Why United are stumbling along with Ole still at wheel
IT seems we have reached the final days of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United reign, the only question that remains is how long the last chapter will be.
There seems to be an acceptance the Norwegian has run out of support as the long-term candidate to drive the Reds forward, but for now he remains in charge, with no obvious replacement ready to step in and fill his shoes.
It’s hard to imagine a run of results that could save Solskjaer now. The successive home defeats to Liverpool and City have exposed his limitations, a bubbling up of doubts suddenly flowing uncontrollably to the surface with those miserable performances.
The man who started as a caretaker manager is basically now a caretaker once again.
Solskjaer and United limp on, a marriage of inconvenience in many ways. The Reds will be desperate the bleeding doesn’t get too bad before they have their ideal replacement lined up.
There may be an argument that the Treble-winner is being badly treated by United now when he must know his time is up, but this situation can occur because of his unflappable personality.
Solskjaer has plenty of inner steel and may retain some belief that he can find a solution to turn this around, but it looks almost impossible.
United are being allowed to bide their time to find an ideal replacement because of him, however. Nearly three years ago results compelled them to act on Jose Mourinho, but the atmosphere had become so toxic there was little option but to make a change and make one immediately. Players had become tired of Mourinho calling them out and relations in the dressing room were turning as toxic as the relations between the manager and the board. There was no longterm replacement lined up then, but Solskjaer came in to rescue a dire situation and, in his own words, ‘put smiles back on faces.’
His start was impressive and he’s had some success, but the doubts have never quite eroded.
And while results might be plummeting once again, the atmos
The man who started as a caretaker manager at United is basically now a caretaker once again
phere is nowhere near as toxic. Some players under Solskjaer have become frustrated with the training and doubt the 48-year-old is the man to take them forward, but there has been no major fall-outs with the manager. On a personal level, they like Solskjaer and he hasn’t called any of his players out in public.
His relations with those above him also remains strong. He might have wanted more resources in the transfer market at times, but he’s always remained understanding and has kept any disagreements in private.
So while a manager like Mourinho might have presented a deeper problem to United in the final months of his reign, Solskjaer doesn’t bring the same issues.
Those disastrous defeats to Liverpool and City should probably have already signalled the end for him at United, but finding a replacement now will not be an easy task.
Brendan Rodgers, Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag all have their admirers, but they won’t be easy to prise away from Leicester City, Paris St-Germain and Ajax respectively.
If results get worse, United might be forced to act without a replacement lined up, but the fact that his players haven’t turned against him and that, for all the outside noise, the atmosphere has not become as poisonous as the final days of Mourinho is allowing United to try and stumble on for now.