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Circus ManUnitus - Erik's At The Wheel

Watching them at the weekend the odd one out was Lukaku, everyone else playing with pace and he was just slowing it all down badly, looked terrible.
Solskjær has recognised this already and is using him as second string, whereas Mourinho built his team around him!

In the end it felt like mourinho was trying to get sacked but what did they expect when they signed him? No doubt he wins trophies but he plays Pulis ball, with short term attitudes to signings, is devoid of basic PR sense and falls out with players. For me it was the final sign that the club as the ‘institution’ they had become under Fergie was no different to in their approach to Chelsea.

The only thing I’m disappointed about with Solskjaer getting them back to basics is I always harbored hopes that Mourinho’s chronic misuse of Rashford and Martial might have given us the opportunity to sign one of them.
 
[QUOTE="MKSpur, post: 1153496, member: 96"

The only thing I’m disappointed about with Solskjaer getting them back to basics is I always harbored hopes that Mourinho’s chronic misuse of Rashford and Martial might have given us the opportunity to sign one of them.[/QUOTE]

Can you believe the were people on here who did not want us to sign Martial, can not remembers the posters names but the were a couple who said he was not good enough. Not sure we ever could have afforded him, but he is the type of player we need, clearly top draw but not for what ever reason getting used by his club. Now looks back to being one of the best in Europe again, damn.

Guess Isco is the one now, but honestly do not watch him enough just heard Poch say a couple of nice things about him.
 
tl;dr: Having followed Solskjær's managerial carreer since he started out at Molde, I think he has potential, but getting the Man United job now could be too much too soon.

Long version:

Since Molde is the local team where I grew up, and I still follow them during the Norwegian football season, I have followed Solskjær's work in management quite closely over the years. I think he is better suited for a job with a club trying to qualify for the Champions League and at some point challenge for major trophies, than being involved in a relegation battle. He should absolutely not get a transfer kitty, he is dependent on having a sports director of some sort handling scouting and transfers to avoid him forking out cash on mediocre players whom he thinks he kan polish into solid gold. However, he is good at developing talented players, he is just not that good at spotting how talented a player actually is before he has worked with them for a while.

Norwegian football is still very much influenced by the ideas of Egil Olsen after his successes with the Norwegian national side in the nineties. That means a lot of teams which are fairly good defensive units trying to play counter attacking football. Molde under Solskjær has tried to be more possession oriented and it has been obivious that he has moulded the team after Alex Ferguson's style of football at Manchester United.

At Molde he won the league in his first season (2011) and repeated that feat in 2012. He got off to a slow start, losing to a newly promoted team in the first game, but got on better throughout the season. Still, it was a bit underwhelming as nobody seemed to want to win the league that year and Molde benefitted from Rosenborg going through a difficult transition year after the Swedish national team poached their coach the previous season. However, they won the league again in 2012 in far more convicing style.

2013 started disastrously, after the successes of the previous two season meant that several key players left to pursue opportunities in more prestigious footballing nations. The replacements were not as good as Solskjær thought they were, but a spending spree mid season (in the summer transfer window, Norwegian football ran from March to November in those days (now March - December (brrr))) reinforced the team to finish above mid table and winning the cup final. For some reason Cardiff City thought this made him their goto guy to avoid relegation. The decision to buy a bunch of Norwegian sub par players (all represented by Solskjær's agent friend and business partner Jim Solbakken) was disastrous. Adding Kenwyne Jones to the squad was probably not necessarily wrong, but the other incoming transfers were not fit for a relegation battle.

After being sacked by Cardiff in the autumn of 2014, he took a one year hiatus before rejoining Molde. Molde sacked his successor in the summer of 2015, after he had taken them to their first double in 2014. Apparently, he turned in to an idiot six months later. He then started building a new team, which should have won the league last year, but for every game where they played brilliantly, there was a lacklustre performance and needless points dropped, often against sub par opposition.

As many have said, he has done a very good job of being Not Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford. He has also had some well worked gameplans (first half against Spurs comes to mind), and he has also been found out and seemed not to have the tactical nous to pull a counter move out of his sleeve (second half against Spurs). However, he is learning as he goes, he is a clever guy, and he might be a good fit for the United job. As a player, he was always up for it when he got the chance at a higher level, and I think he could very well grow into the role of manager at Old Trafford. But it all depends on the club setting up the right structure around and above him. Whether they can do that, remains to be seen.
 
Watching them at the weekend the odd one out was Lukaku, everyone else playing with pace and he was just slowing it all down badly, looked terrible.

He looks like he has strapped a lot of weight on as well. Never been a fan of his he has the first touch of a elephant.
 
Watching them at the weekend the odd one out was Lukaku, everyone else playing with pace and he was just slowing it all down badly, looked terrible.

Was never actually that good though, was he?

No real finesse, or skill, or class. More a flat track bully who will use his frame to bulldoze a goal in.

In terms of Utd, probably a good player to have when you are playing fodder to rest your quality players for the CL game midweek....

And as a late sub in the "bull in a china shop" vein.

Never a first 11 player though.


EDIT: It still offends me how, when he went to Utd, the pre season narrative was all "Kane or Lukaku, who is better?!"

As if its even a conversation worth having!
 
Well he seemed to have alot about him at Everton and Martinez seems to tap into him as a player but he was the main man there. He does not fit the Man United structure at all. Rashford will be the main man there now in my opinion
 
Everton were a lower level team set up to suit him.

He plays well on the counter, and as I said is a flat track bully. Put him on against anyone in the bottom half and he'll score.

Not much more to him, IMO. A big, powerful lump that will blast goals with his physicality. Not that refined, intelligent or skillfull - not to the level that makes a difference at a top end team.
 
Neymar would throw a hissy fit if he had to play alongside him.

Whether or not the French league is particularly strong, they aspire to be an elite CL winning level club.

Lukaku is not a player for that level.

As a squad unit used to bully the weak domestic teams he could do a job, but he wouldnt be alongside MBappe, Neymar and co in the proper games.
 
Neymar would throw a hissy fit if he had to play alongside him.

Whether or not the French league is particularly strong, they aspire to be an elite CL winning level club.

Lukaku is not a player for that level.

As a squad unit used to bully the weak domestic teams he could do a job, but he wouldnt be alongside MBappe, Neymar and co in the proper games.

he would have the issues he has now, the pace of the game would pass him by and whenhe got the ball he would slow it down
 
Neymar would throw a hissy fit if he had to play alongside him.

He will throw one whoever he plays with or against.

I think PSG will be interesting tonight.
My money is on United tonight by 2 clear. No Cavani or man baby!
PSG are strangely unhinged when it comes to the main reason for their formation, the Champions League. City are little better.
 
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I think if there was any justice all the games United played before he took over should be void and points awarded to them on the same ratio they have been getting a game since his appointment.
 
He will throw one whoever he plays with or against.

I think PSG will be interesting tonight.
My money is on United tonight by 2 clear. No Cavani or man baby!
PSG are strangely unhinged when it comes to the main reason for their formation, the Champions League. City are little better.

They still have a lot of experience and quality even without those two.

Buffon, Silva, Marquinhos, Veratti, Di Maria, MBappe, Draxler, Alves...

They should have a very good team to take to OT regardless.
 
Ill take Veratti and MBab you can have the rest.
Buffon is my goalkeeping GHod mind, but a little too old sadly now imo

Don't forget they could be up against the might of Phil 'the power' Jones:D
 
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