Poll Ole at the wheel choice...
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Say this for Manchester United – they committed to the bit. The comedy value for outsiders looking in wasn’t just in the fact that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was out of his depth. It really lay in the absolute refusal of the club to act on the failing that was so evident to everyone else.
They were Monty Python’s Black Knight, standing there having lumps sliced off them for the entertainment of the watching world.
In hanging in there with Solskjaer for so long, they have gone one step further than merely allowing one of the world’s superclubs to potter along with a sub-par manager.
They have, into the bargain, now spectacularly fumbled the process by which he will be replaced. Solskjaer’s seat will, for the next while at least, be filled by Michael Carrick, someone who has even less managerial experience than Solskjaer had when he took over in December 2018.
Think about that. Carrick has been a key part of the coaching staff throughout a period of patently bad coaching. It’s not as if they plucked someone from the academy here and told him to go and dead-bat press conference questions for a couple of weeks until it all blows over. They have installed as interim manager someone has been intimately involved in everything that has gone wrong.
What has United’s fall been if it hasn’t been an abject failure of coaching? At its most basic level, Manchester United have dispensed with Solskjaer because results have fallen below the level the playing staff ought to be capable of.
But the playing staff has coughed up those results because they keep giving away goals that are the trademark of a team that hasn’t been coached properly.
Solskjaer kept his job for so long because he had one of the most expensively-assembled squads in the history of the game. Spend enough money and you’ll generally find yourself with access to the odd player who will dig you out of a hole against a mid-table Premier League team of a winter Saturday. It’s the baked-in advantage United enjoy in a money-rigged game.
But elite-level coaching is supposed to be visible even within that context. It’s supposed to raise the floor of dependable performance to a level that allows the star turns to rocket-boost the whole project off into the stratosphere.
At United, the floor was sinking all the while, first to the point where late goals against teams with fractions of their budget were needed to keep them alive in the Champions League. And latterly, to the point where the luck ran out with four defeats in five Premier League games.
Lieutenants
Carrick has been a central part of all of that. So much so that when his fellow assistant coach Mike Phelan was given a new three-year contract last month, United made it known that the same was on the table for both Carrick and Kieran McKenna.
That’s Solskjaer’s three most-trusted lieutenants who the club were trying to tie down to long-term contracts. United being United, they were doing so at a time when they had lost to Aston Villa, West Ham and Young Boys in three different competitions in the previous three weeks. As if anyone was going to come in and poach them.
And now Carrick is the manager. He must be at least slightly stunned to still have a job this morning, never mind one where Cristiano Ronaldo has to call him gaffer. There might be no better summing up of the knots United have tied themselves in than the fact that Carrick will be the one wearing the smart blazer in Villarreal on Tuesday night.
“Michael Carrick will now take charge for the forthcoming games, while the club looks to appoint an interim manager until the end of the season,” read United’s club statement yesterday morning.
So Carrick is a pre-interim interim, a place-holder for a place-holder, someone who’s only plucking pheasants till the pheasant plucker comes. Roughly translated, they’re basically admitting they haven’t a clue what they’re doing next.
Which would be fine and even understandable if any of this had come as a surprise. But we’re not talking about an act of God here or a natural disaster. United having to sack Solskjaer didn’t fall from the clear blue sky. As an outcome, it has at least been in the ether for well over a year and has become entirely predictable in the last month. How they don’t have a contingency plan beyond cattle-prodding Carrick out in front of the cameras today beggars belief.
Or it would, if it wasn’t this United regime at this point in the club’s history. One whose immediate response on Saturday to the 4-1 to Watford defeat was to immediately Tweet its 28.4m followers to implore them to “Get full-time reaction in our app.”
Never mind the football, feel the data-scraping.
Social media signing
There was a delicious irony in the fact that United probably would have won on Saturday had Ronaldo taken his chances. The ultimate social media signing was off form against Watford but still had a couple of clear sights of goal in the second half either side of Harry Maguire’s hapless yellow cards. Had he taken them and had United turned it all around for another glorious 3-2, Solskjaer would have survived another while.
The clips would have pinged around phones and screens from Urlingford to Ulan Bator. It would have been another shovel into the United myth cement mixer. The whole show would have kept spinning along, fed on a drip of its own storytelling. Alas, he was more Ronnie Corbett than Ronaldo on Saturday and so the Solskjaer era is done.
