The inevitable has finally happened: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is out as Manchester United manager. Another humiliating Premier League defeat – this time away to newly promoted Watford – over the weekend was the tipping point for Solskjaer to get the sack as the team’s performances and results continued to trend in a downward trajectory.
While Solskjaer did have his fair share of successes at Old Trafford, he also had his shortcomings, which became crystal clear this season amid the club’s recent run of poor Premier League 2021 results.
Read on below as SBOTOP takes a look back at the highs and lows of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United tenure and try to figure out the overall legacy he leaves behind at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer’s successes
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge of Manchester United in December 2019, taking over as caretaker manager after Jose Mourinho was sacked. The club was in a dark place at the time, with the ‘Special One’ spreading his dark cloud over Old Trafford with his negative tactics and toxic management style.
Instantly, Solskjaer turned things around as he won his first six games in charge. He only tasted defeat for the first time in the Champions League in February as his very un-Mourinho-esque positive personality brought the good vibes back to the club.
Solskjaer ended up winning 14 of his first 19 games in charge to earn himself the permanent job. And for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson left, there seemed like genuinely positive energy surrounding the club, which Solskjaer certainly deserves credit for.
The succeeding seasons did not quite deliver on the promise of those first few months, but they still did reach several cup finals as well as their back-to-back top-four finishes – the first two top-four finishes post-Fergie. Meanwhile, players like Bruno Fernandez, Marcus Rashford, and Luke Shaw – who had a miserable time under Mourinho – found their best form under Solskjaer.
Solskjaer also had an impressive record in the Manchester derby. He is one of few coaches in the world with a winning record over the great Pep Guardiola with 4 wins, 3 draws, and just one defeat in league derbies heading into this season.
Some will scoff at Solskjaer’s ability as a tactical strategist, but he does deserve credit for implementing an effective system. He eventually made Manchester United a strong defensive side that was absolutely deadly on the counterattack.
Under Ole’s guidance, United set a new English top-flight record for the longest unbeaten away run, which ended at 29 games. They also played with the trademark never-say-die mentality that made Ole a true United legend.
Solskjaer’s shortcomings
But while Solskjaer had his strengths in the tactical side of management, it was clear he was not in the top tier of managers – like Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, and Thomas Tuchel – that a club of Manchester United’s stature needed.
Perhaps Solskjaer’s biggest shortcoming was his inability to evolve his system. His United teams consistently struggled against teams that would prevent them space to counterattack.
While Solskjaer’s system worked well against bigger clubs who wanted to play the style that United could exploit, United’s inability to break down lesser teams put a ceiling on their overall potential as a title contender.
That was also a reason why United fell short on multiple occasions in several cup semi-finals and finals under Solskjaer. He lost in four cup semi-finals – two to Man City in the league cup – and when he finally did make a final in the Europa League, he lost to Unai Emery’s Villarreal.
As for this season, United came in with a lot of expectations after big-name signings – Jadon Sancho, Rapahel Varane, and of course, the return of Cristiano Ronaldo – boosted their Premier League 2021 odds. But it quickly ended in disaster.
Solskjaer deserves a bit of sympathy for having Ronaldo – who, for all the goals he can still score, needs a system built to accommodate him – thrust upon him. As Mauricio Pochettino is also finding out with Lionel Messi at PSG, it is not that easy to build an effective system around an ageing superstar even with tons of money to spend.
But Solskjaer’s inability to integrate another big-money signing in Sancho – like Donny van de Beek before him – is a major failure on his part. It again comes back to his lack of tactical imagination, which brought United some success, but not nearly enough for a club of their stature.
Ole’s overall legacy
So after assessing Solskjaer’s successes and shortcomings, the question now is: how will and should his time as Manchester United manager be remembered?
Despite the early promise, it was not a massive success. They won no trophies and did not really look like true Premier League title contenders at any point.
But on the other hand, he did succeed in a sense that he brought a bit of joy and hope back to Old Trafford after the dark days of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, and Mourinho.
And while it’s true that Solskjaer did not lead them to greater heights, it’s not his fault that the inept Manchester United board failed to realise earlier that he had taken United as far as he could and failed to replace him before the bottom completely fell off as it did this season.
So as sour as the end of Solskjaer’s reign turned out, his overall tenure as Man United manager should still be remembered fondly. The United legend still helped deliver some of the sweeter moments in the club’s post-Fergie era, which was so much more than what many expected of him.
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