A love letter to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

The walk off the field after being sent off is the loneliest walk any footballer can do.

Some make this walk of shame completely stupefied, not knowing what earthly justification the referee had to expel them. Some storms in protest. Some players simply refuse to leave the field. Some lashed out at their teammates, the opposition, or on a cold January night in Selhurst Park in 1995, one player even lashed out at a fanatic (but that’s not the point). Being sent is a mixed bag; If you are a visitor, you will surely face an avalanche of abuse and laughter, if they send you home, shame and shame. Even more so if you are a Manchester United player sent off at Old Trafford.

United has a fun recent history with the red card. Some of my most vivid memories as a fan involve players being fired at an inappropriate time. Twice in the last decade I was absolutely fuming a United player being sent off. Paul Scholes vs. Manchester City in the FA Cup 2011 semi-final, and Nani’s infamous red card issued by referee Cuneyt Cakir (yes, I remember his name) that ended United’s bid for a fourth European Cup in the last Sir Alex Ferguson’s season. But with all the bad, the red card is the most powerful schadenfreude container in football. I am legally obligated to mention Steven Gerrard’s red card after just 38 (thirty-eight!) Seconds at Anfield. No wonder given after a horrendous act committed on the defenseless Ander Herrera. Embarrassing, Stevie.

A Manchester United player has been sent off 66 times since the reinvention of football in 1992. Unsurprisingly, the pack’s leader is Roy Keane, at 7. No current United player has more than one, with the most recent being He handed over our beloved club captain Ashley Young.

But, this is not about red cards. That was just for context and for a fun memory lane trip. It is to show that red cards do not appear as often, and that they are generally representative of a shameful act of disappointing the team. Except for the day when it was the bravest and most selfless act that a man in red could perform.

The year is 1998. United is at the top of the league, but it is at the finish line (stop me if you have heard the story before). Arsenal is just behind the defending champions, and United is at home playing Newcastle. All tied to one goal per piece.

United needed a victory: a draw would probably not be enough to fight Arsene Wenger’s men. A devastating loss. When a David Beckham cross was cleared from the box, and after a failed challenge led to the ball being lifted onto the field, Rob Lee of Newcastle made it clear to Raimond van der Gouw standing in goal.

A goal would have been a sure disaster for United. A Newcastle winner surely put Arsenal in the driver’s seat to dethrone the Champions of England. Then the unthinkable happened.

A 25-year-old Norwegian forward, in just his tenth minute on the field, chased after Lee and flew to his legs, prompting the Newcastle player to rush forward. But, saving the goal from being scored, probably salvaging a point for United and earning a reserve because there was no other United player within half a mile. While Uriah Rennie was looking for a letter in his pocket, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer already knew his fate, turned around and began to leave the field. Red straight. When Solskjaer ran off the field, David Beckham ran over to slap him on the back as he had taken one for the team. A fantastic example of Ethos of Ferguson’s United. “You win as a team, you lose as a team. United.The crowd at Old Trafford rose and applauded. This was the first of many defining moments during Solskjaer United’s career. It was his only red card.

Photo by Adam Davy – PA Images via Getty Images

Long before being in the technical box at Old Trafford as manager of United (or Cardiff City), and even before being an academy coach for the Club, Ole has been one of my favorite players at United. Forever.

When I was a child, playing in the schoolyard, when the ball landed on most of my friends’ feet, it was Ronaldinho, Messi, Ronaldo or Torres. Every time I received the ball, I pretended it was Man United’s famous number 20. The famous “Martin Tyler”SOLSKJÆR!“My favorite phrase when I shoot towards the goal.

I don’t have many memories of watching him play at United. When I was old enough to remember, his career had been devastated by knee injuries. But, growing up with a constant diet of reviews from the previous season, the highlights of the Internet and a lot, I loved Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Of course, his goal in Barcelona plays an important role in that. But the simplicity of the way he played the game is contagious. It is pure joy with a ball at your feet. What makes it so special to me is that, in many ways, it is like us. He is a supporter of the Club, he is a patron of the supporters’ trust. I can see myself in the killer with a baby face. The loves Manchester united.

