How long do we give Solskjaer?

Shot said:
I think we are about 3 quality signings away from a title challenge and I expect further progression next season. I dont think we have any entitlement to expect any more than that from Ole to be honest.
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Sadly this has been the line for 8-9 years since Fergie retired. We always are 3-4 quality signings away.
 
Mr C said:
Are you finally agreeing he was let down last summer so has therefore done well this season with the squad he has. Probably there isn't a manager who could have done better
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Not sure you can say he was “let down” like every manager without owners with bottomless pits on money he had to reign in his expectations. Paying 110m for Sancho would have been stupid and the club rightly moved on. He’s still paying the price of a badly assembled squad from before his time.

As for no one doing any better well that is unknown but I’d argue Pep or Klopp would get more out of this group of players than Ole has because they are really good managers.

So far Ole has done what was expected nothing more nothing less he’s got us well position in the top 4 race but he blew the CL group. We were the 3rd best team in the country last season I expect we will be similar at the end of this season but as I’ve always said this season he has to up his points total.
 
SuperRash said:
Sadly this has been the line for 8-9 years since Fergie retired. We always are 3-4 quality signings away.
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I think we knew more than that was required when Ole took over. A clear out was needed as a starting point and Ole oversaw that in superb fashion. More will be gone this summer.
If I was asked and pushed for an answer "what has been the biggest mistake during Ole's tenure"? I would presently say McGuire.
Whilst he may still prove me wrong, presently i don't consider him close to world class or captain material. For the price paid that is what he should be. Solutions need to be found to our defence problems, that must be high priority for the summer.
 
Reports are rumoured that it's another 3 years. £10m a season deal.
 
Shot said:
I think we knew more than that was required when Ole took over. A clear out was needed as a starting point and Ole oversaw that in superb fashion. More will be gone this summer.
If I was asked and pushed for an answer "what has been the biggest mistake during Ole's tenure"? I would presently say McGuire.
Whilst he may still prove me wrong, presently i don't consider him close to world class or captain material. For the price paid that is what he should be. Solutions need to be found to our defence problems, that must be high priority for the summer.
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Remember Ole's first actions during his 1st transfer window. Sold his top goalscorer, Lukaku , didn't replace him. Let Ander Hererra go on a ' free ' Payed a world record fee for a defender, McGuire. Gave Lindleof a new 5 year deal and signed Dan James.
Debatable, at least
 
Macariman said:
Remember Ole's first actions during his 1st transfer window. Sold his top goalscorer, Lukaku , didn't replace him. Let Ander Hererra go on a ' free ' Payed a world record fee for a defender, McGuire. Gave Lindleof a new 5 year deal and signed Dan James.
Debatable, at least
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Sold an absolute flop in Lukaku got the money back & Herrera refused to sign a new contract because the club wouldn't pay him silly wages. He was messed around for 18 months over a new deal before Ole arrived by the time he came it felt very much like he'd made his mind up and was out the door.

He's had 3 signings who he's been able to rely on as starters AWB, Maguire and Fernandes all 3 were upgrades on what he had. Every other position he's had to make do with what he already had an develop players. We paid big fees for all 3 which is outside of his control but I'd argue all 3 are improvements on what he had and have made us a better side.

We've got rid of a lot of deadwood from the squad on both a permanent and loan basis. Rojo, Smalling, Valencia, Darmian, Young, Lingard, Periera, Sanchez, Lukaku all out the door. We all know these lads aren't up to the job and he's had to get all of them out the door to make space.

He's not always got what he wanted from the club he had to wait 6 months longer than he wanted for Fernandes, they couldn't deliver Sancho/Haaland/Bellingham for example.

I'm not 100% convinced by Ole I don't think he's a world class manager but I think he's done a pretty good job turning the ship if he delivers the top 4 finish again he deserves a new deal.
 
Lukaku also wasn't our top goalscorer in 18/19.

Ole didn't sell his top goalscorer. That was Pogba.
 
you can't really fault what he's done with selling players, or how he's improved players. Some of the signings have been iffy, but I'm not even sure they were all his, and all managers have iffy signings, they can't all work out.

