazers even richer than they were. And this is a thread about Solskjaer, not Woodward.

 

[ThestigGT999]

Because he's made the Glazers even richer than they were. And this is a thread about Solskjaer, not Woodward.

I know but even if Ole goes it still would be manager revolving door etc unless you want me to make a separate thread

 

[BaZ87]

No no, we don't need anymore threads on this. I'll update the title to include the board, and ownership.

 

[Converge]

Solskjær saying that it was the worst they’d played but he liked their reaction in the second half... this is the problem. He shouldn’t ‘like’ that there was a reaction in the second half, there should have been one after the first goal for **** sake.
It’s not a positive that they finally decided to try and play after half the game had flipping gone.

 

[fez]

Hes started saying that a few times lately. You can't keep getting outwitted by the other manager until half time. I assume we are doing no business in January so he really has his work cut out before the end of the season. Currently without McTominay we have an awful midfield. With McTominay we have a decent side but Ole isn't getting the most out of it.

 

[adam cool dude]

Solskjær saying that it was the worst they’d played but he liked their reaction in the second half... this is the problem. He shouldn’t ‘like’ that there was a reaction in the second half, there should have been one after the first goal for **** sake.
It’s not a positive that they finally decided to try and play after half the game had flipping gone.

Their kids what do you expect? They come up against men and got royally beaten. The first game at the Etihad was simply naivety from City but they were not going to make the same mistake twice.

 

[dacads]

Really don't get the campaign against Ole.

We need a few top players before judging .

Man City have such a better squad than us.

We have a young and inconsistent side but it willl improve no doubt with the right additions.

 

[Converge]

Their kids what do you expect? They come up against men and got royally beaten. The first game at the Etihad was simply naivety from City but they were not going to make the same mistake twice.

I never understand the kids comments to be honest. They’re being paid to play football, if they were 12 maybe it would be hard to understand they need to play harder or change tact but these are professional footballers who have been in academies for years, it’s not like it’s the first time they’ve played a game of football...

 

[manic111]

Their kids what do you expect? They come up against men and got royally beaten. The first game at the Etihad was simply naivety from City but they were not going to make the same mistake twice.

You've outspent an awful lot of teams in the last few years and are performing worse than them. The excuse that they're kids seems pretty disingenuous.

 

[nicktay2605]

You can't blame youth or inexperience for last night's performance, Lingard, Jones and Lindelof were our poorest players and they're 27, 27, and 25 respectively. The kids comment would be fair if the whole team was 17-22 ish, but there was plenty of experience in that United side to help out the young guys like Greenwood and Williams. Also, a much younger and more inexperienced Liverpool team beat a full strength Everton in the FA Cup, so youth doesn't automatically mean you'll get battered.

The current situation at United isn't a surprise. Ole has taken over what is probably one of the weakest, thinnest United squads of all time. We all knew this season was going to be tough, I think United did the right thing in getting rid of some of the underperforming and toxic players in the dressing room. Yes, you could argue they made a mistake by not signing a Lukaku replacement and reinforcing the midfield, but if the right players weren't available there's no point wasting money on signings, that's what United have been doing ever since SAF left and it's got us nowhere.

That's not to say that I'm 100% behind Ole, I think United jumped the gun giving him a permanent deal following the PSG game and I've always thought Pochettino would suit us better and probably ultimately get better results in the long term. However, I think Ole needs a little bit longer to try to form this squad into one that can challenge for trophies and I really can't see United sacking him without giving him at least this and the next transfer window.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I never understand the kids comments to be honest. They’re being paid to play football, if they were 12 maybe it would be hard to understand they need to play harder or change tact but these are professional footballers who have been in academies for years, it’s not like it’s the first time they’ve played a game of football...

You need to have a mix. And united have zero leaders.

Where is the Roy Keane, Sir Alex type figures to keep the David beckhams and ronaldo's in check? Problem is also they don't have any beckhams or ronaldo's either. They have Pogba who is a luxury player who goes missing a lot.

