26 Season Preview 2019-20 FourFourTwoMAnCHESTER UnITED
Ithasbeenmorethan 30 yearssinceManchester
United supporters approached a new campaign
consumed with this much gloom and pessimism.
This is largely due to the nagging fear many harbour
that the club acted too rashly in hiring Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer as manager. The lusty chants of ‘Ole’s at the
wheel’ that reverberated around the grounds during
his caretaker reign have faded, and been replaced by
the concern that United might be saddled with a boss
fatally out of his depth.
After arriving last December, the Norwegian kicked
off his Old Trafford tenure by introducing a far moreHOW LOnG DOES OLE REALLY
HAVE AT THE WHEEL?
PREMIER LEAGUE
2019-20
attacking style and winning 14 of his first 17 games.
The plan had been to wait until the end of the season
before making a decision, but the United board felt
Solskjaer had earned the job with this run of form and
appointed him at the end of March.
Although some onlookers rejoiced, this would soon
reveal itself to be a dreadful error, stripping the club
of the momentum they had built up and triggering an
unexpected implosion in which Solskjaer presided
over a dire record of two wins and eight defeats from
the last 12 fixtures. It is hard to avoid the evidence
that since he was appointed as permanent manager,
the former United striker has failed to draw a single
convincing performance from his players.In the spring, the club had the opportunity to grasp
a Champions League place, but by May they couldn’t
even secure wins over already-relegated Huddersfield
and Cardiff, and Solskjaer appeared powerless to do
anything about it.
The uncomfortable truth is that had United waited
until the end of the campaign, it is highly likely that
Solskjaer would now be back in Norway and someone
else would be preparing to take United into the new
season – their seventh since the last league title.
And so the Red Devils find themselves in the curious
position of needing a significant squad overhaul, but
under a coach with no experience of doing anything
like that in the past.
From the boardroom to the messageboards, every
United supporter must cling to the hope that Solskjaer
can rediscover the form he produced after succeeding
Jose Mourinho in December, rather than the abject
surrender witnessed in the final two months of last
term. If United’s struggles continue into this season,
Solskjaer runs the real risk of being forcibly removed
from behind that wheel before Christmas.LAST SEASON
PREMIER LEAGUE 6th
FA CUP Quarter-Finals
LEAGUE CUP Third Round
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Quarter-Finals
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Paul Pogba (16)