Assessing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer After 100 Games in Charge of Man Utd
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer managed his 100th game as Manchester United boss over the weekend, marking the occasion with a sorry 1-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal.
That century has passed remarkably fast because it still feels like only yesterday he was being touted as an interim replacement for a sacked Jose Mourinho – which is just seven weeks shy of two years ago!
Solskjaer has divided opinion ever since day one, with each step forward and setback not enough to change that.
Tactics
Sometimes, Solskjaer seems to get his tactics spot on, particularly for big games. Look no further for a recent example of that than the 4-4-2 diamond he employed against RB Leipzig in the Champions League, directly contributing to the 5-0 result.
A week earlier in the same competition, he opted for a back-three flanked by wing-backs against PSG to offer better defensive protection against two of the best forwards in the world.
But there are other times when his team looks devoid of ideas, usually when they are fancied to win. The players must take some responsibility, yet the manager has to be the one to do something different when things clearly are not working.
That isn’t all Solskjaer’s fault given the failing of the recruitment department, although an elite manager should get more from a team than the sum of its collective parts. We can probably all agree at this point that Solskjaer, while not a bad manager, definitely isn’t an elite one.
Grade: C+
Man Management
It is clear that Solskjaer is a popular figure among United players, certainly compared to predecessor Mourinho. But is being popular alone really enough to get the best out of a group of players who often end up punching below their weight?
In the end, he handled the loss of David de Gea’s form well by convincing Dean Henderson to occupy a number two position and provide stiff competition. That is despite initially seeming like he wanted to bury his head in the sand and hope things would sort themselves out.
Standing by Harry Maguire in light of his loss of form and troubling ordeal in Greece also seems to have been the right path and the United skipper has improved after a dreadful start to the season.
His handling of Mason Greenwood, more on which to come, is another tick in his favour.
There has to be more, though. Solskjaer was an attacking player whose intelligence and awareness helped him achieve more than his talent might otherwise have allowed him to. He has more talented players than himself in the squad, yet doesn’t get enough out of them consistently.
Grade: B-
Aura
As much as he might be inspired by his mentor, Solskjaer is hardly a mini-Ferguson. He might not necessarily wish to be seen as fearsome, but he equally doesn’t carry the same aura or presence as contemporaries like Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp or Jose Mourinho.
You’d like to be his friend, but he doesn’t have the same presence as the really successful coaches.
Grade: E
Press Conferences
Solskjaer’s press conference routine is ‘Mr Nice Guy’. He isn’t controversial, never upsets anybody and is often smiling, laughing and joking.
That is fine, but you’d expect more prickliness from a manager destined for trophies at the elite level. Sir Alex Ferguson was notoriously challenging to deal with – long-time ITV reporter Gabriel Clarke recently told 90min there was an expectation you would never dare waste Fergie’s time – while the likes of Guardiola, Klopp and Mourinho, as mentioned, just have more about them.
It has been refreshing more recently to see Solskjaer take a firm stand against the media angles against Brandon Williams and, more aggressively, Mason Greenwood. The Norwegian has been quick to shoot down wrongful information being spread by the media about his young talents.
Grade: D+
Results
Results, above else, count most. But as with everything else in Solskjaer’s managerial reign at Old Trafford they have been decidedly mixed – massive highs and major lows.
It is difficult to argue with a top three finish last season – United’s second highest in the Premier League since 2013 – as well as three cup semi-finals. But a disastrous end to 2018/19 and a poor start to 2020/21 sadly take away from that.
The positives include three wins over Manchester City and Chelsea each last season, two Champions League wins against Paris Saint-Germain at Parc des Princes, the first team to take points off Liverpool last season, the first team in Premier League history to win four consecutive games by at least three goals, a 5-0 thrashing of RB Leipzig, four of United’s biggest wins in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era in 2020 alone and a 13-game unbeaten run to finish 2019/20.
The lows are just as plentiful – three wins in the opening 11 Premier League games last season, a 4-0 defeat to Everton in April 2019, one point from two games against Cardiff and Huddersfield to finish 2018/19, defeats to Bournemouth, Watford, Burnley and West Ham, home defeats to Crystal Palace in consecutive seasons, the 6-1 mauling by Spurs and two wins from six to start 2020/21.
Solskjaer’s United will disappoint you one week and surprise you the next.
Grade: C
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