It is done and they have nowhere to go. In the time he was in charge of United, Mauricio Pocchetino, Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte were all available and all went to other clubs. They have all the money in the world, all the players they need – and will surely go and get more. They have a vast fanbase, incredible institutional memory and, when it comes right down to it, no good excuse to be this bad at football.
United’s sickness stems from the neglect of the marketing spivs running the club. Solskjaer was always just a symptom. There’s no reason right now to presume the next guy will fare any better.
They were Monty Python’s Black Knight, standing there having lumps sliced off them for the entertainment of the watching world.
In hanging in there with Solskjaer for so long, they have gone one step further than merely allowing one of the world’s superclubs to potter along with a sub-par manager.
They have, into the bargain, now spectacularly fumbled the process by which he will be replaced. Solskjaer’s seat will, for the next while at least, be filled by Michael Carrick, someone who has even less managerial experience than Solskjaer had when he took over in December 2018.
Think about that. Carrick has been a key part of the coaching staff throughout a period of patently bad coaching. It’s not as if they plucked someone from the academy here and told him to go and dead-bat press conference questions for a couple of weeks until it all blows over. They have installed as interim manager someone has been intimately involved in everything that has gone wrong.
What has United’s fall been if it hasn’t been an abject failure of coaching? At its most basic level, Manchester United have dispensed with Solskjaer because results have fallen below the level the playing staff ought to be capable of.
But the playing staff has coughed up those results because they keep giving away goals that are the trademark of a team that hasn’t been coached properly.
Solskjaer kept his job for so long because he had one of the most expensively-assembled squads in the history of the game. Spend enough money and you’ll generally find yourself with access to the odd player who will dig you out of a hole against a mid-table Premier League team of a winter Saturday. It’s the baked-in advantage United enjoy in a money-rigged game.
But elite-level coaching is supposed to be visible even within that context. It’s supposed to raise the floor of dependable performance to a level that allows the star turns to rocket-boost the whole project off into the stratosphere.
At United, the floor was sinking all the while, first to the point where late goals against teams with fractions of their budget were needed to keep them alive in the Champions League. And latterly, to the point where the luck ran out with four defeats in five Premier League games.
Lieutenants
Carrick has been a central part of all of that. So much so that when his fellow assistant coach Mike Phelan was given a new three-year contract last month, United made it known that the same was on the table for both Carrick and Kieran McKenna.
That’s Solskjaer’s three most-trusted lieutenants who the club were trying to tie down to long-term contracts. United being United, they were doing so at a time when they had lost to Aston Villa, West Ham and Young Boys in three different competitions in the previous three weeks. As if anyone was going to come in and poach them.
And now Carrick is the manager. He must be at least slightly stunned to still have a job this morning, never mind one where Cristiano Ronaldo has to call him gaffer. There might be no better summing up of the knots United have tied themselves in than the fact that Carrick will be the one wearing the smart blazer in Villarreal on Tuesday night.
“Michael Carrick will now take charge for the forthcoming games, while the club looks to appoint an interim manager until the end of the season,” read United’s club statement yesterday morning.
So Carrick is a pre-interim interim, a place-holder for a place-holder, someone who’s only plucking pheasants till the pheasant plucker comes. Roughly translated, they’re basically admitting they haven’t a clue what they’re doing next.
Which would be fine and even understandable if any of this had come as a surprise. But we’re not talking about an act of God here or a natural disaster. United having to sack Solskjaer didn’t fall from the clear blue sky. As an outcome, it has at least been in the ether for well over a year and has become entirely predictable in the last month. How they don’t have a contingency plan beyond cattle-prodding Carrick out in front of the cameras today beggars belief.
Or it would, if it wasn’t this United regime at this point in the club’s history. One whose immediate response on Saturday to the 4-1 to Watford defeat was to immediately Tweet its 28.4m followers to implore them to “Get full-time reaction in our app.”
Never mind the football, feel the data-scraping.
