One last thread on Ole:

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.

Thread:

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.

Thread:

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.

Ole played a similar 4-2-3-1 at Molde too. He loves a free roaming focal point 10 who can lock up the opponent's 6 — that's his style.

This team has been training to play his 4-2-3-1 for 2 years & he won't & shouldn't change it.

But to me there's ONE more reason to it ⤵️

https://twitter.com/utdarena/status/1393498386591064071

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 ⤵️

Thread:

Form vs Ability

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.

Thread

#mufc workload vs rotation

51 games
— avg 2.5 day gap/game
— avg 4.7 rotation/game

gap/game
2 day gap — 26/51 games
3 day gap — 16/51 games
4 day gap — 5/51 games

rotation/game
2 day gap games: 5.1 rotations
3 day gap games: 4.9 rotations
4 day gap games: 3.2 rotations We've not yet had a single game where we had more than a 4 day gap while more than half our games had just a 2 day gap.

82% of our games had max 3 day gap.

We'll have a 6 day gap between games for the first time this season after the game on Sunday vs Burnley — well deserved.

Thread:

Big Club Management

One aspect of Ole that is highly underappreciated is just how well he's been able to handle being at the helm of one of the biggest football clubs in history. Many don't realise just how rare & valuable this is.

Let me explain ⤵️ At a big club, what you need most is the ability to manage politics, bureaucracy, redtape & pressure so the players can focus on just playing football.

Many 'tactically astute' managers from smaller clubs fail at a bigger club bc they can't handle this — Ole has excelled in it.

I dont expect any journo to say #mufc are right to back Ole. That doesnt sell clicks. But I do expect them to atleast not drag his name into every single sacking conversation simply bc their lack of research backs that notion.

But that isnt half of whats wrong with this piece ⤵️

https://twitter.com/MC_of_A/status/1345803467345055746

This article came out a few mins after Chelsea lost meaning it was prewritten except for a few paras. Classic case of pre-conceived notions being treated as facts on the back of a correlative result.

Also Ole is mentioned only on twitter not once in the article. Very clickbaity.

Threads:

Over the last one year of running this account, I've primarily focused on writing threads about the long term aspects of Ole's process — squad building, philosophies, squad introductions etc.

This thread will be a collection of some of my favorites. Hope you enjoy. ⤵️ 1. Ole's Squad Building

An in-depth look at the process behind Ole's rebuilding in his first full season in charge of #mufc & how meticulous and well planned it was:

https://twitter.com/SensibleUtd/status/1288088145573994497

Arsenal is still a massive club & it too big a jump too soon for Arteta. He's talented but to manage Arsenal, you need experience. His entire career is 3 yrs as an asst. Arsenal isn't where you learn management 101. The PR designed to give him confidence backfiring doesnt help.

https://twitter.com/VonMistelroom/status/1335845809410236416

The blame should fall as much on Arsenal as anyone else. They trusted him, built a narrative around him that they've found the next Pep, placed insane expectations on him to reinvent football and with no experience of handling such pressure, he's now understandably panicking.

Thread:

*A Case in Congestion*

The current season is by far the shortest in a long while at just 246* days, but the number of games remain relatively the same.

But just how congested is this season as compared to a regular season? And how is it affecting us?

Let's dive in: 👇 This is a long read where we'll dicuss

1. Comparing this season to previous seasons
— by season's total length
— by no of rest days between games
— by gap between seasons

2. How it's affecting players

3. How #mufc are combating it

4. Final thoughts

Let's go!

No of changes #mufc make to the starting XI from game to game:

2. Luton — 10
3. Brighton — 9
4. Brighton — 10
5. Tottenham — 10
6. Newcastle — 5
7. PSG — 3
8. Chelsea — 3
9. RB Leipzig — 5
10. Arsenal — 3
11. Istanbul — 5
12. Everton — 4

Congested season ➡️ lots of rotations Diving deeper:

1st 5 games ➡️ heavy rotations

United were basically playing a new 11 back to back for the 1st 5 games, they we're treating it as the pre-season that they missed

From then on thanks to the tight schedule United have continued to make an avg of 4 rotations a game

Thread:

#mufc's squad has 2 primary issues that need solving

1. Midfield Balance
2. Depth vs Balance

Let's take a look at each:

Before I start — this is NOT an 'excuse'

1. Mufc ARE unbalanced
2. Mufc should STILL have won yday

BOTH of these can & is true

Now let's dive in: 1. Midfield Balance

A balanced midfield should:

