 OLE’S REIGN - MY PERSPECTIVE

Ole’s reign

My perspective

by Robert Mizzi

Iam writing this article on the morning after Michael Carrick has ended his short stint as interim manager (much to disdain of the editor who keeps receiving my articles late!)

As all readers would surely know, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Manchester United decided to part ways following a terrible run of results that, in all honesty no modern-day football manager could have survived.

All of us United supporters will forever consider Ole as a legend despite this setback. The reality is that none of us old enough to remember him as a player can be totally impartial when trying to assess his tenure as Manchester United manager. To us who were around in 1999, the famous words “and Solskjaer has won it” will forever reverberate in our minds and dare I say, souls. I still get goosebumps when I see the videos!

So I will try very hard to make an objective evaluation of his stint as a United manager and give my two pennies’ worth of what in my opinion went wrong. There is no doubt that based on his stint as interim manager, Ole fully deserved his chance to be a permanent manager. As caretaker manager, Solskjær was the first Manchester United manager to win his first five league games in charge since Sir Matt Busby in 1946. He brought back stability in the dressing room and with him as interim manager, we went on a fantastic run of results, winning 14 of his first 19 matches in charge. manager on a permanent basis. The timing of his permanent appointment was, in my opinion, not ideal and thing started going awry straight away after his appointment as United won only 2 of 10 matches for the rest of the season. Some would argue, yet another in the catalogue of errors by the top management of the club. Why they did not wait till the end of the season to make the appointment is still something that baffles me. Would it have made a difference? We will never know, of course, but it seemed illogical and ill-timed at that point. It still does, in fact!

A 4–0 league defeat away to Everton in April 2019 practically reduced Ole to tears as he realised that the honeymoon was over, and he had a mammoth task in front of him. The following season, his first full season in charge, started the 2019–20 season with 10 points from their first 9 games, their worst start to a league campaign in 33 years (since the 198687 season). Ole was clearly struggling and one could actually argue that his job was saved by the arrival of Bruno Fernandes halfway through the season. In fact, United went unbeaten for the rest of the Premier League season, with 32 points from 14 games since February 2021, more than any other club in that period.

United finished the season with 66 points in the Premier League, equal to the previous season’s points tally, but in third place instead of sixth. Despite claiming that finishing third was a ‘massive achievement’, Ole finished 33 points behind the league winners (no need to elaborate further who they were) and it was evident that United were in dire need of rebuilding to challenge the top teams. Simply relying on Bruno Fernandes carrying the team was not going to work.

Season 2020-21 did not start too well. We had to witness United’s joint heaviest defeat in the Premier League, a 6–1 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur, which Ole claimed was the worst day of his managerial career. It got worse before it got any better, in fact. United failed to qualify to the knock-out stages of the Champions League despite beating PSG 2-1 and RB Leipzig 5-0 early in the group stage. Our league form improved after the humiliating relegation to the Europa League and following a 1-0 away win to Burnley in the 12 January 2021, United claimed the top spot in the EPL with 18 matches played. This was the first time United had been in pole position after the New Year since the 2012–13 season when we went on to win what, to date, is the last EPL title won. A certain SAF was in charge back then! United struggled to keep the momentum and started dropping points and the season ended with United claiming 2nd place with 77 points. Although many supporters considered this as a positive season, that feeling was somewhat diluted due to the fact that we could not offer a challenge to the runaway leaders, and more importantly, due to the defeat to Villarreal in the Europa League final.

I truly believe that this could have been a turning point for Ole and his coaching team. Had he brought home the Europa League, it would have given the club, and above all the manager, a massive boost. Having reached his first final after four successive semi‑final

defeats was a unique opportunity to land his first silverware and get the doubters (like me) on board. It would have been truly a positive end to the season and a feeling that our team was heading in the right direction.

We all know how that final vs Villarreal went last May. It was, in my honest opinion, a shambolic way to lose a final which was perfectly winnable. We were clear favourites and despite going behind, we all thought that we could go on and win it after Cavani equalized with half an hour to go. As one report very aptly put it, “It was now up to United to make their reputation and mystique tell” – we failed miserably on the day.

I am still, to this day, cringing as to how badly that final was managed by Ole and his coaching staff. We went for 90 minutes without one single substitution to change things round while our opponents, who admittedly had even less quality options to bring on (that was the lame excuse by many) had made 5 changes within normal time!