Social media signing
There was a delicious irony in the fact that United probably would have won on Saturday had Ronaldo taken his chances. The ultimate social media signing was off form against Watford but still had a couple of clear sights of goal in the second half either side of Harry Maguire’s hapless yellow cards. Had he taken them and had United turned it all around for another glorious 3-2, Solskjaer would have survived another while.
The clips would have pinged around phones and screens from Urlingford to Ulan Bator. It would have been another shovel into the United myth cement mixer. The whole show would have kept spinning along, fed on a drip of its own storytelling. Alas, he was more Ronnie Corbett than Ronaldo on Saturday and so the Solskjaer era is done.
It is done and they have nowhere to go. In the time he was in charge of United, Mauricio Pocchetino, Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte were all available and all went to other clubs. They have all the money in the world, all the players they need – and will surely go and get more. They have a vast fanbase, incredible institutional memory and, when it comes right down to it, no good excuse to be this bad at football.
United’s sickness stems from the neglect of the marketing spivs running the club. Solskjaer was always just a symptom. There’s no reason right now to presume the next guy will fare any better.
True story.
Ridiculous appointment in the first place. Deluded club, still suffering from a massive superiority complex. Prerequisite for success is hard craft. a fact that is completely lost on the players. Somebody needs to shake the club to it's foundation. Complacency and laziness is endemic at the club.
Look see if they make another balls up signing..wouldn't be surprised.
Look see if they make another balls up signing..wouldn't be surprised.
Can't wait for them to do a Solskjaer with Carrick
This
They won't. Two reasons: (a) Solskjaer only got the job in the first place because there was no big name available, and (b) the Glazers won't allow that kind of mistake to be repeated. My money would be on Pochettino - things aren't going well for him at PSG and Ginsoak's a big fan apparently, plus Zidane has made it abundantly clear in the past that he isn't interested in coming to English football.
As for Duckface Ferdinand, didn't he throw his hat into the ring a while ago to become their DOF? Please let it happen. Please.
As for Duckface Ferdinand, didn't he throw his hat into the ring a while ago to become their DOF? Please let it happen. Please.
The issue for United that Ronaldo and Maguire problem are the biggest issues the next manager has to deal with. They both need to classed as squad members rather than first team members. If they continue to classify those two as first team members doesn't matter what manager they get. Maguire is serviceable but shouldn't be automatic first choice for a club like United let alone captain and Ronaldo needs to told that he shouldn't expect to play every game as first choice.
Rooney strongly in the frame to take over as interim manager for the rest of the season according to Sky Sports.
Let's hope he has some relative trophy less success that makes it impossible not to appoint him on a long term contract and we can rinse and repeat the last three years.
Let's hope he has some relative trophy less success that makes it impossible not to appoint him on a long term contract and we can rinse and repeat the last three years.
They've tried the Premier league proven in Moyes and Mourinho, and the proven pretty much everywhere in Van Gaal. I don't think there's many managers that I think will actually turn it around for them. There problem is the establishment, and the egos within the squad.
Another decent article on the mess that is Manchester United, this time by Phil McNulty
Manchester United's decision to sack manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was inevitable and should have brought an element of certainty to the recent chaotic events at Old Trafford.
It should have happened after the humiliating 5-0 loss at home to Liverpool. It could have happened after the embarrassing manner of their 2-0 derby defeat to Manchester City in front of their own support two weeks later.
It had to happen after they were nothing short of a shambles in losing 4-1 at relegation-troubled Watford.
Solskjaer's appointment, his demise and the vague outline of a succession plan from Manchester United's hapless hierarchy drives at the very heart of how this once mighty club have become also-rans.
What should have been an exercise in drawing a dignified line under what has become a fiasco in recent times managed to leave even more questions, as United announced Michael Carrick would be caretaker for now before an "interim" appointment until the end of season.
It suggests those running Manchester United have a plan in place to bring in a currently employed manager next summer. Their track record does not inspire huge confidence that they have this covered.
The notion of a caretaker then an interim certainly poses questions. Are United virtually writing their season off in November? Who is that interim candidate? What if the interim goes on the sort of run that lured United into appointing Solskjaer? What if this mystery interim figure cannot stop the current slide? Do United simply blunder on and lie in the bed they have made for themselves or shift position?