- dictate play
- maintain tempo
- hold def shape
- press/counter press
- create
+ Lot more

Our options

Pogba, Bruno, VDB, Matic, Fred, McT

No 3 man combo from this can do all of that
Only a 4 man mid can but 💎 has flaws (FBs)

Mini Thread:

Situation

- no RW in squad
- #9 banned for 3 PL games

Solutions

1. Play makeshift RW + lone ST
2. Play system(s) not needing either

Response: Utd used both

Solution 1: vs Castle
Solution 2: vs Chelsea (3412) & Arsenal (💎)

Result: 1W, 1D, 1L

Let me explain: This is NOT an excuse
I'm not even saying this is exactly why we lost

So what exactly am I trying to say here then?

This is a litle excercise that I do that helps me *make sense* of bad results — let me explain further

Thread:

*The Pogba Reintroduction*

Ole admitted he was wrong to start Pogba early on in the season as he had misjudged his recovery from covid.

But ever since realising his mistake, the way he's handled Pogba's Reintroduction has been spot on.

Let's take a look 👇 Background:

- Pogba tested +ve on Aug 27th
- ManUtd played their first game on Sept 19th
- Pogba had just 3 weeks to recover
- Pogba had barely 2 days of training

But Ole felt he needed to start Pogba as he was his best player - he was wrong.

Thread:

*The Donny van de Beek Non-Issue*

Over the last few weeks, the constant chatter has been VDB's playing time.

United have played 8 games so far and Donny has featured in 7. Only Rashford has featured in more.

Either way let's dive in & tackle this non-issue👇 One of United's biggest issue last season was the lack of creativity on the bench. Ole was criticized for not making substitutions when the game wasn't going our way.

Against Seville in the EL Semi's we didn't make a sub until the 87th min - clear sign Ole didn't trust his bench

So wait, it's ok to play VDB out of position just to start him but when Pogba has to drop a little deep Ole is a clown playing him out of position?

So you do know players need to play in their best position but only as long as you can use it to criticize the manager?

Got it. Even funnier now that Pogba is getting to play further up no one is complaining. But why is he getting to play further up? Bcs he's used as an impact sub against tired legs meaning he has less defensive workload

Almost as if the manager knows how when & where to play his players

Thread:

Ole's been our manager for 1.5 seasons and 3 windows now. Ideally he should now be getting his 8-10th signing and the rebuild should be on its last stretch.

But the mess he took over was so huge that 3 windows in, he still has 7-8 unwanted players left to clear out. Fans need to realise the sheer magnitude of the rebuild he took over. The solution was never going to be just buying players who he wants and likes.

Before he gets to do that, first he has to clear out the ones not needed and we had quite a few of them.

Catching the game only now:

7 mins in & we've gifted a goal

Frame 1:
- narrow + tight back 4
- Fosu pulled in by Ayew
- Space opens - Shlupp runs

Frame 2:
- Lindelof tries to delay cross
- Maguire + Shaw too slow to react/get back

But I'm guesssing Lindelof got all the blame? Utd want to play short simple passes so we stay narrow - but should be wider in defense?

Seeing Rashford tucking in might have promted Shaw to stay narrow

Fosu getting dragged in didn't help, neither did Maguire & Shaw taking too long to realise the severity of the threat

LFC's attacking FB's convinced everyone there's no other way to play. They do that bcs their mid isn't creative. City has a creative mid so the FB's tuck in & recycle.

Utd hve inside fwd on wings
They cut in - FB's overlap
They stay wide - FB's tuck in

Need all round FBs (Shaw)

https://twitter.com/UtdApollo/status/1302231604450996225

To add on:

United have great creativity in mid & superb attackers up front. There is a reason why we play fewer lobbed crosses than anyone else. Our game plan isn't to stretch play wide & cross from the byline. Ours is to compress space & progress vertically with quick one twos.

#MUFC

Pic 1: Last season's most used XI
Pic 2: Last season's best XI
Pic 3: Next season's possible 2nd XI

Our 2nd XI next season (w/o DDG, Rash, PP, Bruno, Linda, AWB, Matic) looks as good/better than our most used XI from last season.

Promoting Youth + Shrewd Buys = Progress This is one reason why I urge fans to trust the process. A rebuild is a series of mostly incremental changes with sporadic massive changes.

The team we started last season with & the one we ended with are totally different although we bought just 1 new first team player.