Left back - overweight
centre half - maguire and nobody else and maguire cost far too much for what he is which is average at best. Soyuncu his replacement is arguably better.
midfield - nobody that can put in a shift like Milner, Fernandinho, Kante, etc when the going is tough and nobody who can make a defence splitting pass like de bruyne or spot a outside the foot long ball like yaya toure in his prime.
forwards - all pace and nothing else.

when those young forwards get older. do you see them scoring as much? no chance. they are heavy reliant on their youthful pace.

a few dodgy tackles and some knee/ankle ops and they will fall apart.

Lukaku wasn't the right signing but he at least brought a different dimension. To sell/loan him and not replace was laughable.

Problem is none of their managers have been capable of spotting talent or signing the right players.

Look at Wolves, Sheffield united, etc. They have fight in them and in Wolves you have a manager with an eye for cheap talent.

 

[BaZ87]

...I think United did the right thing in getting rid of some of the underperforming and toxic players in the dressing room...

The one positive, if that's the right word, that will have come from Ole's time at Utd is that he's going to have done a some of the dirty work for whoever takes over in the future. Letting Lukaku and Sanchez go without replacements was a gamble that you could somewhat understand if Utd's idea was to perform a hard reset, the problem was that it was more of a soft reset with numerous others still needing to go too. The main one being Pogba. It might be unfair on him to carry the can for so much that's wrong with Utd because more than just him are guilty but he symbolises the toxicity at the club. When your biggest talent and highest profile player has the attitude and application that he does, it makes any managers job 10x harder.

I guess Utd didn't want to change too much too quickly, hoping to remain as competitive as possible, clearing out a few players now and then hopefully being in a better position to finish the job this coming summer. Without CL qualification that plan fails though. There's still a lot of dead wood to be moved on and Utd will probably be in a worse position to clear these players out and replace them with the required quality than before. Would any top class manager want to take over a club in that situation? It may reach a point where it makes sense to keep Ole in the summer and let him finish off the clear out, like a sacrificial lamb.

 

[Shamikebab]

We did replace Sanchez, with James who has been far better.
Lukaku was replaced by promoting Greenwood, who has been far better than Lukaku was last season.

The only person we didn't replace and the biggest problem is Herrera, that and Pogba's injury means we have no depth in midfield.

 

[BaZ87]

I'm not sure Greenwood making the odd appearance replaces your main centre forward. Fair enough re James/Sanchez, I forgot about him, but I'm not convinced he's a long term answer for Utd either.

edit: Also I'm not sure keeping or replacing Herrera would have made a massive difference. Your midfield needs a complete rebuild with even McTominay's performances being caveated with "....for a youngster". Pogba's the only one with the required level of ability but he doesn't want to be there and he's made that crystal clear.

 

[Shamikebab]

Lukaku only managed 15 goals last season, despite playing most of the year. Greenwood has already managed 8 from far less appearances. He's more than replaced him, and he's more versatile too. Our issues aren't in attack, they're in midfield. Fred has been vastly improved and McT is having a good season regardless of age, the problem is no depth. When it comes to playing 2/3 games a week like it does in Dec/Jan we have nobody to rotate them with, just Matic who is well past his best.

 

[BaZ87]

5 of his 8 goals have been in the Europa and League Cup. Lukaku got 12 goals in the League, Greenwood won't get close to that.

You have issues throughout your side, not just in midfield. As for Fred and McTominay, that's some massive overcompensating there or your standards have massively dropped. The benchmark for Utd should be what the top sides in Europe are doing and they're no where near the required level. Yes, a lack of depth makes things worse but Utd would still need to massively upgrade their midfield even if they had 2x Fred & McTominay's. The fact that Utd have continually struggled in games where they're expected to dominate shows you how ineffective your midfield is.

The standard of this Utd squad is the worst in my living memory. I know things had to change eventually but at least when you had the likes of Lukaku and Fellaini, they gave you a different option and another way of attacking. As above, I can understand why you take the hit and just get rid of them but if you're doing it then go the whole way and clear all the dead wood out. Utd instead compromised and are no better off for it. All they've done is drag the process out for another year.