The full-time appointment in March 2019 of the Norwegian - who failed dismally at Cardiff City but who justifiably has huge currency at United as the man whose goal won the 1999 Champions League Final against Bayern Munich at the Nou Camp - was a decision heavily laden with shot-in-the-dark sentiment rather than actual pedigree.
Much of the praise given to Solskjaer after his sacking focused on how he made Manchester United a happier place as effectively the anti-Jose Mourinho. All very well but the best way to make a football club, particularly Manchester United, a happy place is by winning trophies.
Even when he was handed the job permanently, it seemed an unnecessarily hasty move. Why not wait a few weeks until the end of the season? The bounce under Solskjaer had already started to flatten out by that campaign's conclusion.
Solskjaer spent £400m on losing every major semi-final and final United reached under him - two Europa League semi-finals, an FA Cup semi-final, a League Cup semi-final and last season's Europa League final when United were overwhelming favourites against Villarreal.
A nearly manager managing a nearly team.
He was rewarded with a new three-year contract with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward claiming United were "heading in the right direction" under Solskjaer.
Woodward had explained United were undergoing "a cultural reboot" when the Norwegian was given the job full-time but what does that actually mean in football terms? It was meant to mean attacking, winning football, giving youth a chance... the so-called Manchester United DNA.
Solskjaer has taken the ultimate responsibility, as managers do, but to suggest he is solely to blame for the complete mess Manchester United find themselves in is unfair on him and allows other culprits to escape.
He was betrayed by his players on too many occasions, especially in recent weeks when faith seemed completely lost, the usual whispers of discontent emerged and United looked like a team that was either under coached or where the coaches' plans were being ignored.
United's power brokers seem to operate on a wing and a prayer. What had Solskjaer done to earn his new three-year deal in the summer? Why the hurry? Why was his assistant Mike Phelan given a new contract until 2024 in early October when there were already signs that Solskjaer could soon be under serious pressure?
Watford 4-1 Manchester United: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will take the flak for United loss
United appeared to have a prime candidate waiting for the call in Antonio Conte after they were ripped apart by Liverpool but something about the Italian - a Premier League and FA Cup winner in two seasons at Chelsea - put them off. Too high maintenance? Too expensive?
Conte had the pedigree. He has proved he can handle big clubs. It might have been "scorched earth" for a while but it might not. He is a proven winner.
Tottenham had no such reservations and took their chance. Whether this turns out to be yet another colossal mistake by Manchester United remains to be seen. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who has made plenty of mistakes of his own, was at least decisive and may yet have pulled off a master stroke.
United's indecision eventually proved final for Solskjaer.
The logical thought process suggests United are laying the groundwork for a smooth transition next summer when maybe Paris St-Germain's Mauricio Pochettino, who was actually the most suitable successor to Mourinho, Ajax's Erik ten Haag, Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers, Zinedine Zidane or some other candidate can take the helm.
This all depends on United having a plan. You would hope they have one. Expect it? Not necessarily. There are plenty of imponderables in that short list alone.
When the spotlight moves away from Solskjaer, it should shine a very harsh light on Woodward, soon to leave Old Trafford, and owners the Glazers. The manager must not carry the can for them. He does not deserve that.
United have fumbled a succession of managerial appointments and are now left scrambling around, especially when viewed through the prism of their rivals, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City.
Those clubs have shown ruthless decisiveness when seeking managers. Pep Guardiola was long courted then landed by Manchester City. Liverpool sacked Brendan Rodgers knowing Jurgen Klopp was available. Chelsea did the same to Frank Lampard with Thomas Tuchel in the background.
United had chances to get Guardiola and Klopp in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era but could get neither over the line. Pochettino was out of work for more than a year after being sacked by Spurs. Chelsea pounced on Tuchel and ended up winning the Champions League just five months later. United stood by Solskjaer despite ominous signs.
Woodward and the Glazers have cultivated a culture of mediocrity at 'the theatre of dreams' that goes way beyond Solskjaer, mixing bad decisions with the sort of indecision witnessed in the former manager's long and painful departure. The bar has been set low by those running Manchester United and the price is being paid now.
Cristiano Ronaldo's signing was painted as a glorious coup pulled off at Manchester City's expense, although the suspicion lingers it was done in a panic to stop the great man pitching up at Etihad Stadium, with added commercial value.
