It was certainly an upset to see Nuno Espirito Santo sacked by Tottenham Hotspur before Ole Gunnar gets let go by Manchester United. You know what you just watched, and it was ugly to say the least. City dominated the Manchester Derby, through and through, with a 2-0 result that simply does not convey just how one-sided the match truly was.
City dominated possession 68%-32%, shots 16-5 and shots on goal 5-1. It all invites the question, why is Solskjaer still here? He should have been sacked a long time ago, and word was he was teetering on the brink after the unsightly blowout defeat to Liverpool.
This is actually the most embarrassing stat I've seen. https://t.co/05yq08pHIh
— Aaron Collins (@shardman1981) November 6, 2021
They absolutely should have pulled the trigger on dismissing him THAT DAY, and even waiting that long was too much. The longer this goes on, a. the more United will fall out of contention for the top four and b. the fewer the number of viable candidates will be remaining.
“You have to have respect for what they have done in the last 10 years or even more so in the last four or five with how dominant they have been in England and in Europe,” Solskjaer said of Manchester City to a press conference on Friday.
“But we are Man United, we are always going to come back. I think we are the No.1 club in Manchester and that also probably means in the world.”
And then what happened? How did that work out?
Pep Guardiola is a genius. He knows thrashing Manchester United will get Ole sacked, so he told his boys to score only two goals to keep Ole in his Job.
Tactical genius.#ManchesterDerby #MUNMCI pic.twitter.com/EMbL6wFhTN
— #AFCON2023WITHNFT (@NaijaFT_tweet) November 6, 2021
Solskjaer abandoned his 3-4-1-2 system recently, to switch to a back three in a 3-5-2 formation. He kept that strategy, with the priority of trying to neutralize City’s attack. The Norwegian is terrible at tactics, substitution strategy and in game management, so why is he still there?
Well, the United board must really like having a yes man in charge, a true nice guy, because there is absolutely no reason to keep Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, given the recent run of abysmal results.
Ed Woodard, the Glazers et al like having someone around who is malleable, just happy to be there, instead of someone who will be outspoken and demanding.
Conte was never going to fit, ever. Maybe it’s good the Italian didn’t come in, because it would have ended disastrously, a la the Jose Mourinho experience. Nice guys finish last, but apparently not at United, where the club brass have and want to keep a guy who will follow his marching orders without question.
Seriously, can you imagine OGS getting really angry? What does that sound like? Does he YELL!!!!??? What kind of disciplinarian is he? And who can they get now that Conte is off the market and Zinedine Zidane is reportedly not interested?
Brendan Rodgers has been linked, but really? Don’t you think they can do better than him? How about Ajax’s Erik Ten Hag? That might be the best option. Or you have Michael Carrick as interim boss for the rest of the season, with an eye on Mauricio Pochettino for next season.
Maybe it won’t work out for Pochettino at Paris-Saint Germain and he’ll be available again soon. United should have gone after him when they had the chance.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.