Players are believed to have lost faith in their boss
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is set to remain in his post as Manchester United manager for their next game against Tottenham on Saturday.
Reports had claimed that following United’s 5-0 home defeat to arch-rivals Liverpool on Sunday, the club’s hierarchy were giving serious consideration to letting him go.
But after two days of meetings and discussions, The Athletic are now reporting that the club will afford the Norwegian the chance to turn things around at Old Trafford, despite growing discontent in the dressing room.
It is claimed that United players are losing faith in Solskjaer’s ability to compete with the elite managers in the Premier League, confused by his tactical instructions – or lack thereof.
The Athletic’s report states that Solskjaer is said to have told his players to press Liverpool high, but players were bemused by the lack of any coordination. In training, the team supposedly do not do any training on this aspect of the game (you can tell), with the strategy being for the closest player to the ball to close it down and everyone else to move accordingly.
This naive approach to a key part of the game was exposed in brutal fashion on Sunday, as demonstrated by these six screenshots.
It is touching to see the board have such faith in a club legend, but the longer he stays in the job, the longer it will tarnish his own legacy. And one senses that while the players have not yet engaged in a full on mutiny, it won’t take too many more results like Sunday’s before the situation gets much more toxic.