Ronaldo has shown flashes of brilliance but he has also been part of the shameful losses at Leicester City, home to Liverpool and Manchester City and then away to Watford. He is a wonderful marketing tool and still a magnificent footballer but he is not the player he was (how could he be?) and somewhat at odds with Woodward's much-heralded "cultural reboot".
How this current malaise is cured will shape the future. It is certainly a huge task for managing director Richard Arnold, who is expected to succeed Woodward, especially with the unloved Glazers operating at their usual distance from Old Trafford.
Manchester United cannot afford to get this next one wrong but, to the concern of fans who showed genuine support and sympathy for Solskjaer until it was virtually impossible to offer any more, they have form for doing exactly that.
Solskjaer has lost his dream job as Manchester United manager - but in no way can the club's current parlous plight be wholly pinned on him.
Manchester United's decision to sack manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was inevitable and should have brought an element of certainty to the recent chaotic events at Old Trafford.
It should have happened after the humiliating 5-0 loss at home to Liverpool. It could have happened after the embarrassing manner of their 2-0 derby defeat to Manchester City in front of their own support two weeks later.
It had to happen after they were nothing short of a shambles in losing 4-1 at relegation-troubled Watford.
Solskjaer's appointment, his demise and the vague outline of a succession plan from Manchester United's hapless hierarchy drives at the very heart of how this once mighty club have become also-rans.
What should have been an exercise in drawing a dignified line under what has become a fiasco in recent times managed to leave even more questions, as United announced Michael Carrick would be caretaker for now before an "interim" appointment until the end of season.
It suggests those running Manchester United have a plan in place to bring in a currently employed manager next summer. Their track record does not inspire huge confidence that they have this covered.
The notion of a caretaker then an interim certainly poses questions. Are United virtually writing their season off in November? Who is that interim candidate? What if the interim goes on the sort of run that lured United into appointing Solskjaer? What if this mystery interim figure cannot stop the current slide? Do United simply blunder on and lie in the bed they have made for themselves or shift position?
The full-time appointment in March 2019 of the Norwegian - who failed dismally at Cardiff City but who justifiably has huge currency at United as the man whose goal won the 1999 Champions League Final against Bayern Munich at the Nou Camp - was a decision heavily laden with shot-in-the-dark sentiment rather than actual pedigree.
Much of the praise given to Solskjaer after his sacking focused on how he made Manchester United a happier place as effectively the anti-Jose Mourinho. All very well but the best way to make a football club, particularly Manchester United, a happy place is by winning trophies.
Even when he was handed the job permanently, it seemed an unnecessarily hasty move. Why not wait a few weeks until the end of the season? The bounce under Solskjaer had already started to flatten out by that campaign's conclusion.
Solskjaer spent £400m on losing every major semi-final and final United reached under him - two Europa League semi-finals, an FA Cup semi-final, a League Cup semi-final and last season's Europa League final when United were overwhelming favourites against Villarreal.
A nearly manager managing a nearly team.
He was rewarded with a new three-year contract with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward claiming United were "heading in the right direction" under Solskjaer.
Woodward had explained United were undergoing "a cultural reboot" when the Norwegian was given the job full-time but what does that actually mean in football terms? It was meant to mean attacking, winning football, giving youth a chance... the so-called Manchester United DNA.
Solskjaer has taken the ultimate responsibility, as managers do, but to suggest he is solely to blame for the complete mess Manchester United find themselves in is unfair on him and allows other culprits to escape.
He was betrayed by his players on too many occasions, especially in recent weeks when faith seemed completely lost, the usual whispers of discontent emerged and United looked like a team that was either under coached or where the coaches' plans were being ignored.
United's power brokers seem to operate on a wing and a prayer. What had Solskjaer done to earn his new three-year deal in the summer? Why the hurry? Why was his assistant Mike Phelan given a new contract until 2024 in early October when there were already signs that Solskjaer could soon be under serious pressure?
Watford 4-1 Manchester United: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will take the flak for United loss
United appeared to have a prime candidate waiting for the call in Antonio Conte after they were ripped apart by Liverpool but something about the Italian - a Premier League and FA Cup winner in two seasons at Chelsea - put them off. Too high maintenance? Too expensive?