Ole lived all our wildest dreams. It came to the club as an unknown commodity. A mediocre signature regarding the expectation that Alan Shearer would arrive. Shearer never came. But who needed it? Solskjær started running, defied expectations and became a key member of the team in 1996/97. He scored six minutes on his Old Trafford debut. A dream that I literally had hundreds of times. They called him a murderer for a reason. The game slowed down for him when he had the ball at his feet. Its finish was almost automatic. Mortal. He was cold-blooded inside the box. In his first season, he led all league scorers at United with 18 goals.

In an alternate universe, most of this article doesn’t even happen. Prior to the 1998/99 season, Martin Edwards had made a deal with Tottenham to sell Ole for £ 5.5 million. Both sides had agreed (even his agent wanted the deal done), so his future in the Kingdom was in the hands of the man and Alex Ferguson. A fax was sent between the two clubs that only one thing was missing: Ole’s signature. Fergie promised him more playing time and, as Ole himself once said, “That was enough for me. He didn’t want to go. “Then he didn’t.

In the next season, it became inevitable. He knocked out Liverpool from the FA Cup by scoring against the Stretford End. He embraced his role as a super sub behind the league’s most dominant scoring pair, and scored 12 league goals. The 46th goal of his career at United was the biggest (and possibly the club’s biggest, forever) Close your eyes and you can see the ball flying towards the ceiling of the Germans’ net. The goal he gave the club “Everything their hearts want.”

Photo by Matthew Ashton – PA Images via Getty Images

1999 may have been the peak of Solskjaer United’s career. If it ends there, with the last memory of him wearing a red shirt being his epic knee slide at Camp Nou, he’s a club legend. End of story.

But he kept going. Trademark finish after trademark finish. If you look at all the targets, you will find that many of them are the same. The ball lands at Solskjær’s feet in the box, either by an intentional pass or simply by a crumb sent through a diversion or a save by the goalkeeper. Then, with ease and grace, barely seen at Old Trafford, Ole put the ball in the net. Explosion. Simple like that. He always knew exactly where the target was. He knew where the guardian was going before the guardian knew himself. He would put the ball right where it should be. Automatic.

Most of their celebrations are exactly the same. Many of them remember his most famous, both arms stretched out to the sky, with a youthful smile on his face. Some have the slight essence of arrogance, but it wasn’t that, it was just self-confidence. He was on the field to score goals. With the ball at his feet, he was going to score goals. He knew it, his teammates knew it, the fans knew it. Clive Tyldesley, better than any commentator, after Ole’s special in the Champions League against Olympiakos:

“Just a result when Ole Gunnar Solskjær has an opportunity like that.“

It hardly seemed to fail.

His 100th goal for the club was vintage. Against Blackburn Rovers in the league. Paul Scholes left the ball perfectly for Ole, who had just completed another perfectly timed run. In front of the East Stand he did something he had done countless times in the last 99 goals. Receive the pass on your left foot. Move the ball to your right. Explosion. Located in the back corner of the net. The goalkeeper never had a chance.

Towards the end of his career, the great man began to waste a lot of time. Knee surgery forced him to miss the entire season 04/05. He made his heroic return to action, as every United fan dreams, against Liverpool. Well, Liverpool is reserved. Almost 3,000 people showed up to see him again in the field.

His seniority on the team meant he became trustworthy with the Captain’s armband later in his career, his most famous moment as captain in the first league game outside of the 06/07 season, playing Charlton Athletic. Going up 2-0 in the 90th minute, Louis Saha broke into the area and ran for the ball that Cristiano Ronaldo passed him. Saha’s heartbreaking cross pierced the box, too far in front of Darren Fletcher, bursting a gut to reach the goal. But fate intervened, as he always seemed to back off in those days, and the ball found the best possible player on the back post. Captain Ole Explosion. Right in front of United’s end, he raised both arms as he had done so many times, but this time he bowed. He loves us just as we love him. It was his first league goal in more than three full years.

