The complications at Manchester United were not solved by sacking Jose Mourinho, despite getting a great respond from both fans and players when appointing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in a caretaker capacity.
For people with a careful eye you have to see behind results and act on reality instead of being “blinded” by pundits selling an idea week in and week out, making their program or news more popular with more clicks than the other.
The real fact was that Jose Mourinho had in his short period won the League Cup, Europa League, The Community Shield and ended runners up in the FA Cup. He also managed to end 2nd in the Premier League in the previous season.
The results away to Juventus and the home win against Fulham at Old Trafford was never given any applauds and in real it was just a cruel campaign to get a brilliant manager, probably one of the best, out and get in something new more exciting, since Jose Mourinho wins you trophies but seldom with a big smile and funny stories.
Ed Woodward went for Jose Mourinho when he wanted to reestablish the winning mentality which was there all the time. A bit of a “tug of war” with Paul Pogba and his “staff” was not well taken by the fans and instead of supporting a manager winning you titles and giving you Champions League football, they wanted a romantic love affair with a previous great and they got him, the sunshine boy, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Despite not seeing behind results, and what really was going on, people started to believe in “fantasy” with a man that got a splended start, throwing Norwegian chocolate around and making everyone happy. Who wouldn’t be happy to see “Sunny” back at Old Trafford, all of them, those people that worked at the club, must have been very satisfied, but that had nothing to do with football, traning methods and transfer dealings.
Paul Pogba had a bad run just before Ole Gunnar Soslkjaer came in, managed to get a grip on a new role and shined a bit in the start, getting good support from Herrera and Matic in midfield, but without the two servants he never really managed to fulfill his potential and that has little to do with Solskjaer and Mourinho, it’s just the type of player Paul Pogba is, to get his freedom he needs to be served by battling players behind him.
Simple stuff, not any magic behind this. When Pogba played for France he had a battling N’Gole Kantè working his socks off to give him space and freedom to act on those terms that is given, and that makes Pogba special.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did pick a great team against Cardiff City and he balanced it well, but with injuries, lack of form, fatigue and too many games in a short period of time you will all sorts of challenges that will be difficult to handle as we all could see towards the end of the season.
The fact that Man Utd ended exactly at the same place as they were in the PL when Jose Mourinho was sacked and almost with the same results, it tells a story of a team of players not better than the position they were in and that is really the truth, so why sack Jose, and just give a damn about continuity.
Solskjaer is not brought in because of his previous life as a manager, or on a list of merits, and just being a boss in a caretaker capacity that can lift spirit. Why you appoint him full time and not look behind what is really going on, is a big riddle.
When appointing a manager at the largest clubs in the world, you should not act on impulse or just look at the last game played, you have to put a deeper thought into it, it looks strange to see how Manchester United can gamble with their future and make this appointment.
With the fixture list, the fact that Man Utd are now looking as a club entering an experimental face and working for a goal that was there just a year ago, being 2nd in the league. A huge gap from a season to another has no real impact, with Leicester City winning the Premier League with 10 points and the next being part of a relegation fight.
The Paul Pogba affair is a bit like what was going on almost 50 year ago with George Best. Pogba i tired of Man Utd and Best was tired of football, hanging up his boots and lots of problems at the club at the time with managers changing and little or no continuity after Sir Matt Busby left as manager.
The big star faults and some of the best players are coming to a certain age and will not get better. Sir Bobby Charlton and Denis Law were still around, but they were not able to keep things flowing as it used to and you see the pattern.
The chance of Manchester United dropping into a mid table position or even being part of a relegation fight looks almost impossible, but with the form shown in the last month we might have to worry for the future.
The grim truth is that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not attracting the right sort of players, doesn’t have the contacts at the shelf he is at, and the players available are either too expensive or not interested in a move.
Big stars such as Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba all have a desire to leave, and even Marcus Rashford is linked with a move away from Manchester United, seen as a possible target for Barcelona.
The long and known interest for Harry Maguire was pulled of last summer when the England international signed a new and improved deal at Leicester City, and being given a price tag of £90million, you surely would think twice before you make an approach.
Manchester United is a club on the move, somewhere and up a hill, but surely that run will not be finished by the end of this season coming up. The real trut might be that Manchester United fans are living in the past, thinking of those great years of Sir Alex Ferguson, getting a sniff of it by seeing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer again and celebrating in their own little fantasy World were they like to be, wake up now, or you could end up like Leeds United did after Don Revie left.
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