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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been here before; The Manchester United manager appears to regularly face the “most important week” of his time at the club. But this one really feels that way, with season-defining matches against RB Leipzig and Manchester City in the space of five days for a team that has become arguably the most unpredictable in Europe. This week is a fork in the road for Solskjaer’s United and they really could go either way, to success or failure.
Nobody knows which United will appear, much less its coach. It could be the team that was overrun for 45 minutes in West Ham on Saturday, or the team, with the help of halftime substitutes Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford, that brought down David Moyes’s team in the second half with an impressive display. football counter and world class final to win 3-1 at the London Stadium. Or the one who was 2-0 down at halftime at Southampton a week earlier before winning 3-2 at St Mary’s. Or the one that beat Leipzig 5-0 at Old Trafford in October, or perhaps United that lost 2-1 at Istanbul Basaksehir a week later.
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Those wildly contrasting results and performances sum up Solskjaer’s time as coach at Old Trafford. It will mark the second anniversary of his appointment, initially as an interim following the firing of José Mourinho on December 19, but his trajectory has mirrored that of a roller coaster with ups and downs, wobbles and peaks of excitement. What happens this week will be crucial in telling us what progress has been made and where, exactly, Solskjaer and United are headed.
With two wins, United will reserve their place in the Champions League round of 16 and become a live contender in the race for the Premier League title. A draw against Leipzig will also be enough to qualify from Group H, but United would almost certainly give up first place to Paris Saint-Germain and risk taking on players like Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Juventus.
However, it is the damage of defeat in both games that should concern Solskjaer and United.
If they lose in Germany on Tuesday, United will enter the Europa League after needing just one point from their last two group matches to progress in the Champions League. If that happens, the loss in Istanbul and the fact that Solskjaer failed to replace Fred before the midfielder’s inevitable second yellow card in last week’s 3-1 loss at home to PSG will be cited as evidence of his shortcomings. as an elite coach. Likewise, a loss to City at Old Trafford will not only break the momentum that United have been building in the Premier League, but also highlight their lousy record against the “big six” so far this season, which has seen them lose to Tottenham Hotspur. and Arsenal and draw with Chelsea, with all those games played at home.
It really feels like a case of “here we go again” with Solskjaer and United, because there have been so many examples of crucial weeks in the last two years. That said, Solskjaer usually somehow finds a way to keep storm clouds at bay by overseeing a win when he needs it most.
So is he the man to lead United to the top, or a replacement who has only survived so long due to his status as a game legend at the club during Sir Alex Ferguson’s glorious reign as manager? Within the club, the answer would be the first. Senior United officials believe Solskjaer has put the team back on track by restoring the club’s vision of promoting youth and taking a more collegiate approach to recruiting players. Results have been unpredictable, but sources have told ESPN that United is confident that Solskjaer has made positive change and that it simply takes time and patience to develop more consistency. Once that happens, results and success are expected.
Some at United will point to the example of Jurgen Klopp’s first two years at Liverpool, which was a similar story of ups and downs and inconsistency. Like United this week, Klopp’s Liverpool, who were fourth in the Premier League at the time, entered their last match of the Champions League group stage in December 2017 and had to avoid defeat to progress. They won that game, qualified for the knockout stage and signed Virgil van Dijk from Southampton on January 1, 2018. Liverpool have not looked back since.
If United found a dominant midfielder in January, a player capable of dictating the pace of the game and uniting Solskjaer’s talented but unpredictable squad, then perhaps they could go the way of Liverpool. But that type of player rarely shows up, leaving Solskjaer responsible for squaring the circle and proving, once and for all, that he has the ability to compete with Klopp, Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.
However, this is the tricky part. Within the game, it is difficult, if not impossible, to find a player, scout or agent who says that Solskjaer is an elite coach. In private, many will question your tactical acumen and your ability to inspire. Some will dismiss him as nothing more than a raised coach far beyond his natural level simply because of his connection to the club as a player.
“Players want to sign for Klopp or Guardiola, but it will be difficult for them to find someone who says they want to play for Solskjaer,” an agent told ESPN. “He doesn’t look like the boss, and I think that explains why United’s performances have been all over the place – the players know they don’t have the same status or control as top managers.”
However, despite all doubts, Solskjaer has put United back into the Champions League and is showing signs of being a title contender again. Perhaps Solskjaer is about to take himself and United to the next level, but perhaps the skeptics are right and he can only take the team so far. At the end of this week, we will all have a much clearer picture of what the future of Solskjaer and United will look like.
