Thanks for the memories Ole, but it's time to go
Even the most hardened Ole fans must admit, the ceiling has been hit
A lot has happened since my last newsletter and post—A Europa loss for Manchester united, a Euros tournament, a LOT of cricket, David de Gea’s resurgence, Ronaldo’s return, and more. But it’s under very difficult and frustrating circumstances that I revive this mailer. It’s time to talk about Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
First things first, I will admit that I’m almost always one of the “Back the manager” brigade. I spoke about this on The Corner Flag podcast late last year almost jokingly, but I meant every word I said about this. That I back my manager till the bitter end—or what seems like the end of the road.
I backed David Moyes, the supposed promised successor to Sir Alex Ferguson. I backed Louis van Gaal, king of long balls. I backed Jose Mourinho, the man I truly, with all my heart believed to be the rightful heir to SAF’s crown. And then I backed Ole, who promised stability. Till he didn’t.
A horrific showing
The last run of games, starting from the Leicester drubbing, have been a horror show unfolding before your eyes if you’re a Manchester United fan. This was supposedly the season we’d challenge for title, give the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea a run for their money. While these three teams are on a clinical, focused run with their eyes on the prize, United have all but imploded.
Many would wonder why. On paper, it looks like a team that’s made up of individuals trained to succeed. A rather successful couple of transfer windows under the belt too. You have Ajax’s golden boy Donny van de Beek; Jadon Sancho, whose impending arrival ran the rumor mills’ homes for over a year; the return of the prodigious son Crisitiano Ronaldo.
You also have Luke Shaw’s return to form, de Gea back to his best, Harry Maguire doing well, Marcus Rashford back from injury, Edinson Cavani eager to impress and starboy Mason Greenwood putting in the effort.
Every single part is where it needs to be, yet the stars don’t align any more for the famous Manchester United. Why is that?
The problem with Ole
If the fully functional dolls in a puppet show won’t move correctly, you have to look upwards to see if the puppet master is all there. And I’m afraid, I’ve turned. I don’t have any faith in the manager any longer. If you can’t do it with this team, it’s probably time to take a cold hard look at yourself, and think about the future.
The thing about Solskjær you can’t begrudge, though, is that he did the job he was brought in to do—oversee the rebuild. And he did it rather well, one must admit. From December 2018, to nearly September 2021, United underwent a near complete rehaul. A lot of deadwood offloaded, a lot of promising new (and return) signings.
However, these players are simply moving parts if they’re not in the right hands. And it shows. Ole isn’t the man that will get you the trophies. He’s come close, and he’s lost every single one of these games. We’ve hit a ceiling with Solskjær, and the sooner the management can admit it, the better it is for our chances of staying in the top echelons of the table, and probably salvage our Champions League chances.
Tactical disasterclass
So, what is it that goes wrong here? Tactically, Ole has been found. And then found again, and again. And over and over again. He refuses to adapt, trying to fit the same ideas with a bottom half team and then the top six, and then again in a CL game. The result? The uncertainty and dependence on that moment of brilliance to win games. Very rarely comes an occasion when Utd’s been clinical from start to finish to begin and shut shop with élan.
There’s barely any cohesion on the flanks, like Michael Cox points out in his analysis of Sunday’s disastrous 5-0 drubbing at home at the hands of Liverpool for The Athletic. And that’s been the case for more than one game.
And it pains me to keep bringing up the horror show McFred pivot—comprising of Scott McTominay and Fred—that’s frankly symptomatic of Ole’s inability to adapt to games based on their merits. He chooses, instead, to stick to a tried, tested, and failed template of a midfield that will have any opposition laughing their heads off.
At this point, you’d have to wonder just what exactly is van de Beek doing wrong—not breathing correctly?—to be left out over and over again by Ole.
If history (of the world, actually, not just football) is anything to go by, refusing to adapt is the best way to hurtle towards extinction. And the clock’s ticking to the end of Ole’s career in the top flight of world football, fast. He doesn’t strike me like the kinds who can adapt like a Moyes or a Brendan Rodgers to be able to start with a smaller team with the attempt to take a shot at top 4.
If not Ole, then who?
Really, this has been a problem with Manchester United for a while now. We’re almost never in the market for a new gaffer when a manager roulette is in progress. Like earlier this year. Biggest names were moving around teams and countries to take charge of teams—Ancelloti, Mourinho, you name ‘em.
United, instead, will dig its heals and refuse to admit when a natural end to a manager’s career is coming. Why fix something that’s not broken, right? But why wait for something to break either. Unfortunately, this is something that’s happened in the past with Mourinho and United too. We waited till the dressing room was almost about to break into a public rebellion.
And I’m afraid the day with Ole isn’t far away now. He may not have lost the dressing room the same way Mourinho did with his alienating ways, but there’s clearly a lack of confidence tactically with United platers now. They, too, seem unsure about how to close games down and win easy fixtures.
But, coming back to the original point: who’s even free to take charge right now? If rumors are to be believed, there’s Antonio Conte, Zinadene Zidane, and weirdly enough, Rodgers in the fray right now. As of writing this, Conte’s PR seems to place him as the strongest contender.
It’s a bit insulting to court new managers while the old one’s being assured of his job. But United under the Glazers have been a stumble away from a disastrous look anyway. The right thing to do now would be to announce a caretaker manager (damn, old Ole would’ve been perfect for this role) while we wait for the right fit to free himself.
United has never been a sacking club, but we’re coming as close as possible to that now. Unless the management realizes the need to rebuild this team, under appropriate leadership, in increments, AND with eyes on the prize, a title seems like a distant dream. Heck, the trophy drought seems like a prospect that we’re going to be stuck with for a while.
Time’s almost up for Ole anyway. It’s just a question of when the sword falls on his head—this week, next loss, Christmas, or end of the season. Thanks for the memories, Ole. But it’s time to bin nostalgia and get serious about turning United into a proper team again.