Conte had the pedigree. He has proved he can handle big clubs. It might have been "scorched earth" for a while but it might not. He is a proven winner.
Tottenham had no such reservations and took their chance. Whether this turns out to be yet another colossal mistake by Manchester United remains to be seen. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who has made plenty of mistakes of his own, was at least decisive and may yet have pulled off a master stroke.
United's indecision eventually proved final for Solskjaer.
The logical thought process suggests United are laying the groundwork for a smooth transition next summer when maybe Paris St-Germain's Mauricio Pochettino, who was actually the most suitable successor to Mourinho, Ajax's Erik ten Haag, Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers, Zinedine Zidane or some other candidate can take the helm.
This all depends on United having a plan. You would hope they have one. Expect it? Not necessarily. There are plenty of imponderables in that short list alone.
When the spotlight moves away from Solskjaer, it should shine a very harsh light on Woodward, soon to leave Old Trafford, and owners the Glazers. The manager must not carry the can for them. He does not deserve that.
United have fumbled a succession of managerial appointments and are now left scrambling around, especially when viewed through the prism of their rivals, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City.
Those clubs have shown ruthless decisiveness when seeking managers. Pep Guardiola was long courted then landed by Manchester City. Liverpool sacked Brendan Rodgers knowing Jurgen Klopp was available. Chelsea did the same to Frank Lampard with Thomas Tuchel in the background.
United had chances to get Guardiola and Klopp in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era but could get neither over the line. Pochettino was out of work for more than a year after being sacked by Spurs. Chelsea pounced on Tuchel and ended up winning the Champions League just five months later. United stood by Solskjaer despite ominous signs.
Woodward and the Glazers have cultivated a culture of mediocrity at 'the theatre of dreams' that goes way beyond Solskjaer, mixing bad decisions with the sort of indecision witnessed in the former manager's long and painful departure. The bar has been set low by those running Manchester United and the price is being paid now.
Cristiano Ronaldo's signing was painted as a glorious coup pulled off at Manchester City's expense, although the suspicion lingers it was done in a panic to stop the great man pitching up at Etihad Stadium, with added commercial value.
Ronaldo has shown flashes of brilliance but he has also been part of the shameful losses at Leicester City, home to Liverpool and Manchester City and then away to Watford. He is a wonderful marketing tool and still a magnificent footballer but he is not the player he was (how could he be?) and somewhat at odds with Woodward's much-heralded "cultural reboot".
How this current malaise is cured will shape the future. It is certainly a huge task for managing director Richard Arnold, who is expected to succeed Woodward, especially with the unloved Glazers operating at their usual distance from Old Trafford.
Manchester United cannot afford to get this next one wrong but, to the concern of fans who showed genuine support and sympathy for Solskjaer until it was virtually impossible to offer any more, they have form for doing exactly that.
Solskjaer has lost his dream job as Manchester United manager - but in no way can the club's current parlous plight be wholly pinned on him.
Losing David Gill was as destructive to them as losing Baconface, arguably even more so. Woodward's replacement will be as crucial as Solskjaer's. He's kept the money rolling in but his football nous is non-existent.
I'd absolutely love it.
Indeed.
He could well be "Frasier" to Ole's "Cheers"
Ronaldo is the biggest problem for Manchester United’s next manager
Forward is seemingly impossible to fit into a modern system and his signing symbolises a flaw holding back the club
by Jonathan Wilson
So, what next? Ole Gunnar Solskjær has gone, and with him perhaps Manchester United’s most visible problem, but a sentimental appointment wasn’t the only issue holding the club back. United are institutionally dysfunctional and it will take more than a change of personnel in the dugout to change that.
Solskjær was a fine appointment as caretaker, perhaps the last good decision Ed Woodward made as United CEO. The return of a popular club legend, the sunshine man whose rays of decency could dispel the acrimony of the latter days of José Mourinho’s reign, made sense. The problem was that rather than waiting until his short-term contract expired, Woodward gave him the job on a permanent basis.
Even by the end of that season, as United won only two of their final 12 games, it was apparent a mistake had been made. Solskjær’s teams lacked the sophisticated organisation that differentiates the very best from the rest. The board could have made an assessment with the benefit of as much evidence as possible; instead they allowed themselves to be carried by emotion.
