Under 24 hours after announcing the sacking of Jose Mourinho, Manchester United confirmed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the club’s caretaker manager until the end of the season.
Sunday’s 3-1 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield proved to be Mourinho’s final game in charge. Despite United’s poor start to the season, his dismissal still came as a surprise on Tuesday morning.
Ultimately, however, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. The Liverpool loss was United’s fifth Premier League defeat of the season, seeing them fall 19 points off the top of the table and 11 points behind the final Champions League spot.
The Red Devils will appoint a new full-time manager next summer with Mauricio Pochettino, Zinedine Zidane and Antonio Conte thought to be among the candidates. For now, though, Solskjaer will attempt to leave his mark on the club he once played for.
But who is Solskjaer the manager? And what he will bring to United? Let’s find out.
Who is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer?
If you were born before the turn of the millennium, or if you watched more than handful of football matches in the late 1990s/early 2000s, you will be familiar with Solskjaer.
The Norwegian striker was a key player for United under Sir Alex Ferguson, scoring 126 goals in 366 appearances between 1996-2007, including the winner in the 1999 European Cup final.
Upon his retirement from playing, Solskjaer took up the role as United’s reserve team manager in 2008 before leaving to manage his former club Molde two years later.
Solskjaer won two Norwegian top-flight titles and a Norwegian Cup with Molde before the Premier League came calling again. He was appointed Cardiff City manager in January 2014 but couldn’t save the Bluebirds from relegation.
The 45-year-old was sacked not long into the following season after a poor start to the Championship campaign, and he eventually returned to Molde where he will continue his work in May 2019 after his spell with United.
What is Solskjaer’s management style?
When he was appointed Cardiff boss in January 2014, Solskjaer promised he would bring attacking football to the Welsh club.
“I will try to convince the fans with my hard work, loyalty and my brand of football,” he said, according to BBC Sport. “I’m a very positive manager.”
Things didn’t exactly work out that way, although there were hints of what Solskjaer was getting at.
In his 18 Premier League matches in charge, Cardiff scored just 17 goals. However, they managed to put two past Manchester City at the Etihad and three past Liverpool at home – unfortunately, they lost 4-2 and 6-3 respectively.
Solskjaer tried out a number of formations at Cardiff but he couldn’t seem to find the right one to balance his attack and defence. The team shipped 42 goals in those 18 games as Solskjaer failed to offset a terrible defensive record with enough goals scored.
Therein lies the major issue with Solskjaer’s style. At Molde he appeared to settle on a 4-3-3 formation this year, but a lack of balance has continued to bite him.
Despite winning the Norwegian title in 2011 and 2012, Molde didn’t have the best defensive record in either campaign; they conceded 38 goals in 2011 (joint-fourth best) and 31 goals in 2012 (second best).
In Solskjaer’s first season back at the club in 2016, Molde came fifth and conceded 42 goals, which was the joint-ninth best defensive record in a division of 16 teams. It was also only six fewer goals than they scored.
They came second and conceded 36 league goals in 2018, more than the rest of the top four. If Solskjaer is to push for Champions League qualification with United, he must find a better balance.
How will Man United prosper under Solskjaer?
“Ole is a club legend with huge experience, both on the pitch and in coaching roles,” said United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward after Solskjaer’s appointment, via the club’s official website.
“His history at Manchester United means he lives and breathes the culture here and everyone at the club is delighted to have him and Mike Phelan back. We are confident they will unite the players and the fans as we head into the second half of the season.”
Solskjaer is familiar with the pressures of being a Manchester United player. Not only that, he knows how to thrive under those pressures, and he will be looking to communicate that the current group.
One of Mourinho’ biggest problems this term was his faltering relationships with the players. He called out individuals a number of times, something Solskjaer – in theory – is less likely to do.
In that regard, Paul Pogba will be high on the list of priorities. If Solskjaer sticks with the 4-3-3 formation he has been using at Molde of late, Pogba may be given the sufficient freedom to flourish in a three-man midfield.
Mourinho found it difficult to assign Pogba with a specific role and, for a mix of tactical and personal reasons, ended up leaving the Frenchman out of the side altogether towards the end.
As a result, Solskjaer might be tempted to hand Pogba fewer responsibilities, the aim being to liberate him and allow his natural game to come out more often.
The same goes for the likes of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, who have the potential to be at their best in a fluid 4-3-3, switching flanks and combining with Romelu Lukaku through the middle.
Such fluidity, however, won’t improve United at the back. The personnel at his disposal won’t help Solskjaer to turn around his own and United’s questionable defensive record.
The Red Devils have already conceded more league goals this season (29) than they did in the entirety of the previous campaign (28). There will be question marks over Solskjaer’s capacity to stem the tide.
Are there any concerns from Solskjaer’s time at Cardiff?
As mentioned above, Solskjaer’s inability to successfully balance his attack and defence at both Cardiff and Molde has drawn criticism in the past.
His spell at Cardiff was particularly concerning. The Bluebirds won just three of their 18 league matches under Solskjaer, resulting in relegation to the Championship.
Cardiff supporters weren’t hugely impressed by the Norwegian’s time at the club, as evidenced by the recent analysis of City fan-site View From The Ninian.
“Solskjaer had a track record at Cardiff of signing players that shared the same agent as him, rather than what Cardiff actually needed,” reads the post.
It adds: “The Norwegian spent a lot of money for a club Cardiff’s size and it’s scary to think what Solskjaer could do with a bit of money.”
Click here to see View From The Ninian’s full analysis of Solskjaer’s tactics, recruitment and managerial style.
Whether Solskjaer will be given any funds at all in January remains to be seen. United may want to wait until a new long-term manager is in place to identify targets.
For now, it is up to Solskjaer to improve himself as a coach and United as a team to keep the club steady in the interim.
The post What should Man Utd fans expect from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the pitch? appeared first on Squawka News.
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