Watching Manchester United currently is like a breath of fresh air compared with the dark days of Ole Gunnar Solskjær and the one-hand-tied-behind-his-back management of Ralf Ragnick.
Whilst Eric ten Hag has brought in a couple of experienced midfielders, a young left back and a centre back in the same mould as Roy Keane the major changes he has made have been those of discipline and mentality.
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There may be a new sheriff in town but, unfortunately for him, the posse he sends out to round up the wanted men is full of the same inexperience and clueless leadership as it was under the previous sheriff.
John Murtough, who is described as ‘Director of Football’, was promoted to this role based on previous experience of having coached the academies at Fulham, Everton and United which was followed by trying his hand at sports science!
Another strange promotion was that of Richard Arnold, a clone of Ed Woodward, who was put in overall charge when the hated Woodward finally fell on his sword.
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Time. A flexible little word as in ‘what time is it?’ or ‘do we have time for that?’ or ‘the time has come, (the walrus said). Time, it is said, waits for no man. In today’s politically and gender correct sorry excuse for a world, we must also assume that time waits for no woman or change the expression to ‘time waits for no-one’.
Whatever, time certainly won’t wait for Eric ten Hag at Manchester United. If he were an ex-player who had been a very reliable substitute and had scored the winning goal in a Champion’s League final then, despite the fact that he was a terrible manager winning absolutely nothing, he could expect to be given at least three years.
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Manchester United have a new manager. A time-served professional has been parachuted in to replace the failed apprentice who will now seek alternative employment. It could be a long seek unless he is prepared to drop down a division or two because, as has been shown time and again over the last three years, he just wasn’t up to the job at the highest level!
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Now that Ole’s underwhelming three years as United manager have, thankfully, finally been brought to a close the search is on for an interim manager.
It’s to be hoped this search is concluded very quickly as the alternative is quite frightening. On Tuesday night the team to play Villareal will be selected, as will the tactics & the substitutes, by the very ‘coaching’ staff who have done very little, if anything, to keep their former boss in a job.
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Roy Keane thinks that, if he’s not careful, Ole Gunnar Solskjær will be thrown under the bus by the players. Why does he say that? If he’s right then there are only really two reasons for this to happen.
The first is that the players don’t like Solskjær and want him gone. This is unlikely as the Norwegian comes across as a very likeable person which, in fact, is one of his problems.
That is the question! And it is difficult to come up with an answer. Now, had the question been, ‘why did some love Solskjær as a player’? then that’s an easy one. He played for Manchester United and, although the majority of his time there was spent on the bench, he did manage to cement his place in the Old Trafford history books.
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Let’s be honest, it was time for Ole Gunnar Solskjær to deliver from the day he took over from José Mourinho as manager of Manchester United. If he had been many people who aren’t Ole Gunnar Solskjær then he would have been shown the door long ago.
The debit side of his account whilst in charge at United, which may be of interest to future potential employers, includes the signing of several, (reportedly), world-class players at a cost of nearly £400 million. The losing of three domestic semi-finals, one European semi-final and one European final. It also includes many strange team selections, tactical formations and substitutions or, in the case of the latter, lack of substitutions.
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We had to do it! After years of berating England national football team, it’s manager and it’s perpetually, but unrealistically, (most of the time), optimistic supporters, finally we have to hold up our hands and admit that they have actually played quite well in reaching the semi-final of Euro Not 2020.
Despite occasional attempts by the manager to derail the English train it has kept steadfastly on track and is on course for a first final in forever and possibly, (whisper it), a first trophy in even longer!
Well done gawpy Gareth and the boys. This was teamwork and management above and beyond. Who would have thought we would beat the Ukraine without the Stockport Iniesta and ‘Union’ Jack Grealish, arguably our two best and most creative players?
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We here at WSA have finally worked out the progression of Manchester United. Yes, that’s right, we have finally seen what loyal fans of an ex-substitute with no managerial experience to speak of, (unless relegation from the Premier League counts), have been banging on about for the last three years.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær has progressed from being an abject failure in semi-finals, (four of them to be precise), to being an abject failure in a final! Granted, he has only lost one but, the main reason for that, is because he has only reached one. So, having improved his loss percentage in semis from 100% to a mere 80% in one fell swoop, he has immediately started his appearance in finals with a 100% loss record.
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WHY SAY ANYTHING? 