That lack of organisation was never resolved. Solskjær could set up a team to defend deep and strike on the break, which brought a series of notable results in big games, but they struggled to break down well-organised defences. Of course, when you have a squad as loaded with talent as United’s, you will score goals most of the time, but the draw at West Brom, the home defeat by Sheffield United, and perhaps most especially the draw against Villarreal in the Europa League final were indictments.
This season, the flaw was compounded by the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, another nostalgia-driven investment, another reminder that United as a club see themselves as being less about the production of effective football than saleable content. This is a squad put together less for utility than celebrity.
Suddenly it was no longer possible to sit deep and counter because there was a chugging goal-machine who had to be selected up front. With a great midfield, as Real Madrid showed with Casemiro, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, it is (just about) possible to compensate for Ronaldo and his unwillingness or inability to press. Scott McTominay, Fred and Nemanja Matic do not constitute a great midfield.
The inertia of the United directors, their hope that everything would somehow come good, that a functioning team could somehow be constructed out of some famous people and some 1990s memes, means they have missed out on the best available candidate, Antonio Conte going the way of Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino (when he joined Paris Saint-Germain). United’s statement said they will appoint an interim manager until the end of the season. But then who? Zinedine Zidane, Pochettino, Brendan Rodgers, Julen Lopetegui? Would Laurent Blanc be up for it? Could Ralf Rangnick be persuaded to leave Lokomotiv Moscow and take over as sporting director?
And that is probably the biggest issue. The United board might not be so susceptible to each passing tide if there were somebody there who grasped modern football. The most damaging aspect of the Solskjær appointment was probably that it meant plans for a high-profile sporting director were shelved. John Murtough was appointed as football director in March but his visible impact has been minimal. With a figure who could guide the overall outlook there might be a coherence to signings, rather than a series of half-baked half-theories vaguely pursued before the allure of nostalgia and glamour takes over again.
This is a squad that has been expensively assembled, but it lacks coherence and whoever is appointed will have to face that first of all – and that means sales as well as signings. Why was Paul Pogba not offloaded when he might have generated a fee? It’s not necessarily a criticism of them as players, but why are Donny van de Beek, Eric Bailly, Juan Mata, Alex Telles and Diogo Dalot at the club if there was no place for them in Solskjær’s plans? But the biggest problem is Ronaldo.
It’s all very well him scoring late goals to salvage games against teams such as Villarreal and Atalanta, but why do those games need salvaging? Zidane left Real Madrid at the end of his final season there, since when Ronaldo has seen off Max Allegri, Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo before Solskjær: that’s five coaches in three and a half years across three clubs. How can he be fitted into a modern system? The truth is that, for all his goals, he probably can’t. While he remains at the club, whoever the manager is will be compensating for his presence and that militates against an integrated philosophy.
His status dwarfs all else and that leads to a compunction, not to use him as an impact sub or only in matches in which United are likely to dominate the ball, but to play him in the majority of games. And the effect of that ripples out, reducing opportunities for Jadon Sancho (a £73m signing this summer who has seemingly been sacrificed on the altar of Ronaldo), Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Edinson Cavani.
What United need, fairly obviously, is a coherent structure. They need to build a system that presses, that allows the team to function as a unit, both going forwards and backwards. But achieving that with this squad, with a board forever adding new gaudy accoutrements, is far from straightforward.
And while the present situation is clearly filtered through a modern lens, the sense of frustration, of stars never quite making a constellation, has been, beyond the Busby and Ferguson eras, fairly standard at Old Trafford since the second world war. Only three managers have won the league with United. Without major changes throughout the club, it may be a long time before there’s a fourth.
Forward is seemingly impossible to fit into a modern system and his signing symbolises a flaw holding back the club
by Jonathan Wilson
So, what next? Ole Gunnar Solskjær has gone, and with him perhaps Manchester United’s most visible problem, but a sentimental appointment wasn’t the only issue holding the club back. United are institutionally dysfunctional and it will take more than a change of personnel in the dugout to change that.
Solskjær was a fine appointment as caretaker, perhaps the last good decision Ed Woodward made as United CEO. The return of a popular club legend, the sunshine man whose rays of decency could dispel the acrimony of the latter days of José Mourinho’s reign, made sense. The problem was that rather than waiting until his short-term contract expired, Woodward gave him the job on a permanent basis.
