Match Day Thread Manchester United v Villareal - EL Final

It would be easy for me to come on here and gloat (which is what Diego does all the time on the LFC board) but I'll try and show some class ...

I have long maintained that Ole is the problem. He is a glorified PE coach who has no clue how to coach a team. Tactically, he is massively out of his depth.

You have some fantastic talent in your squad, and this may not be Ole's fault but your transfer policy is awful. It's like you're only interested in signing the flavour of the month regardless of whether or not he suits your style. You spent £80m on Maguire and £50m on AWB - both are decent players but for that amount, they should be having a far bigger impact on your defence (not to mention the spend on Bailly and Lindelof).

There are a lot of parallels with LFC pre Klopp - a LOT of money was spent but it was mostly on dross and we signed players who conflicted with one another (in terms of playing style) and with how the team were set up. We signed Suarez and Carroll in one summer! And we signed Downing to cross into Carroll but we hardly crossed! Thankfully, Klopp came in and worked with the recruitment team and we started to nail it. Leicester are actually doing something similar as well.

 

Yeh well I'm here to gloat

Ole at the wheeeeeel

 

Seriously tho.

You missed maguire big time. Bang average as he is, he's an organiser at the back and one of the few leaders you have.

Oles lack of subs and starting with all four attackers, left no room to have an impact sub late on. and that imo is why he left it so late to make any subs at all. Cos he didn't fancy anyone off the bench to change the game. Cavani or Rashford coming off the bench late may have made a difference. He gave himself no option for that with his starting line up.

You didn't play well enough, 2 shots all game speaks volumes about how when Fernandes ain't at it, you suffer all over the pitch.

Pogba. Another massive game he goes missing for.

Rashford, tried but again was ineffective.

Pens are pens, lottery time, but really with the squad you have. You should be beating these lot in 90mins.

K bye

 

Shame it wasn't Bruno that missed the decisive penalty but you lost, that's all that matters

Seriously though, you've got rid of Woodward (no idea who replaced him but can't be worse, surely?), now you need a manager that knows what he's doing. Ole is completely out his depth, he's no idea what to do to get the best out of the players.

A new manager and CEO might actually sort your recruitment out too.

 

The impact Maguire has on our defence was there for all to see in his absence yesterday.

They scored from their one chance and I doubt it would have happened if he was there.

This idea he's 'bang average' is nonsense, but he needs a partner who is up to scratch.

 

Glad you said that mate.


We never got any such understanding all season from your lot or anyone else with our 2cbs missing like.

But evidently a team without thier leading cb suffers, or now it does at least

 

7 months of tears and counting.

 

Did you really come all the way over to the utd board just for that.

What burns well with shell Ern?

 

I came to laugh at them, but saw your tears instead.

 

Tears lol christ bro.

 

you've been crying about VVD ever since Pickford tackled him.

 

Listen guise I'm sorry for bringing over my fanbase but that was not my intention.

Yeh you said mate.

Anything new to add or you just here chatting to me? cos we can do that on the prem board instead of giving the utd one more pages.

 

There are no tears. Frustrations? YES! Villareal wanted it more yesterday and as an underdog to limit us to 2 shots on target, they absolutely deserved it.

The writing was on the wall for us all season and the result is not shocking for most. It is now clear that Ole is not the right man to take United forward, even for those that have vigourously defended him. Yes, he has done well with creating better environment versus the negatives of Jose Mourinho. But someone needs to come in now and turn this environment into a winning team. Ole ain't the one for that chapter.

So, no tears at all... But hope that the club is strong enough to make the right call now than ever before.

 

I found one remark in Ole's post-match interview quite telling. "We didn't get into their box with enough pace".

And he's said that before.

Because it's happened a number of times last season against EXACTLY the set up Villareal adopted. Well organised defences which allow United to play in front of them.

So if Ole truly believes in this then why hasn't he done anything about it? Imo it comes back to the same thing - poor coaching and poor tactics which prevent any meaningful transition from defence through midfield and into attack.

That game was lost because Villareal allowed us as much territory as they wanted to give, they allowed us to play in front of them, narrowed the lines and we simply couldn't break them down.

Everything goes through Shaw, but against Villareal he was nullified by an excellent Foyth.

If we want to be consistent and win things, then we have to be able play expansive pass and move football through the middle, through the right side, not just the left. We have to stop moving the ball to the half-way line then passing it back to the centre-backs, then Wan Bissaka, then back to the centre backs then to Shaw. With no purpose to it, not even to draw out the opposition. It's just clueless. We have to be able to pass and move the ball through the middle to some extent ffs. And that requires better coaching and better tactics.

I'm still not sure Ole is the man to do it. Big managers make the big decisions and every time he's been tested on that, he's been found wanting.

I think one positive under Ole has been recruitment. The focus on buying quality and what the team needs rather than just focusing on big names has been largely successful, BUT what's more important is how he's focused as much on bringing through young players - Williams, Greenwood, in the last 2 seasons McTominay has become established in the first team, then Tuanzebe and more recently Elanga has been given a chance. It's a good balance of home-grown and player purchases.

 

Nice reflective post, Treble.

With regards to the positive under Ole in area of recruitment, I would categorize that as a key function of a good resourceful manager and such trait must be to an end - which is to exceed expectations and ultimately create a clear winning strategy. If expectations cannot be met, it is frankly pointless having the best recruitment and still left wanting when it comes to game management to get results, especially when most necessary. It is not a fluke that we have lost more semi-finals in recent history and now add a final to it.

It is therefore conclusive for me that Ole is not the man to take the club the next level. United needs to bring in someone to continue to build on what Ole has started. We don't need a full complete throw away and that needs to be made clear to the next man in charge.

Having said that, I am certain that Ole will be the manager next year because Manchester United has become the ultimate club for decision paralysis. I'm sure if we bring in stronger players, they can do a lot of the team talks to support Fernandez while Ole remains calm, cool and collected.