19 May 2020 18:49:46
One for triis if about.

I know as a support it’s very easy to believe and get behind a team when there’s good signs but in your opinion ala Ole, moves forward in the right direction or still papering over the cracks?

The hierarchy mess aside, I see baby steps. He’s never going to be the one to see a return to the top imo, but he’s done fairly well in my opinion. What frustrates me is some games he gets out thought tactically by lower positioned teams, yet he’s able to get 3 wins over pep?

I’ve noted the beliefs in phelan being a bit too defensive minded, which I agree. And oles cv doesn’t bode well but perhaps it’s just sentimentality in me saying I see improvement.

My worry is we are in my eyes the most dangerous team on the counter in the league, but that isn’t sustainable in today’s football. It worked for Fergie but those are ages gone by. And we wasn’t so much reliant on it.

Liverpool specs off, where do you think we are? Positive steps? Right direction? Or just hype and belief in ole to an extent that when it goes wrong, we’re back to square one?

{Ed001's Note - the signing of Bruno was a huge forward step but I think it is papering over the cracks with Ole. His system is set up to deal with bigger teams getting more possession, not really what you want when you are a top team that should be dominating 75% or more of games. That is why he struggles against lower sides but can beat higher sides. If he could develop a different way of playing against most teams and revert to the counter against more powerful sides, then you would be a definite top 4 side battling in the mix for the title. Without it, you are always going to be picking up big wins and then going away to (for example) Norwich and losing.}


1.) 19 May 2020
19 May 2020 19:50:25
I've always thought the problem since sir Alex left was worrying too much about opponents.

Whilst in certain games you may have a plan for specific players/ teams a team like United need to have a plan and work on executing it from match to match.

Managers we've had have been trying to come up with plans to stop teams like crystal place or Huddersfield and sometimes even lower League cup opposition, rather than giving the players confidence to play the game the way the manager wants.

The best teams should have a plan and execute it 80-90% of the time like tris says ole has his 10-20% plan he needs a plan for the other 80-90% that's what I believe anyway.


2.) 20 May 2020
19 May 2020 23:46:13
Ole is in the job 18 months or so.
He had an incredible first 3 months then a really poor 3 months to finish the season with no cl qualification
Then this season he had a very poor 1st 3 or 4 months followed by a good 2 or 3 months.
His signings have all been pretty good to very good. In fact arguably our best players which shows the state of the squad he took over.
I don't think he is a top coach he is learning on the job and failing more often than succeeding.
That said there has been improvement since bruno signed.
I think there are any number of managers who could do better but ole has the job for the moment and that's the way it is so all we can do is wait and see.
I found our play very negative predictable and uninspiring until bruno signed but it has improved since he came. We were on a decent run and still in 2 cups while hovering around 4th spot.
Not good enough but like the OP stated there was some obvious progression. There was more energy and effort from our midfield albeit not much invention until bruno arrived.
I don't think martial is the right cf i'm hopeful that greenwood will step out of his shadow over the next 12 months and a good rw would help no end.
We have 4 good full back options good keeping options. Cb pairing is not yet solid but options to get a good combination exist on paper at least.
Midfield is a bit of a mish mash.
Pogba will he be let go? Will we get a deal we find acceptable? What happens if we dont? Will we trigger his extension? Will he sign a new contract? Too many questions and too few answers. My view is sell him.
Mctom. Improving all the time.
Fred. Improved in leaps and bounds.
Matic still our best dedicated dm but is on the wane.
Ideal for me would be a new established dm and pogba out saul in.
Leaving midfield options of
New dm saul bruno matic fred mctom.
Attack has 1 obvious glaring weakness that's rw.
Left rash / james
Rw james / mata / lingard
St martial / greenwood
Ideally sell lingard sign ighalo and rw sancho
In the current circumstances and uncertainty surrounding everything a summer of
Ighalo sancho saul and a dm (party or ndiddi ) is too much to hope for but for me that's the ideal.
Jones rojo lingard andreas pogba sold.
Smalling possibly staying.
That would give ole a squad to compare with any for strength in depth. And a 1st 11 capable of competing with any. It would give ole a 8 of his own players in a starting 11.
Its a squad he could have no excuses with.
Does he have the tactical nous? The coaching ability? The managerial skills to drive a squad like that to the title?
Time will tell.
That squad above along with a cb if an effective combination can't be found is as good player and talent wise as liverpool or city imo. So after that its up to the coach.
I don't buy into this we are out of it for years.
The wrong coach had us ahead of Liverpool 2 seasons ago. By the end of the summer i'm guessing ole will have 7 or 8 new signings of his own a spend in the region of 400m more than any other manager in our history.
There can be no excuses if he gets 3 more this summer.


