Bayern:
✅ 3-0 Red Star
✅ 7-2 Tottenham
✅ 3-2 Olympiakos
✅ 2-0 Olympiakos
✅ 6-0 Red Star
✅ 3-1 Tottenham
✅ 3-0 Chelsea
✅ 4-1 Chelsea
✅ 8-2 Barcelona
✅ 3-0 Lyon
Won 10 | Drew 0 | Lost 0
Scored 42 | Conceded 8
Avg Scoreline: 4.2 - 0.8
PSG:
✅ 3-0 Real Madrid
✅ 1-0 Galatasaray
✅ 5-0 Club Brugge
✅ 1-0 Club Brugge
🟡 2-2 Real Madrid
✅ 5-0 Galatasaray
🔴 1-2 Dortmund
✅ 2-0 Dortmund
✅ 2-1 Atalanta
✅ 3-0 RB Leipzig
Won 8 | Drew 1 | Lost 1
Scored 25 | Conceded 5
Avg Scoreline: 2.5 - 0.5
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If your analysis of Ole's tenure ignores the work he's done off the field for the club's long term health, then you've fundamentally misunderstood his role.
He was DoF, TD & manager combined and now he leaves with a DoF & TD in place - all in 3 years. ⤵️
When Ole took over the fundamental issue with the club was the lack of a footballing project. This is what hampered the managers before him. Two world class managers couldn't flourish because there really is no way for a club to succeed in today's game on a managers talent alone.
The lack of football people handling footballing affairs led to messy recruitment. Different managers came in buying the players that fit their system. That's how it supposed to be. But if the ones at top hire vastly different managers it's easily a recipe for disaster.
Ole always talks about wanting us to get in behind defenses, he wants us to play over the block/press than through it.
I think it's smart bc it's simple, needs just a couple of good executions to work & is as low-risk/high-reward as it can get.
So what's happening? ⤵️
First time I noticed us doing it heavily was vs SHU last season when we tried it multiple times & failed until Rash connected and we scored. It felt like it suddenly clicked and 7 mins later Martial scored from a similar delivery from Pogba.
If you remember United in Ole's first full season and for the beginning of the 2nd season was all about trying to play through the press with intricate foot work and quick one twos.
We all remember those images of 5 of our players on the left wing trying to find an opening.
The sheer pace at which Ole has lifted #mufc from the rut to contention means many see the job he did as easy. He has steered a top to bottom revamp under constant scrutiny with 0 room for error.
Most managers fail if the situation isn't ideal. Ole's the opposite ⤵️
Ole has been our manager for just 2 full seasons now. The squad he took over was bloated and unbalanced. To make matters worse, many of them didn't want to be here and also were on ludicrous contracts.
But the issues at the club didn't stop with the squad alone.
United's famed academy had been neglected. There was no pipeline in place for academy talents to move to the first team.
The club had fallen behind in data analytics and had neglected the sports science department leading to us being the most unfit squad in the league.
I feel what Ole is trying to do is a contemporary take on the old school 4-4-2
The 4-2-3-1 and the 4-4-2 share a lot in common (one can be described as evolved from the other) and I feel Ole wants to mix the best of both at United.
A style I feel can be quite effective ⤵️
Ole describing our style of play:
"Fullbacks pushing high, front 4 interchanging and two in the middle to rotate and maintain tempo".
That doesn't sound like a 4-3-3. That's how a 4-2-3-1 works and it is very reminiscent of how some parts of the 4-4-2 worked too.
A few games don't make a player suddenly good/bad. Fans & esp analysts need to accept form isn't a myth.
And no it isn't just based on performance, it's more mental than technical — everything going on in their lives both on & off the field affects it.
Take any United player, Rash, Shaw, Maguire, Fred, Mason, Martial, Pogba, Lindelof, AWB, Dean, whoever. A good game & suddenly they're great & a bad game and suddenly they're terrible.
Such fluctuations in performance isn't a reflection of their ability but their form.
Ignoring it is in effect ignoring the human aspect and criticising them as if they're robots. None of us wake up everyday feeling the exact same way and none of us can go through everyday with the exact same levels of dedication, energy or enthusiasm.