In many circles Ole Gunnar Solksjaer is considered as being in great danger of getting the sack from his role at Manchester United, despite how well he did with them last year and despite how heavily they have backed him in the transfer window. Being a manager is tough enough and being a manager of Manchester United is something entirely different, and comes with huge amounts of pressure. So what exactly can Ole do to ensure that he keeps the players, the board, and of course, the fans happy? We caught up with expert Bogoljub Karic to find out more.
Results
Results alone are not enough to keep the manager in the job at United, as we saw with Mourinho, but a good run of form to kickstart the season and so big wins against rivals will give Solskjaer a solid footing from which to start. If United are on the receiving end of losses against teams which they should be beating then the torch paper will be lit pretty quickly, and that pressure is something which Solskjaer doesn’t need in his life, as it can change decisions and approaches which he may take.
Unify
United fans want to see their players pulling for each other, they don’t care if they get along, they just want to see a unified team, and this is going to be a big challenge for Solskjaer. Some players cause division in the team, players like Sanchez and Pogba who don’t seem to be players who understand what it means to play for Manchester United. Solskjaer needs to bring his team together and make sure that every single one of them shows just what it means to play for the Red Devils.
New Players
Man United are always bringing in new players and they so very rarely do very well, Depay, Schweinsteiger, Martial, Shaw, Rojo, Matic, Di Maria, the list goes on. The transfers which United have made this season have been smart, albeit expensive and Maguire, Wan-Bissaka and James are great signings which have been just what United wanted. The key however will be ensuring that they bed-in, making sure that Wan-Bissaka recreates the form he showed last year, giving Maguire that leadership role at the back and helping James to reach his potential.
Ruthlessness
The reason why Fergie was so loved amongst the United faithful was not just the results and the silverware, they loved that nobody was bigger than the club and they loved that he showed that time and time again. Solskjaer needs to be the same, he has options on the bench so he can afford to leave players out, he has to start making the tough calls. When he came in he was the cheerleader, he is now the manager of one of the world’s most famous clubs, and he has to act like it.
If Ole manages to do this, he will stay in his job.