Dan James has been alright as a stop gap for 15m. DVDB seems a poor signing.
 
I think managers have to own the buys that happen on their watch at Utd as I do think they play a big part in the decision making process of buying players especially Ole. He hasn't always been backed with his first choice but he will have signed off on the players that came instead when the first choice wasn't available.

The squad Mourinho left was an absolute mess he knew that as well he wanted backing in his last summer and didn't get it he could see what was coming and in his last summer the club added two more expensive duds in Fred and Dalot.

It was tough for Ole last summer he got 3 squad players when he needed 3 starters Telles/Cavani/VDB were signed as competition for existing players not one was an obvious starter at the beginning of the season. Of the 3 only Cavani has looked like a starter but at his age we've not really been able to play him twice a week.

If he gets this new deal the club really need to reinforce that squad this summer with some serious investment but all the signs with Covid are they won't be able to do that so Ole will struggle to win big tournaments until we get some better players in that team.
 
Talk of the new contract has gone quiet again after some rumours a few months back.

There's obviously no reason to change it now he's moved us forward again this season higher points total in the league, top 4 all but in the bag, Europa League final, League Cup semi, FA Cup quarters.

All this with no pre season and not really getting a starting player in his summer transfer business.

He's had to make much more use of his squad this season trying to keep everyone fresh but not really seeing any players who've got worse under his watch they all seem to be getting better. The only one maybe would be De Gea but his decline started before Ole arrived.

There's been some dark spells under Ole where you think this is the point where he goes but he then bounces back and that happened this season but this is the next hurdle for the team to win the big prize you can't really afford these slumps.

Can he get this side on a sprint of day one next season get out ahead and stay there? That seems to be the way the league is won now you need to hit the front early and stay there the days of catching a team who collapse after Xmas seem to be over.
 
The thing is every manager has to learn and adapt and i think ole is doing both
Of course he has made mistakes but also learning from those and not repeating them
i think finishing 2nd and hopefully winning the europa league is a very good step forward
fingers crossed we dont go chasing harland all summer,with cavani staying another season and greenwood learning more and more lets go all out for sancho and a dm then i think we will be very strong next season
 
It will be interesting to see what the club can do in the market this summer I don't see us splashing out there can't be a lot of cash floating around football at the moment Utd probably haven't suffered as hard as some other clubs due to our sponsorship revenues but we've still made big loses.

What that means for the transfer budget this summer who knows as always the clubs will be looking to sell off more of the deadwood but there's not an obvious big sale that will generate cash to spend in other areas.

All clubs will be in this situation I can't see City/Liverpool/Chelsea really splashing the cash either or losing any big stars so it'll likely be teams going again with what they've already got with small changes. It's hard to see any of the top sides bringing in 3 or 4 new starters and really freshening things up.
 
I really think sancho is on this summer.knocked down in price too
Just imagine fernandez,pogba,greenwood,sancho,rashford,cavani,not a bad start
If we can manage to get a proper defensive midfielder to shore up the middle and have mcfred as back up then this team could go places
 
nonewname said:
I really think sancho is on this summer.knocked down in price too
Just imagine fernandez,pogba,greenwood,sancho,rashford,cavani,not a bad start
If we can manage to get a proper defensive midfielder to shore up the middle and have mcfred as back up then this team could go places
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Cavani signing that new deal means it’s unlikely there’s no centre forward so Sancho could be on if Dortmund are willing to massively drop the price. It was 120m euros last summer it needs to be half that this summer him coming in would give us a lot more balanced options.

I think a top quality centre back is essential this summer along with 1 maybe 2 centre mids as I just don’t see Pogba ever going back in there I think Ole will only use him in that left midfield role going forward as it frees him up from the defensive weaknesses he has.
 
jsp said:
Talk of the new contract has gone quiet again after some rumours a few months back.

There's obviously no reason to change it now he's moved us forward again this season higher points total in the league, top 4 all but in the bag, Europa League final, League Cup semi, FA Cup quarters.