3.) 20 May 2020
20 May 2020 08:22:19
ole isn't the problem why we are unable to break teams down.

we are just more set up to counter

fernandes has made the difference, a few more players who can pass and we will see a different united.

we also need to address the right side of the team, it isn't just a fluke that we have done good against the bigger/ better teams


we had one of the best tatical managers if not 2 of the best tatical managers of there generation and we failed.

just give the guy a break and let him get his time and team he wants.


4.) 20 May 2020
20 May 2020 08:58:43
I think next season will be make or break for Ole, as Ken says there can be no excuses next season. We don't know what will happen this summer, but regardless of whether we sign Sancho, Grealish and Saul or not shouldn't make a huge difference, as we are in a strong financial position and we will strengthen. While if our signings, whoever they are, are as successful as our signings over the last couple of windows then we will be a stronger team.

Personally I think many of the "key" components are already at the club. We have three fantastic keepers, 4 or 5 good options at full back, a good group of centre backs, with Bruno we now have guile to add to the grit in midfield, while Rashford, Martial and Greenwood offer dangerous goal scoring threat. We also have some great young players who could develop into key members of our squad over the next few years. The obvious area of weakness is the right flank, while some strength in depth in one or two key areas would makes us better equipped for a 50-60 game season.

So a summer of a first choice RW and players to add competition/ cover for ST and CAM would be enough. Next year maybe look at a replacement for Matic and maybe another option at CB depending on how our options are doing.

So squad wise Ole will have a squad on paper that can comfortably get 3rd place, maybe higher depending what happens with other teams.

Ole isn't a tactical master mind, but he is more than capable. However, his more limited tactical skill means he will struggle more when he doesn't have the players he needs to play the way he wants.

We can see this both last season and this season. When he has a fully fit squad we tend to go on long winning runs. However, when injuries hit and his options become more limited we struggle.

Pogba being injured this season meant we had no one in midfield who could play those dangerous balls forward and pick open a deep dogged team, right up until we signed Bruno at least.

Losing key players is always more detrimental to managers who don't have the ability to come up with new tactical ideas quickly.

That said, if you were going to find any fault with Sir Alex it would be his limitations tactically. Which is why we were so prolific in the league but struggled in the more tactically flexible European competitions.

Although Ole is no Sir Alex.

Long term we will need to look beyond Ole, but right now I think there are green shoots of growth and development. The atmosphere around the club has changed dramatically. He has shipped out the right players, while the signings have done very well, he has given young players a chance, he has seen most players improve (with only Lingard really going backwards), a style of play is developing, although not there yet you can see improvements, while although not a tangible measure to me the club looks and feels more like Manchester United than it has since Sir Alex left.

If football can resume this season then we are in a strong position to challenge for both the FA cup and the Europa League, while when the season was halted we were the most in form team reeling in those above us and closing in on a top four finish. So if football restarts then there really is no reason not to believe we can have some level of success THIS season.

For that we need to stick with Ole for another season and see what happens.


5.) 20 May 2020
20 May 2020 09:57:03
Agree with Ken.
The players signed under Ole have been solid.
Bruno has brought excitement to the team.

Really hope we get Sancho and Saul, to push us in the right direction in terms of recruitment.


