3 things ole Gunner is doing wrong at Manchester United
Manchester United have struggled in recent games under their new permanent manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. What can he do to turn things around?
When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over as caretaker manager back in December, Manchester United were in a dire situation.
Then-manager Jose Mourinho was sackedafter losing 3-1 to rivals Liverpool, leaving his side in 6th place in the Premier League table with top four seemingly out of reach.
No one saw it coming, then, when his replacement was able to turn things round in spectacular fashion, winning his first eight games in charge and bringing United within touching distance of 3rd place.
However, United’s form took a nosedive after their historic turnaround against Paris Saint-Germain, losing three out of their next four games, and now top four once again seems like a difficult prospect for the Red Devils.
So, what is going wrong for Solskjaer at United, you ask? Well, here are three things he needs to change in his managerial approach in order to avoid a disastrous this season…

Underestimating the opposition
After beating PSG 3-1 on their own turf and progressing into the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Solskjaer’s men were understandably on a high.
However, it appears that their heads were still in the clouds when they faced Arsenal – who they were expected to beat but ending up losing 2-0 on the day.
United then went on to lose 2-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers twice in the space of 18 days, the former crashing them out of the FA Cup and the latter seeing them drop to 6th in the Premier League table.
To say that the Red Devils underestimated their opponents in each of these games is an understatement – and Solskjaer should take responsibility.
The Norwegian needs to ensure that his players are going into each game with the right mentality – regardless of whether they’re playing one of the best sides in Europe or one of the worst in the Premier League.
The “New Manager Bounce” period has come and gone. Now it’s time for Solskjaer and his men to knuckle down and focus on getting results.
attacking instructions
This seems like a strange criticism to point out, given just how much the football has improved since Mourinho’s sacking.
Indeed, in his first game in charge as caretaker manager, Solskjaer managed United to a 5-1 victory against Cardiff City – the first time they have scored this many goals in a league game since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson.
The centre-backs began playing out from the back, the midfield dominated against every side they came up against and the forwards were attacking the box from all angles.
However, in recent games, United appear to have regressed back to the uninspired and protective brand of football they played under Mourinho.
This is particularly true in the two games against Wolves, in which the team lacked creativity in midfield, kept knocking the ball forward aimlessly and concentrated too many of their attacks down the left-hand side.
Solskjaer needs to coach Mourinho’s footballing philosophy out of these players once and for all so that they can truly begin playing the United way.
Solskjaer has done well to turn players who had become alienated by Mourinho, such as Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial, into regular starters again.
However, it continues to boggle my mind why our new manager continues to give chances to players who are obviously past it – just as his predecessor had done.
Players like Ashley Young continue to make mistakes week in and week out but are never dropped from the starting XI – even when we have younger and better alternatives in the squad.
Although Solskjaer does deserve credit for dropping Nemanja Matic in favour of Scott McTominay in the second clash against Wolves, he kept Ashley Young in – and United paid the price when the 33-year-old got himself sent off for a second bookable offence.
At least now Solskjaer will be forced to play 19-year-old Diogo Dalot in his natural position in place of Young – and let’s see if United don’t look better with an actual right-back on the pitch.
Should Dalot impress in his next few games, Solskjaer will hopefully begin to trust more young players instead of fielding ones who are clearly past it.
When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over as caretaker manager back in December, Manchester United were in a dire situation.
Then-manager Jose Mourinho was sackedafter losing 3-1 to rivals Liverpool, leaving his side in 6th place in the Premier League table with top four seemingly out of reach.
No one saw it coming, then, when his replacement was able to turn things round in spectacular fashion, winning his first eight games in charge and bringing United within touching distance of 3rd place.
However, United’s form took a nosedive after their historic turnaround against Paris Saint-Germain, losing three out of their next four games, and now top four once again seems like a difficult prospect for the Red Devils.
So, what is going wrong for Solskjaer at United, you ask? Well, here are three things he needs to change in his managerial approach in order to avoid a disastrous this season…

Underestimating the opposition
After beating PSG 3-1 on their own turf and progressing into the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Solskjaer’s men were understandably on a high.
However, it appears that their heads were still in the clouds when they faced Arsenal – who they were expected to beat but ending up losing 2-0 on the day.
United then went on to lose 2-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers twice in the space of 18 days, the former crashing them out of the FA Cup and the latter seeing them drop to 6th in the Premier League table.
To say that the Red Devils underestimated their opponents in each of these games is an understatement – and Solskjaer should take responsibility.
The Norwegian needs to ensure that his players are going into each game with the right mentality – regardless of whether they’re playing one of the best sides in Europe or one of the worst in the Premier League.
The “New Manager Bounce” period has come and gone. Now it’s time for Solskjaer and his men to knuckle down and focus on getting results.
attacking instructions
This seems like a strange criticism to point out, given just how much the football has improved since Mourinho’s sacking.
Indeed, in his first game in charge as caretaker manager, Solskjaer managed United to a 5-1 victory against Cardiff City – the first time they have scored this many goals in a league game since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson.
The centre-backs began playing out from the back, the midfield dominated against every side they came up against and the forwards were attacking the box from all angles.
However, in recent games, United appear to have regressed back to the uninspired and protective brand of football they played under Mourinho.
This is particularly true in the two games against Wolves, in which the team lacked creativity in midfield, kept knocking the ball forward aimlessly and concentrated too many of their attacks down the left-hand side.
Solskjaer needs to coach Mourinho’s footballing philosophy out of these players once and for all so that they can truly begin playing the United way.
giving mediocre players too many chances
Solskjaer has done well to turn players who had become alienated by Mourinho, such as Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial, into regular starters again.
However, it continues to boggle my mind why our new manager continues to give chances to players who are obviously past it – just as his predecessor had done.
Players like Ashley Young continue to make mistakes week in and week out but are never dropped from the starting XI – even when we have younger and better alternatives in the squad.
Although Solskjaer does deserve credit for dropping Nemanja Matic in favour of Scott McTominay in the second clash against Wolves, he kept Ashley Young in – and United paid the price when the 33-year-old got himself sent off for a second bookable offence.
At least now Solskjaer will be forced to play 19-year-old Diogo Dalot in his natural position in place of Young – and let’s see if United don’t look better with an actual right-back on the pitch.
Should Dalot impress in his next few games, Solskjaer will hopefully begin to trust more young players instead of fielding ones who are clearly past it.
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