Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could have a role to play in FA cup final on Sunday
The former Man Utd manager had a superb record against Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Pep Guardiola during the Manchester derby.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came unstuck at Manchester United when, for big games against Manchester City and Liverpool, he changed tack and moved away from a successful formula.
No manager in world football – not even Jurgen Klopp – has a better win percentage against Pep Guardiola than Solskjaer. He won as much as he lost against City, predominantly by defending deep and springing forward on the counter-attack.
But after the signings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane, Solskjaer decided enough was enough, evolution was required.
“We needed to be Man United,” Solskjaer later said on the Stick To Football podcast. “Don’t defend, don’t be counter-attacking, go toe-to-toe with them – because if not, there’s no point being at Man United.
“We had to change the style. You need to dominate games. If you lose without having a go… what’s the point? It’s easier to set up and beat City away from home. It was time to see where we were at. Are we ready?”
United weren’t ready. They lost 2-0 at home to City and 5-0 at home to Liverpool in a desperate run of form which, at the start of the 2021/22 season, ended up costing Solskjaer his job. “Just not good enough,” he sighed.
Solskjaer had the same problems Erik ten Hag has endured trying to develop United’s style of play. Often under the Dutchman it’s been difficult to discern any sort of tactical philosophy.
One thing is for sure, however, and that’s the fact Ten Hag won’t attempt to “dominate” City in the FA Cup final this weekend, or even go “toe-to-toe” with the Premier League champions. United are some way off trying to do that.
Ten Hag’s record against Guardiola is poor by comparison to Solskjaer’s, with four defeats from United’s five derbies in the past two seasons.
Five from six could spell the end of the Ten Hag era, so the United manager must follow the example of his predecessor and go into counter-attack mode.
It’s not the football he wants to play – Ten Hag has always championed the high press – but pragmatism must win out at Wembley. United could get torn to shreds otherwise, in a potentially ignominious end to Ten Hag’s tenure.
The only problem in playing this way is that the key pillars of the Solskjaer template are either missing, have been sold or are out-of-form.
Rashford scores at City
Marcus Rashford is firmly in the latter category, his recent England snub an indication of how far he’s fallen this season. Fred, whose scurrying midfield style complemented Solskjaer’s style, has left. Harry Maguire, a rock at the back for the Norwegian, is an injury doubt for Wembley.
So it will fall on players like Alejandro Garnacho and Amad to carry the counter-attacking fire on Saturday, and Kobbie Mainoo to scrap it out in midfield. It will be down to Lisandro Martinez to provide leadership at the back, with or without Maguire.
United have done it against City under Ten Hag – just once, last season. Even earlier this season at the Etihad, they frustrated Guardiola’s side for 56 minutes, leading 1-0 until the damn busted and the defence caved in.
Neither Solskjaer nor Ten Hag has brought a style of football to Old Trafford that is anything like what Guardiola has implemented across town. It’s not even worth comparing the two clubs’ structural differences in recent years.
But over the course of 90 minutes with the right gameplan – the one that served Solskjaer so well – United have a chance to win the FA Cup this weekend, even if it’s slim. Ten Hag must get his tactics right.
Leave a Reply