All this with no pre season and not really getting a starting player in his summer transfer business.

He's had to make much more use of his squad this season trying to keep everyone fresh but not really seeing any players who've got worse under his watch they all seem to be getting better. The only one maybe would be De Gea but his decline started before Ole arrived.

There's been some dark spells under Ole where you think this is the point where he goes but he then bounces back and that happened this season but this is the next hurdle for the team to win the big prize you can't really afford these slumps.

Can he get this side on a sprint of day one next season get out ahead and stay there? That seems to be the way the league is won now you need to hit the front early and stay there the days of catching a team who collapse after Xmas seem to be over.
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What? Like City's blistering start this season, do u mean?
 
jsp said:
Cavani signing that new deal means it’s unlikely there’s no centre forward so Sancho could be on if Dortmund are willing to massively drop the price. It was 120m euros last summer it needs to be half that this summer him coming in would give us a lot more balanced options.

I think a top quality centre back is essential this summer along with 1 maybe 2 centre mids as I just don’t see Pogba ever going back in there I think Ole will only use him in that left midfield role going forward as it frees him up from the defensive weaknesses he has.
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I reckon a new CF is essential. A prolific No.9 starting with Cavani coming off the bench as an impact player would be ruthless.
Seen quite a lot of this young lad Eze.at Palace.
Gets better every game. Bring him on board now,he's only22, and we have the No.10 role sorted for quite a few years
 
nonewname said:
I really think sancho is on this summer.knocked down in price too
Just imagine fernandez,pogba,greenwood,sancho,rashford,cavani,not a bad start
If we can manage to get a proper defensive midfielder to shore up the middle and have mcfred as back up then this team could go places
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R u forgetting Martial?
 
From what I gather, Sancho finding form is what's behind Dortmund's late push for the CL places. If we're not spending money on a CF (and Pogba is staying) then Sancho and a DM would be a nice start to the summer.
 
Macariman said:
What? Like City's blistering start this season, do u mean?
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They were never miles behind though were they and they won about 30 games in a row from the autumn and went clear.

Had Utd capitalised on that poor start from City they probably would have won the title but we had a bit of a wobble around Christmas time and at that point it was over. That's what Liverpool did the season they won it hit the front early and never looked back City pretty much chucked the towel in and coasted into second.

The point was you can't let a team get away from you anymore at the top once they do it becomes a one horse race.
 
Macariman said:
I reckon a new CF is essential. A prolific No.9 starting with Cavani coming off the bench as an impact player would be ruthless.
Seen quite a lot of this young lad Eze.at Palace.
Gets better every game. Bring him on board now,he's only22, and we have the No.10 role sorted for quite a few years
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Not this summer I think the market for the centre forwards is small and they'll all cost a bomb you could try and make a clever move like taking Toney from Brentford and hoping that maybe he kicks on to become world class. Give him a season behind Cavani but maybe we already have that star in the making in Greenwood.

I like Eze but he'd be a silly price now Utd have to target these lads before they make that move. Also, he's another player for the left side where we are already strong.

The number 10 role is already sorted Bruno is the man for the next 5 years.
 
jsp said:
Not this summer I think the market for the centre forwards is small and they'll all cost a bomb you could try and make a clever move like taking Toney from Brentford and hoping that maybe he kicks on to become world class. Give him a season behind Cavani but maybe we already have that star in the making in Greenwood.

I like Eze but he'd be a silly price now Utd have to target these lads before they make that move. Also, he's another player for the left side where we are already strong.

The number 10 role is already sorted Bruno is the man for the next 5 years.
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That's what I'm referring to.He could quite easily play a peripheral role for a coupla seasons, as Bruno's apprentice. Playing him when Bruno does need a.break, this Leicester game is a prime example. Plus the lad has the ability to play in several positions, DM, where we definitely.need strengthening.btw looks like Toney is heading north of the border
 
I think Ole will get a new deal and rightly so.