Even by the end of that season, as United won only two of their final 12 games, it was apparent a mistake had been made. Solskjær’s teams lacked the sophisticated organisation that differentiates the very best from the rest. The board could have made an assessment with the benefit of as much evidence as possible; instead they allowed themselves to be carried by emotion.
That lack of organisation was never resolved. Solskjær could set up a team to defend deep and strike on the break, which brought a series of notable results in big games, but they struggled to break down well-organised defences. Of course, when you have a squad as loaded with talent as United’s, you will score goals most of the time, but the draw at West Brom, the home defeat by Sheffield United, and perhaps most especially the draw against Villarreal in the Europa League final were indictments.
This season, the flaw was compounded by the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, another nostalgia-driven investment, another reminder that United as a club see themselves as being less about the production of effective football than saleable content. This is a squad put together less for utility than celebrity.
Suddenly it was no longer possible to sit deep and counter because there was a chugging goal-machine who had to be selected up front. With a great midfield, as Real Madrid showed with Casemiro, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, it is (just about) possible to compensate for Ronaldo and his unwillingness or inability to press. Scott McTominay, Fred and Nemanja Matic do not constitute a great midfield.
The inertia of the United directors, their hope that everything would somehow come good, that a functioning team could somehow be constructed out of some famous people and some 1990s memes, means they have missed out on the best available candidate, Antonio Conte going the way of Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino (when he joined Paris Saint-Germain). United’s statement said they will appoint an interim manager until the end of the season. But then who? Zinedine Zidane, Pochettino, Brendan Rodgers, Julen Lopetegui? Would Laurent Blanc be up for it? Could Ralf Rangnick be persuaded to leave Lokomotiv Moscow and take over as sporting director?
And that is probably the biggest issue. The United board might not be so susceptible to each passing tide if there were somebody there who grasped modern football. The most damaging aspect of the Solskjær appointment was probably that it meant plans for a high-profile sporting director were shelved. John Murtough was appointed as football director in March but his visible impact has been minimal. With a figure who could guide the overall outlook there might be a coherence to signings, rather than a series of half-baked half-theories vaguely pursued before the allure of nostalgia and glamour takes over again.
This is a squad that has been expensively assembled, but it lacks coherence and whoever is appointed will have to face that first of all – and that means sales as well as signings. Why was Paul Pogba not offloaded when he might have generated a fee? It’s not necessarily a criticism of them as players, but why are Donny van de Beek, Eric Bailly, Juan Mata, Alex Telles and Diogo Dalot at the club if there was no place for them in Solskjær’s plans? But the biggest problem is Ronaldo.
It’s all very well him scoring late goals to salvage games against teams such as Villarreal and Atalanta, but why do those games need salvaging? Zidane left Real Madrid at the end of his final season there, since when Ronaldo has seen off Max Allegri, Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo before Solskjær: that’s five coaches in three and a half years across three clubs. How can he be fitted into a modern system? The truth is that, for all his goals, he probably can’t. While he remains at the club, whoever the manager is will be compensating for his presence and that militates against an integrated philosophy.
His status dwarfs all else and that leads to a compunction, not to use him as an impact sub or only in matches in which United are likely to dominate the ball, but to play him in the majority of games. And the effect of that ripples out, reducing opportunities for Jadon Sancho (a £73m signing this summer who has seemingly been sacrificed on the altar of Ronaldo), Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Edinson Cavani.
What United need, fairly obviously, is a coherent structure. They need to build a system that presses, that allows the team to function as a unit, both going forwards and backwards. But achieving that with this squad, with a board forever adding new gaudy accoutrements, is far from straightforward.
And while the present situation is clearly filtered through a modern lens, the sense of frustration, of stars never quite making a constellation, has been, beyond the Busby and Ferguson eras, fairly standard at Old Trafford since the second world war. Only three managers have won the league with United. Without major changes throughout the club, it may be a long time before there’s a fourth.
All this criticism of united's management not doing a good job in staff appointments is making me uneasy...
They are doing a great job. Long may it continue...
They are doing a great job. Long may it continue...
Really??
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