The arrival of Sancho and Varane, together with the unexpected return of Ronaldo, raised the morale of us supporters and of course, the expectations. We hoped, that with the squad now considerably stronger, United were ready to battle it out with the top teams and challenge for the English Premier League once again. What happened in recent weeks did not match the expectations. Ole and his coaching team failed to find the right balance and the results have been abysmal. Some would claim that the return of Ronaldo was unplanned and completely changed the scenario. I would say that a good manager, backed by a supporting coaching team, should have adapted and made sure that the style of play would in some way fit in one of the world’s greatest footballers.

So what went wrong for Ole? The first point I would make is that pointing the finger at the manager is always going to happen when things go wrong. Ultimately, he is the one making the decisions. However, let us not forget that we had an entire team of coaches working behind the scenes and quite frankly, with a coach for set-pieces, one for keepers, etc. etc. our performances were simply not good enough and these people should also be held responsible.

I had always maintained that Ole’s overreliance on McTominay and Fred would lead to his downfall. He relied too much on these two defensive midfielders and never managed to have a decent plan B. Despite playing with 2 defensive midfielders, we were still giving our opponents plenty of opportunities and goals were being leaked in on a regular basis. Very clearly, the McFred solution was not giving the desired results.

I also thought that after having chased Sancho for over a year, we would see more of him on the pitch and less of him warming the substitute’s bench (well, it was a bench in my day!). Clearly, Ole and his team were struggling to find the right formula and bring the best of the talent available.

The handling of Donny van de Beek is another sore point. If we truly had a plan, new arrivals would be brought in as part of that plan. No? Sadly, Donny never seemed part of Ole’s plan, and this of course begs the million dollar question. Was Donny indeed part of the plan or not? I have a suspicion that he was not, and someone else decided. Three guesses who?

Ole’s tenure was characterized by our team struggling to beat teams that parked the ‘proverbial’ bus and just sat back absorbing pressure. Our build up was often too slow to unsettle the opponents and critics said that there were too many side and back passes, and we did not play it forward quickly enough.

Personally, I think that Ole’s relationship with players and the atmosphere created during the training sessions was ideal but whatever was being worked upon during the week, could not be transmitted into results where it mattered - on the pitch. What we, as supporters, were seeing was a team that lacked a defined style of play. Despite bringing in good players and having some exciting upcoming players, Ole simply failed to find the right formula. This season, United were playing like a team without a plan and without desire. Ole had to go and the timing was again bad. The decision should have been taken before the international break so that the new manager coming in would have had a few days to settle down before the first match. It does seem that Ole and his coaching staff were not the only ones lacking a plan. Therein lies the problem.

I know many readers will not agree, but I think it was evident that Ole and his current coaching team had given what they could give and could not take this team any further way back on the 27th May after the Villarreal final. Hoping that the star players recruited will change the way Ole was heading was an act of blind faith.

It was, in many ways, a curious decision to renew Ole’s contract for 3 years (possibly 4 years) one year before his current contract expired. Every Tom, Dick and Harry knew that this was going to be Ole’s defining season and it could (we all hoped) go well, but it could also go terribly wrong. So why 3 years? Why not a one-year extension to his current contract if you really wanted to give some sense of trust and not leave it till the very end? Yet another mind-boggling decision by Ed Woodward and the Board of Management, dare I say!

To conclude, it would be harsh to classify Ole’s time as United manager as a failure. I am absolutely convinced that he desperately wanted to be successful and move the club forward. To his credit, he did bring back the feel-good factor after the Mourinho reign and statistically, he did better than Moyes and Van Gaal in terms of results as the chart below shows.

When it comes to competing with the top managers currently operating in the Premier League, it was evident that Ole was found wanting. No one will take away the fact that he beat Guardiola 3 times on the trot, but as we all know, challenging for the league requires consistency of results and a well-balanced team that produces results on a regular basis. And winning Cups requires that you make the right decisions at the right time. Sadly, Ole, despite his efforts, could not deliver that.

I think every genuine United supporter will respect Ole for his efforts. He did his best to move the club he loves forward and to some extent, he did. I will maintain that the backing from his coaches in critical moments could have helped him and that is why I believe that a clean sweep is needed, and Ralf Rangnick needs to bring in his team and be given a free hand to manage the way he can manage.