The Glazers love him. They think they are making progress by getting 2nd in the league. It will need to be catastrophic before they get rid of him. I've had enough to be honest. He's been spoiled with signings and yet we play the same way week after week. He has no plan. The United way is not a plan in the modern game when you are up against elite coaches. What annoys me is that we get the same assessments in the media from him after every game. Solskjaer is not ruthless enough at this level. He's made the mistake of trying to accommodate a load of stars rather than get the personnel that suit a system. Very disillusioned but not surprised.
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Soldato
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Ole deserves credit for some things: he’s built a good squad, removed a lot of the toxicity left behind by Mourinho and he’s managed certain issues well, especially Pogba and his agent. Let’s not beat about the bush though, he’s clueless tactically and his in game management is woeful. There is still no pattern to our play beyond playing 6 defensive players and getting the other 4 to bail us out. Our midfield is unable to control games against even the weaker sides in the PL and we’re incredibly vulnerable to pressing teams. He’s been found out time and time again in tactical battles where teams aren’t naive enough to let us play on the counter. Most of all though, 3 years in and no trophies to show for it.
I’ve not seen any progress since he took over and never really believed in him as a manager. The acid test is if he left United tomorrow do you think any other big club would be interested in him? He should have been a caretaker and no more.
I’ve not seen any progress since he took over and never really believed in him as a manager. The acid test is if he left United tomorrow do you think any other big club would be interested in him? He should have been a caretaker and no more.
Caporegime
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That is what a good manager is though. SAF was never a super duper tactician either but had a really good squad of coaches around him. This is where I have always said is the downfall of Ole. He is a good manager of the team. All the players have improved under him and he has identified and brought in players of good quality compared to the players we were getting 2013-18. His coaching staff just doesn't cut the mustard and should have been changed a long time ago.
Our defensive play is just so weak and despite our possession we are getting completely cut to shreds on the counter.
Yes we lost to Aston Villa yesterday but we had an XG of 2.27 to their 1.46. We had 28 shots so the attacking side of things isn't that much of a problem. It is never easy when teams park the bus.
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We might have had 28 shots but how many on target I believe it was 4 compared villa had 3 on target I think was mentioned the problem we have is the midfield just isn't good enough mcfred you tell me one side in the top 10 that would be happy with them as there midfield yet ollie keeps picking them it was matic who put the ball through to lingard against west ham last week which won us the game and donny put a superb ball through to Mason midweek mc Fred never do that it's sideways or backwards
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technically he is 1 point off top spot, so hard to sack him right now. be very surprised if they changed during the season unless they dropped well off the pace.
Soldato
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Whilst the coaches are also a problem, you're making up excuses for what is the managers job. He chooses his coaches. He chooses the eleven who start a match and he chooses who to bring on which he is failing at despite being backed in the market.
Ole is substandard at everything bar making friends with the players and smiling at the media whilst the players flap around like fish out of water.
Caporegime
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Which to be fair a draw seemed like an expected result.
Soldato
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Do you think a draw at home to Villa is an acceptable result?
We can discuss it until the cows come home, but it's obvious to everyone that Ole is a poor manager from a coaching/tactical perspective. Sure, he's done some good in terms of keeping players happy and unifying aspects of the club, but that is ultimately not going to matter. Ole and his staff are not fit for purpose at the highest level of football, which is where we are meant to be.
If we sacked him, I doubt any other top division side in Europe would be interested in him, perhaps one or two at a push.
I'd love him to prove me wrong - but he won't.
If we sacked him, I doubt any other top division side in Europe would be interested in him, perhaps one or two at a push.
I'd love him to prove me wrong - but he won't.
Hes been good at the recruitment side of things and moved on some deadwood as well. The stuff that makes a truly top manager is completely lacking from Oles skillset though.
Soldato
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I agree there but even then we don't know how much of the recruitment he's involved in. It's difficult to gather with managers.
He'd be a much better director of football. Someone who helps develop the culture of a club through it's recruitment. He's great with people... But the rest is poor.
As Robbo says I doubt any top club will ever go in for him and if they do they'll be the last to gamble.
You're being very generous here. I don't think a single CL side would be looking to bring Ole in.
As we always do though, we will wait until Ole makes enough of a mess that he has to go and then we will scrabble around for a new manager from whoever is available. There won't be any plan and we won't hunt out the best managers around. If there is one thing that is in very short supply in football its truly world class managers so when they come up you should snap them up. We just aren't run well enough for that sort of thing.
Why would they bring him in? He isnt a club legend anywhere else so there isnt that link and he's done absolutely nothing of note..
I feel like i should come in this thread every so often just to remind Man United fans who they actually support. You support one of the biggest and most successful clubs in the world. Why on earth are people "settling" for Ole ?
I feel like i should come in this thread every so often just to remind Man United fans who they actually support. You support one of the biggest and most successful clubs in the world. Why on earth are people "settling" for Ole ?
Because people are completely conflicted between what their head and their eyes are telling them and what they think should be the reality and the sort of fan they want to be.
We have been lucky enough to have a purple patch that lasted nearly 20 years and was overseen by a single manager. A single manager who had a very good set of players over the years, in a much weaker league than it is now and during a different era of football. Oh and he was actually a top manager with a great team around him.
Many fans seem stuck in a mindset that was valid 20 years ago and what a romanticised version of the current Man Utd set up should be. They want a long term manager to stay for a decade or more and they want him to understand "the United way". What the United way is still baffles me. We were richer and better than 95% of the teams we faced in the past so it was easy to "never give up" and play attacking football. Attacking football was also a much simpler thing 20 years ago.
The excuses people have come up with for Ole genuinely boggle my mind. They will watch us get outplayed by teams operating on 1/10th of our budget with relative frequency and their only thought is "Ole doesn't have the right player in position X". Sure, Burnley have 11 players that they hand picked and wouldn't trade for the world no doubt. They definitely aren't operating on a shoestring budget and making the best of what they have in all 11 positions on the pitch. They will watch us not make subs until the game is gone and then point at a missed chance that "would have changed the game" instead of an incompetent manager. They will admire the managers of teams like Liverpool, Chelsea and City and completely ignore the fact that no one outside of the United fanbase thinks that Ole is even approaching the quality required of a top level manager.
The worst one though is the "top red" who thinks that any criticism of Ole or the team (you can pile in on the Glazers of course) is anti-United and that you aren't a fan if you want anything more than you are getting. You should support the team like a good little drone and never question where things are going.
Win a game against some minnows and complain that you played crap and you are being too negative. Lose a game to those minnows and they just point to the fact we missed a chance or two.
We have a ridiculous squad at the moment and we are playing at about 60% of the players capacity.
We have looked the same for about 90% of Oles tenure and the only thing that has improved is the quality of player we have. Ole is like income tax. The better the sum of the players he has, the less he will get out of them. Double the quality of players he has and you will get a 20% increase in the quality of football you see. He just doesn't add any value to the players he manages when it comes to actually putting a team on the pitch and playing nice football.
Caporegime
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The problem is I don't see anyone out there available who is a clear improvement. Who do people actually want? Conte who implodes after 18 months at every club?
Caporegime
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This is just as much a problem. Klopp and Guardiola are literally a tier above everyone else.
This is what happens when you have 0 planning. You watch good managers go to other clubs as you sit on your hands. Nagelsmann, Tuchel and Pochettino have all moved since we appointed Ole.
You can’t expect a manager to magically be available when you unexpectedly happen to be looking mid season. Did City just happen upon Pep, did Liverpool just get a knock on the door from Klopp out of the blue? It’s funny how some sides always have top managers and we are always lamenting the dearth of any available.