Chelsea have a superior midfield (even when McTominay is fit), & the perfect striker for playing with 10 men (Lukaku’s incomparable physical athleticism). Yet, they still had just 1 shot at goal & 1 shot blocked vs Liverpool. And also lost 5-2 to West Brom with 10 men in April…
Not to mention, Tuchel has been tactically bested twice by Solskjaer.
Over 20 months post-Bruno signing, Ole has a 60% win-ratio. That’s better than any Utd manager in history. So let’s stop the inferior coach narrative.
Subs made perfect sense last night…
1) AWB sent off. A right-back was needed, & Sancho had really struggled = Dalot
2) Dalot susceptible in a back-4, & Utd box was getting peppered with crosses = extra CB (Varane). VDB legs aren’t great for covering an open midfield. Fred/Pogba more capable & were doing it well…
3 & 4) some pressure was building at 1-1. Ronaldo & Bruno had lots of running with little reward, & are needed for West Ham on Sun. Matic/Lingard successfully stopped the pressure with fresh legs & defensive diligence. Lingard had energy to be an outlet (even if not found)…
5) Martial hold up good. Fred knackered.
Reality is, Utd simply dont have a tempo-dictating CM even when 11v11. They were also missing their strongest CM for 11v10 (McT). But still looked comfortably on course for a good point until a once-in-a-career suicide back-pass…
Had that not happened, I can only imagine the narrative would be a solid away point after playing 60+ mins with 10 men
As far as I saw, bar the 5 min period around the first goal, Utd looked relatively untroubled. While they also could have had a penalty
Just one of those days.
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THREAD: Recently several raised eyebrows about me calling Solskjaer “the saviour”. I have no doubt.
It’s little to do with winning games (something he’s actually done at the 3rd best rate in #MUFC history).
It’s about making sure Manchester Utd remains Manchester Utd. Unique…
Without that identity, the essence of what hooked me on #MUFC is gone. We’d no longer be different
The success of Utd is built on trust, longevity, youth, courage. A homegrown core. Risk & reward. Development. Family. Players who get u on your feet, but work their socks off too.
It’s an identity that’s resounded throughout #MUFC’s history (embellished of course by the Busby Babes & Fergie’s Fledglings). At least, that was the case until the post-SAF years.
LVG sold the likes of Johny Evans, Zaha, & Rafael, & played horrifically boring football...
- a superb value-for-money long-term deal. “Long-term” is key. Utd get a top talent for up to 10+ yrs.
- Caveat is, I wouldn’t expect a superstar from day 1. Sancho is 21, & needs to adapt to a new team.
- Transition quick as knows MCR?
- However, on right relationship with AWB will need developing. AWB improved a lot going forward last season, but room to grow. Timing, movement, cohesion in tandem key to the best Sancho
- Similar story when playing with Greenwood at CF. Cavani style should click straight away.
- While 🏴, the PL is new to Sancho. As a regular commentator on both PL & BL, IMO the PL is a higher standard, more intense, more physical.
The last 2 seasons, I’ve still found Sancho to be inconsistent in 🇩🇪, & with the price tag & #MUFC status, pressure increases hugely…
A QUICK THREAD on #MUFC’s recent failure to win semi-finals, to add vital context to what will no doubt be the media’s latest crusade against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer...
Firstly, it must be acknowledged as an achievement to even get to 4 semi-finals in the first season & a half as permanent manager. Had #MUFC not done that, this narrative wouldn’t be possible. Compare to these records of a couple of recently much-revered managers below...
Klopp took over a side that’d already lost 2 SFs the previous szn. He then failed to win a trophy the first 4 times he reached the semis (losing 3 finals)
In 5+ seasons, he’s reached the SFs or beyond just 5 times
In 5+ szns at Spurs, Poch made 5 semis & failed to win a trophy
Jose: 21.5%
LVG: 25.2%
Moyes: 25.5%
OGS: 32.4%
OGS since Jan: 41.5%
This season: 50%
Win %
LVG: 52.4%
Moyes: 52.9%
OGS: 55.6%
Jose: 58.3%
OGS since Jan: 63.4%
OGS this season: 61.1%
Klopp’s first 3 seasons: 52.3% (best season 57.4%)
Big picture
Solskjaer is rebuilding #MUFC into a sustainable attacking team, while maintaining a win % that surpasses the others. All while removing yrs of deadwood; dealing with Raiola’s disruption; while advancing youth, & reinvigorating the academy. Further results WILL come with maturity
Last season, the average lineup was the youngest in the PL. This season, the 3rd youngest (at 25.6)
SAF always claimed 27-28 age for a title win
Last 9 champions have been 27+
The “can’t win anything with kids” side was still 26.5
#MUFC have made mistakes post-SAF, but behind-the-scenes they've already put them right. Yet, many fans, journalists, & ex-players choose to stick with the narrative that the club is poorly run: analysis hasn't caught up! A THREAD of 10 common misconceptions:
1st a DISCLAIMER: I do not claim to have inside knowledge of the club. Everything detailed below is via available sources & my own observations & analysis
Any figures given are approximate from publicly available reports/websites
Special credit to UWS interview with Ed Woodward
I'll start with the easy ones...
1) OGS isn't a good enough coach
Already outwitted Pep, Jose, Nagelsman, Tuchel, Klopp with variety of tactics; kept an injury-hit sub-par squad in top-4 contention; dispelled 'low-block' criticism with 1 Jan signing; built attacking philosophy.