Ole is not the right guy for United. But he’s not the biggest issue at a club that looks confused

GIVING Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the Manchester United job was a decision of the heart – not the head.

After their worst start to a season for 30 years, they now face a choice: stick or twist.

I am not sure the club is position to think with its heart.

At some point, that business element has to come in – which executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is brilliant at – and they have to be ruthless in this scenario.

They have to accept that Ole isn’t the guy.

Why? Well, do we know what his Manchester United are all about yet, 10 months after he took over from Jose Mourinho?

Almost a year to implement your style? Just look at Brendan Rodgers.

It has taken him just 20 games at Leicester to say, ‘This is how I play football’.

And I get what Frank Lampard is trying to do at Chelsea. Movement in midfield, creativity, excitement.

But I don’t know what Ole’s style is. Or his system. That is a big worry for me. That’s what gets him sacked, not in a losing the next game against Liverpool. Yet the biggest problem for United is not necessarily Ole.

It is that the club doesn’t have a vision of what they want to be.

They have gone for quick-fix, star players. Quick-fix star managers as well. None of those things have worked.

Now they are staring complete confusion in the face as to what to do with the football club.

On the pitch, it is so mediocre. But I find it really hard to blame the players. Pep Guardiola could coach this group and they wouldn’t get to the top four.

They are doing their best. They are what they are. A bunch of players being heavily weighed down by the badge, the Manchester United history.

They are struggling to live up to the standards set years ago.

Players like Scott Mctominay and Jesse Lingard should have been integrated into an experienced team.

The responsibility should not be on their shoulders to get them back where they need to be. They are not capable of doing it. They are players to fit in, not carry it. The players have lost confidence, taking more touches than needed. Solskjaer (above) says they are not reacting instinctively.

They are tightening up in key situations. They are playing with fear, and nothing good comes of that.

You need players to be risk-takers in parts of the pitch. That’s why Daniel James has been their best

HAVE Manchester City lost their aura? Not at all.

But having to cope without Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane is huge. When Kevin De Bruyne (below) doesn’t play, things change drastically in that team.

It is not about aura.

Teams are working harder to figure City out. They don’t want to be embarrassed by an 8-0 battering.

I think Liverpool will win the league, but it will be tight. The gap to City is eight points, so there is a lot of pressure on their head-to-head games. City must win them both, but draws will do just fine for Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.

player. They are scared to death. Paul Pogba is part of the same story. I don’t know why they have not been able to motivate the Frenchman since he has been there.

The longer that story goes on, I think it would be better for them to cut their losses and sell him and really, really rebuild and give some clear lines of what they want to be as a football club.

The top four is 100 per cent out of the question this season. Gone.

The only saving grace is you can’t rely on Tottenham or Arsenal to have the types of runs you might expect. Top six?

When you look at Leicester and Wolves, there are teams around that area to make it a good battle.

It is not certain United will make it, and the January and summer transfer markets will tell us a lot about where they are going.

It sounds really cold and hard, but they need to buy better players.

Their latest attempt to fix things was to sell everyone the story they are going through a rebuild and going young again.

Is that a way of saying they are trying to create another version of the Class of ’92 because that is when they were last successful?

Well, I hate to break it to United fans or anyone linked with the club, their youth team has done nothing for years.

That Class of ’92 team dominated at youth level and came through. We are seeing now at Chelsea, with the players coming through there, you first need dominance at youth level.

The Blues are getting the fruits of it now, with youngsters who are capable of excelling in the Premier League. The players United have brought through have yet to deliver.

But their problems start with having no vision. Even the young players they have bought, none of them are in the top 50 young footballers in Europe.

They need to create some sort of link between Solskjaer, the manager, and the people doing the buying.

They have not filled the sporting director role – that would make a lot of sense to a club like United. Even if it is a slow process, it buys them time.

Because, at the moment, everything is a mish-mash.