6.) 20 May 2020
20 May 2020 12:18:52
On ole, he has been a breath of fresh air massive step in the right direction. Its very clear to me we are going in the right direction, injuries hurt us last season but ole took over a mess and it takes time to fix that .


7.) 20 May 2020
20 May 2020 13:07:02
Jred. Massive step in the right direction is a bit much. You have to ask yourself. Do we have the 5th best squad in the league? If the answer is yes, then Ole is par for the course. Me personally, I think a decent manager would have us comfortably 3rd this season.

He has oversaw a difficult transition in replenishing the squad, but we should be higher up the table in my opinion.


8.) 20 May 2020
20 May 2020 13:44:32
Mumbles I disagree I take loads of positives, some people see it some don't its as simple as that .


9.) 20 May 2020
20 May 2020 13:44:32
Mumbles I disagree I take loads of positives, some people see it some don't its as simple as that .


10.) 20 May 2020
20 May 2020 14:06:57
Mumbles I think it's slightly disingenuous to ask if we have the 5th best squad in the league.

Are you including Pogba and Bruno in that? What about Matic who was out injured until Christmas, or Rashford who spent 2 months out injured? Or McTominay who spent 3 months out injured?

If we had Bruno all season and hadn't had so many key injuries then I'm sure Ole would have us in 4th maybe even 3rd right now.


11.) 20 May 2020
20 May 2020 14:32:15
I agree with Jred but let's wait and see the season hasn't even finished yet!

If the season resumes we have Spurs, Sheff Utd, Norwich, Brighton, Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Southampton, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Leicester remaining?

With a fully fit squad including the return of Rashford, Pogba and the additions of Fernandes and Ighalo (if loan extended) Ole has a real opportunity to stamp his identity all over this Utd team and embark on a wining run of fixtures!

We are also still in the Europa League and the FA Cup. We have a lot to play for!

I think Ole's recruitment has been solid enough to warrant another year in charge and if we can finish the season strongly it might just be enough to silence the doubters for a while.

Moving forward sorting out the Pogba situation and this summers recruitment will be vital to Ole's longer term prospects!


12.) 20 May 2020
20 May 2020 15:58:02
Jred he took over a squad that finished 2nd the season before. You said it was a great squad. And that the precious manager was under performing. But now you say it was a mess.
I would argue that the squad was poor and the previous manager over performed in finishing 2nd and winning 2 cups and losing a final.


13.) 20 May 2020
20 May 2020 16:42:20
One thing that never gets consideration when determining whether finishing 5th or 2nd is a good result is the strength of the league in that season.

Take last season for example, Liverpool finished 2nd with the highest ever point total not to win the league.

Are we saying that Jose finishing 2nd with us was an equal achievement?

The relative strength of your rivals not only has a barring on where you finish but also on the standard you need to achieve to finish in that position.

If four teams get 90 points and we finish 5th on 89 is that a worst achievement then finishing 3rd on 71 points?

Jose did well to get a poor, disjointed squad to 2nd. Yet how many of our rivals were playing great football to challenge us that year?

Liverpool couldn't defend, Chelsea were on one of their typical down years, Arsenal haven't really been at the races for 6 or 7 years. Spurs are Spurs and don't really challenge. The only team playing well finished above us. Great achievement?


14.) 20 May 2020
20 May 2020 17:44:06
Ken he took over a squad that was 6th and going backwards .
The fact we finished second the season before as you point out tells you the quality of the squad, the fact the following season we where getting worse by the game tells you the mess we were in during yet another jose 3rd season melt down.

But to try and evaluate the job a manager is doing by comparing it to something that happened, 3 year ago in different circumstances is daft .
Ole took over a jose squad, but it is quite clear that he wsnts to and has been tasked with moving away from the jose style, that takes time. Someone like fellaini who is 100% a jose type player won't fit in to the style of play ole is trying implement. To get the squad and mess jose left playing good attacking football is a big job.