Manchester United have ended up in a position where they have no choice but to sack Ole Gunnar Solskajer. It has been a long time coming and not just because United last won a game of football in the Premier League on the 19th of September. Indeed, anyone who has watched Solskjaer’s team over the last year would have seen that the Norwegian has obvious limitations when it comes to tactics and that any success that he has enjoyed has largely been down to the embarrassment of riches at his disposal.
Astonishingly, Solskjaer has spent £441 million since taking over at Old Trafford in late March 2019 and is yet to win a trophy. Regrettably, for the United faithful, that doesn’t look like changing either when you examine the latest Premier League betting and see the Red Devils priced as high as 129/1 to claim their first league title since 2013. You could even go as far as saying that Manchester United currently look incapable of winning any trophy with Solskjaer at the helm, hence as touched on briefly, why the club has precious few options about the way forward.
🗣 "Me personally, I think it's untenable."
Speaking on Early Kick-Off, broadcaster Flex from the United View says he does not think Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can turn things around at Old Trafford ❌ pic.twitter.com/xfUNgL5Fbh
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 26, 2021
One must also keep in mind that the Norwegian didn’t get to Carrington on his first day of training and find a threadbare squad. On the contrary, the United playing squad would have already cost in the region of a billion pounds by the time he gave his first team talk. Indeed, whichever way you look at it, you only end up with one conclusion and that is that the 48-year-old has to go.
But then here comes the really unfortunate news for Manchester United fans and that is when Solskjaer does inevitably go, it won’t serve as a silver bullet to the club’s problem of winning silverware given the limited options out there available to replace him. Perhaps you could even phrase that differently by saying the managerial options on offer to United aren’t as limited as they are lacking X factor. In other words, there isn’t a candidate out there that is capable of outsmarting Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola.
For those at home screaming the name Antonie Conte at their laptop screen, yes, the Italian has won the Premier League with Chelsea and the Serie A with Inter Milan most recently, but one shouldn’t forget that the Italian didn’t last longer than two years at either club.
Conte can work his magic in the short term but invariably he succumbs to the internal politics of a club and off he goes. Now when you consider that Manchester United are desperate to install a manager in the Old Trafford dugout that will be there for many seasons to come, you can’t see them turning to the mercurial Italian.
The truth is that there really isn’t anyone out there capable of building a team that will finish above Liverpool and current Premier League champions Man City, and this is why the tough times are ultimately set to last at Old Trafford.
The real mistake was made years ago by turning to David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, and Jose Mourinho when Guardiola and Klopp were yet to arrive in the Premier League. They may have been safe choices but their football philosophies – with Van Gaal and Mourinho being especially guilty of this – were no longer advanced enough to compete in football’s modern age.
"Go and do that against Liverpool on Sunday, see what happens."
Paul Scholes predicted this may happen today 🔮pic.twitter.com/Dzt9FEC67v
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 24, 2021
The clouds over Old Trafford will only really begin to break when Guardiola and Klopp exit the Premier League stage and their respective clubs go into the transition phase that brings about inconsistency as they get used to life without them. That may present Manchester United with a gap in the clouds and a chance to gain a strong foothold on the summit of the league again but until then, the club will continue to stumble around in the dark.
