What’s the reality about Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer as manager of Manchester
United? It’s a red devil to know.
When his side were easily beaten by
Manchester City in the League Cup
semi-final, a fourth defeat in four
semis, the answer seemed clear: here
is a man who forever flatters to deceive.
A couple of weeks later, thanks to a
fine run of victories, Solskjaer’s side
were top of the Premier League and
looking like credible title challengers.
Perhaps the truth was evident in
another moment of this season – the
goal conceded to Istanbul Basaksehir
in a Champions League group fixture,
when Demba Ba was allowed to run
from the halfway line unopposed
following a United corner. This was
more than a nightmare; it should
never happen to any team at any level.
That’s the thing about Solskjaer, you
can argue it any which way you wish.
Optimists are convinced he will
prove all the doubters wrong and
deliver a cascade of trophies to Old
Trafford. Realists think the club are just
wasting time while Solskjaer remains;
talking incessantly about United’s glory
days of the past while rival clubs stride
ahead with world-class leaders.
I have always been a sceptic.
Solskjaer, it seems to me, is an
accidental long-term manager of a
great club – appointed not on the
basis of significant previous
achievements, but thanks to a
honeymoon period as interim boss
that culminated in an unexpected and
supremely fortunate Champions
League triumph away to PSG.
Two years later, he is still there, his
time characterised by inconsistency
- a good spell, a bad spell, a good
spell, another bad one – and all
without particular rhyme or reason.
Each time he has been close to the
sack, a surge of form has saved him.
It is more than reasonable to argue
that this does him credit. Yet the same
swings of fortune do not assail the very
best managers of our age, likeJurgen
Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Max Allegri.
That fourth semi-final defeat, a 2-
loss at home to City, was typical of his
time. Inspired by Bruno Fernandes, the
club’s best signing in several seasons,
United were amid a streak of fine
results taking them towards the top of
the Premier League.
Solskjaer was buoyant beforehand.
“No excuses now,” was his battle cry,
with Fernandes’ influence on the club
being compared to that of Eric
Cantona’s arrival 30 years ago.
Afterwards, well, oh dear. United’s
manager admitted that defeat was
about “a lack of quality compared toCity,” having seen his team outplayed
and Fernandes struggle in the heat of
a major occasion.
His team had wilted in similar
fashion in the Champions League,
sustaining three defeats that knocked
them out of the group. Was that the
end for Solskjaer? While rumours
abounded, the team perked up again,
the manager kept smiling his boyish
smile, adding former team-mate
Darren Fletcher to his coaching staff.AT THE HEART OF THE GAME
Jim
HOLDEN
“Darren has the United DNA running
through his veins, and he knows exactly
what it takes to be a Manchester
United player,” said Solskjaer.
It was a worrying sign. It was one
more admission that Solskjaer believes
he can relentlessly trade on the past
rather than develop as a manager with
his own style and philosophy.
Football people love to think there is
DNA of a club. It’s just a myth; and a
foolish one.
Arsene Wenger completely changed
Arsenal as a club; from his combination
play on the field to training methods
guided by science.Jurgen Klopp
brought his distinctgegenpressing
tactics to Liverpool, a system he had
used at Borussia Dortmund, and
certainly not an Anfield tradition. That’s
what the finest managers do: impose
their smart ideas rather than imitate
others. Trophies are the consequence.
If we can observe anything about
Solskjaer it’s that his Manchester
United are most effective as a
counter-attacking team. It is a way to
play, a way that can be successful, as
Jose Mourinho has long showed.
Yet, two years into the job, isn’t his
United defence still too fragile and his
team too inconsistent for this strategy
to conjure a first Premier League title
since Alex Ferguson’s retirement?At the wheel...In
March, Solskjaer
will mark three
years since taking
the United job on a
permanent basisSolskjaer, it seems to me, is an accidental
long-term manager of a great club
Solskjaer scepticism remains