If we're talking transfers on here, I think with Cavani signing we can park that signing this summer. Sancho would be a good signing at the right price, I saw talk of 80m this morning. Of course this means less games for Greenwood though. If we can sell Martial that would a great piece of business.

I think we need to really target the centre of the pitch, if Pogba goes we should go for Grealish, and we need a more subtle all round defender like Savic.

Our CB we need long term, but they are not doing that bad, they make errors, but the actual stats are ok, only City and Chelsea have conceded less, and I do think with a better midfield this could be reduced, at least 3 of those goals are Pogba giving it away just outside the box.

So if money is tight, it's midfield for me that is most in need.
 
Very hard to discern. Think 3 positions must be changed/strengthened. Which gets priority, think that's up to Ole and Fletcher.
 
Macariman said:
That's what I'm referring to.He could quite easily play a peripheral role for a coupla seasons, as Bruno's apprentice. Playing him when Bruno does need a.break, this Leicester game is a prime example. Plus the lad has the ability to play in several positions, DM, where we definitely.need strengthening.btw looks like Toney is heading north of the border
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Doubt Toney is going to Scotland would be a massive step backwards and neither of the Glasgow boys have got £25m to spend on a striker. That's roughly what Brentford sold Watkins for last summer so it's what they'll demand for him if they don't get promoted.

Toney will be in the PL next season either with Brentford or someone will snap him up.

Eze cost Palace about £25m last summer do you really think they're selling for less than double that? I like the lad but the time to gamble on him was last summer when he was still at QPR he's not done anywhere near enough to make me think he's ready to make the step up to us.

Realistically Bruno is playing 95% of the games in a season unless he's injured so there's no point having a really expensive replacement for him.

The money this summer has to go in sorting out weak points we need a better centre back and arguably 2 better centre mids if we sign an attacking player for me it needs to be someone who's at his best on the right side.
 
for me pau torres left footed cb,quick agile good ball player,sancho rw and if theres money in the pot a dm
 
Until we sort the midfield out, we are always going to struggle against the "smaller teams" we cannot counter against.
 
but if we have a more solid defence,a defence that can play out from the back and make the forward passes that allows the midfield to push up and that allows space for the forwards to get into.
it all starts from the back now
 
To be fair to catch City you need to strengthen all the weak spots of the squad with quality.

To me another centre back is essential one that can defend one vs one so that Ole doesn't have to protect him with the midfield just look at the difference Dias has made at City this season and Van Dijk made to Liverpool. Getting a really good reliable centre back to me makes a big difference to this team as the Maguire/Lindelof partnership I don't think wins you a title.

In midfield I don't think Ole is ever going to trust Pogba in the 2 so I think we need two really quality central midfield players that work together as a pair to dominate the centre of the park. I think McFred have given it a good go but neither to me look the real top class quality with the ball to really make a difference in the tight games.

In the attack I think he needs another player who can play from the right side.
 
You get a top quality DM and Pogba can get trusted in a 2. France are happy to trust him there.

I'd be going CB CM RW. Amad is a while off first team football. And I want to see Greenwood in the middle when Cavani can't play.
 
Mr C said:
Until we sort the midfield out, we are always going to struggle against the "smaller teams" we cannot counter against.
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This. My problem is that we just need a few key additions, but we NEED a few key additions. There are too many positions that we're compensating for and which offer very little going forward. We have a back 6 including McFred with one player contributing offensively (Shaw) RW is a piecemeal project held together with chewing gum and duct tape and whenever Martial plays we're effectively down to 10 men. 8 outfield positions that are potentially being carried by Bruno/Rashford/Cavani and whatever iteration of Pogba shows up.

Option 1: Buy a rock of a CB who doesn't need a double pivot and drop Fred.
Option 2: Buy a rock of a DM who doesn't need a partner and drop Fred.
Option 3: Buy another AM, go full Kevin Keegan and drop Fred.
Option 4: Buy a RW/CF who will bolster the attack and hopefully compensate for Fred.
Option FM Mode: Buy a DM, AM, RW and CF and drop Fred/McTominay/Martial.
 

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