Jim Holden Solskjaer scepticism
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
Solskjaer, it seems to me, is an accidental long-term manager of a great club
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, like Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Max Allegri.
That fourth semi-final defeat, a 2-0 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 to City,” 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.
“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 distinct gegenpressing 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?