Solskjaer, the legacy left at Old Trafford

“The Baby-Faced Killer”Solskjaerwas a legend at Old Trafford, scoring the dramatic winner against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final. But on his return to Old Trafford as a manager the Norwegian is the fourth United manager to lose his job in the eight years since Ferguson stepped down at the end of the 2012-13 season.

Score a lot, concede a lot

Solskjaer returned to Old Trafford as interim manager in December 2018.

Solskjaer returned to Old Trafford as interim manager in December 2018, replacing Jose Mourinho. United won 91 of 168 games in all competitions under Solskjaer – a better percentage than under David Moyes, Louis van Gaal or Mourinho. However, Van Gaal lifted the FA Cup in 2016 – shortly before he was sacked – and Mourinho led United to a Europa League and EFL Cup double in 2017. It is eight years since Ferguson’s last Premier League title and 13th title, won in 2013, which remains United’s last trophy.

Solskjaer's best result in charge of United in the Premier League was third in 2019-20, before finishing second to Manchester City last season. United missed out on a Europa League title when they lost on penalties to Villarreal in the final. United's win rate under Ole is 54.2%, behind Mourinho's 58.3% but ahead of Moyes (52.9%) and Van Gaal (52.4%).

Apart from the lack of trophies, what made the Glazers decide to sack a manager who is said to have “MU genes”? Firstly, under Solskjaer, United have scored a lot but conceded too many. MU have conceded 183 goals in his 168 matches - an average of 1.09 goals per game. Mourinho's United have conceded just 121 in 144 - an average of 0.84. In the Premier League, only the bottom two teams, Norwich City and Newcastle United, have conceded more goals, and in 12 matches in the league, United have kept just two clean sheets. MU's possession rate in the Premier League this season is only 53.1%, the lowest of the Big Six, surely Ole must be the one to blame, not anyone else.

United's defence is making too many mistakes, with their 11 errors leading to shots on target the worst in the league (along with Arsenal). United have lost possession too often in key areas under Solskjaer. Of all the Premier League teams, only Leicester City have been worse at failing to pass the ball. Ole's coaching ability was heavily criticised after the disastrous 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool in October, and the statistics show that Solskjaer's side are just sitting there and taking it.

Confused about how to use people

Ole Gunnar Solskjær prefers to use a 4-2-3-1 formation. Although playing against Watford, a team that is close to the relegation zone, he still deployed two defensive midfielders, Matic and Mc Tominay, but in the end, they were easily neutralized by coach C. Ranieri. It took only 28 minutes for home team Watford to have J. King's opening goal in the match that they won 4-1.

In the Premier League this season, after 12 matches, Ole Gunnar Solskjær has used 23 players. But coach Ole has struggled to switch from the left wing to the right wing, still trying to find a way for rookie Sancho to be effective, and so far there have been no assists or goals. "Crazy horse" Paul Pogba has had to give up his left midfielder position to play in the center of midfield, and the fact that he has only had 7 assists but has not scored any goals is sometimes not the fault of the French midfielder alone. Although he has been rated 7.14, the highest score in the MU squad (since the beginning of the season), he is still anxious to leave.

The players who are playing impressively are Bruno with 4 goals and 3 assists, Ronaldo with 4 goals, 2 assists and Mason Greenwood with 4 goals. But Ole's fixation on Bruno in the No. 10 position and Ronaldo "nailing" the center forward position has made it easy for opponents to solve the problem. Ole is still struggling to figure out how to polish the rough diamond Mason Greenwood to make it shine brighter. How to use Fred to maximize his effectiveness because this star only shines when playing for the Brazilian team.

Solskjaer likes to use a 4-man defense but he can't find a satisfactory central defender. Center-back H Maguire only plays well for England, while Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof are forever players for small matches only.

Meanwhile, Ole decided to keep D. van de Beek on the bench, only playing for 60 minutes. It is quite ironic that D. van de Beek, who was not trusted by Ole Gunnar Solskjær, scored the only goal in his last match as MU coach. In 45 minutes on the field, the midfielder who fell out of favor under Ole had 36 touches, 4 recoveries, 3 chances created, 2 tackles (2 successful) and 1 goal.

Coach Zidane was hesitant before arriving at Old Trafford.

Ole regretted it but he didn't have time! The fact that not only the Norwegian coach but also famous names like Van Gaal and Mourinho failed made the owner Glazer have to look back at MU's management. This is making coach Zinédine Zidane hesitant before arriving at Old Trafford.