OLE MUST STOP PLAYING IT SAFE TO REVIVE REDS... AND SAVE HIS JOB
It seems as if Ole Gunnar solskjaer is trying to keep hold of his job by being everyone’s friend, and you cannot do that as manager of this manchester United side.
there are players in that changing room in need of kicks up backsides rather than arms around shoulders. they’ve had it too easy. I’d prefer to see solskjaer take charge and take some risks, because this is a club treading water.
United’s statistics under solskjaer do not make for fun reading for their fans. the main one is that they have won only 11 of their 33 Premier League games since he became permanent boss. His 33 per cent win ratio is worse than David moyes (50 per cent), Louis van Gaal (51.3) and Jose mourinho (53.8).
In 2020, United have secured a single league win — against bottom-of-thetable Norwich — and saturday’s 0-0 with Wolves was another joyless afternoon for their followers.
Anthony martial, up front on his own, managed zero shots and touched the ball six times in the opposition box in 90 minutes. Going goalless means United have now failed to score in back-to-back home league games for the first time since march 2014.
moyes was sacked a month after that, and solskjaer is at risk of finding himself out of the job if he carries on like this. He’s got to try something different, because the current way clearly isn’t working.
sir Alex Ferguson would be bold and take risks. He was the master of gambling. He wouldn’t play it safe with his line-ups or substitutions. In the 1999 Champions League final, United came from behind because Ferguson brought two strikers off the bench. teddy sheringham got the equaliser then solskjaer the winner, earning himself hero status.
maybe the fact he is a fan favourite is part of the reason why the Norwegian has avoided the boot, but that will only buy him so much time. Ferguson also wouldn’t mind telling it like it is, in private or public.
solskjaer’s comments on Alexis sanchez — saying he will come back from his loan spell in Italy and ‘prove you all wrong’ — were unusual. sanchez was United’s biggest earner but scored five goals in 45 games.
the only players solskjaer should want are the ones who will put the work in. trying to be a friend to the squad is not the way forward, and neither is playing it safe.
THE ‘Iggy Chop’ is back in the Premier League. I understand why some Manchester United supporters might be underwhelmed by the deadline-day signing of Odion Ighalo because they want a big name leading the line. But the 30-year-old is a striker with a lot of ability and skill. Ighalo’s signature move is to send a defender in a spin by feinting to go one way then turning the other — also known as the ‘Iggy Chop’. Maybe a maverick up front is what United need right now. Ighalo (above) will not be afraid to showcase what he can do in the red of United.