His career was cut short due to mounting injuries, playing his last game for United in 2007. His last goal was against Blackburn at home on March 31, a signature finish. Left alone on the back post, without even the goalie to beat, as cool as you want. Explosion.

Ole had a testimonial match before the 2007/08 season. More than 69,000 people showed up to send it properly. The largest crowd for a testimony on British soil, ever. Loved. I can’t think of another player, manager, any figure at United who is more beloved than this man. I don’t know him personally, but from the people who do, it’s hard to find a bad word about him. Their name has been sung at Old Trafford nonstop for almost 25 years, and can you name someone with more individual songs about them? “Ole’s on the wheel” was the FIFTH separate song to be played from Stretford End on it. You did not receive the “20 LEGENDS” banner by mistake, you earned it. Because as I have said countless times, he loves United man. Just like us.

His resume as a United person is as impressive as anyone, even compared to United’s teammates during his career. 127 goals and 50 assists in 365 appearances. Six league titles, two FA Cup winners medals, the ‘99 Champions League medal and, in 2008, a Norwegian cavalry.

The Solskjaer: United Manager story has yet to be written. I’m not trying to argue that Ole is the manager of United forever. I am not trying to say that he is the right man for the job, or to solve the endless Internet argument about Ole In / Out.

But, if you were looking to hire a manager who undoubtedly loves the club and who is going to do everything in his power to get United back to where it should be, you found it.

He is a disciple of Sir Alex, he adores man. He said in his post-testimony speech that if he didn’t learn anything from the Chief about how to train, he couldn’t be a coach. He had the best teacher imaginable. His promotion from striker to academy coach to interim manager and now Manchester United manager is probably not a big surprise to Ferguson. The former manager always admired how Solskjaer stayed connected in the game in question, even when he was sitting on the bench as a substitute. Maybe that’s why it was as deadly as a submarine.

Two of my favorite moments this season involve those two men. The cameras followed United’s current manager off the field into an empty Etihad stadium (not a surprise). As he approached the tunnel, cameras zoomed in on various figures clapping in his director box. In particular, the man Ole calls “The Boss” applauding with pride after a massive derby victory. The second, another Manchester derby, under the lights of Old Trafford in the middle of a monsoon, Ole looked where he knew Ferguson would be, covered his eyes with the spotlights, punched and shot a look that said “Am I? doing a good job boss?

The Solskjaer era has brought genuine and much-needed changes to the club. The atmosphere has improved 100% after that final year debacle with José Mourinho. Some demean Solskjaer for his positivity and generally happy demeanor, but it’s been one of my favorite things about him as a manager. We needed Ole right now. After several seasons of negative vibes and negative football at Old Trafford, it’s a breath of fresh air.

The culture at United has changed with the atmosphere. Players working harder for each other. Demanding the best of themselves, and not being satisfied with where they are. All spinning around that old Fergusonian ethos. “Win as a team, lose as a team. United.“

When soccer is at its best, it is a joyous game. After all, it is a powerful container of escapism. Solskjaer (the Manager) brought joy back to Old Trafford in a way that the last three managers could never provide, even when they won trophies. I will never really forget how good the games made me feel during his first months in charge. Listen to “At The Wheel” play for almost 90 minutes. See smiles on the faces of the players and on the face of the manager for the first time in what seemed like ages. Football just felt good again.

If all the words above from one of my favorite United people didn’t do enough to convince you of who Ole is, maybe you will listen to the man himself.

In an interview in early March, Solskjaer said this:

“I owe this club a lot, so I’m just trying to pay back as much as I can, and I hope we can get back to where we should be, and that’s at the top.”

If you want a manager who will move heaven and earth to make sure Manchester United is acting like Manchester united, You found it. And he is one of us too.

Our Solskjaer, our Ole Solskjaer, who makes us happy when the sky is gray.