Man United have so far managed to win only a single game in the English Premier League this season and already many people want Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to be sacked.
When the Norwegian was announced as the permanent manager towards the end of last season there was more or less a positive vibe around the decision. But soon the team’s form started to dip and now they have only five points from their first four games and are currently eighth in the league table.
Many pundits and fans feel someone like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not experienced enough to take charge of Man United and bring back the glory days to the club.
But according to pundit Gary Neville, what the Man United boss is trying to achieve can only be implemented during a long period of time so the board, as well as the fans, need to back him up.
Gary Neville said on his podcast(as reported by Sky Sports): “Sir Alex Ferguson came down from Aberdeen in 1986 and he got rid of some of the most talented players in the squad in an attempt to change the culture.
“He was given a long time to do it. Think of Norman Whiteside, who was let go. Paul McGrath was also let go. They were some of the most talented players in the squad, but he culturally wanted to try and change what was happening.
“Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is trying to play the long game.
“To play the long game he is going to need the support from up above. He’s going to need really strong leadership over the next two or three seasons to be able to have those four or five transfer windows that he needs, not just to actually get people in the dressing room all facing the same direction, but to get the quality in that’s needed.
“What Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have done at Manchester City and Liverpool, it took time to get right.
“It took Guardiola 12 months, three transfer windows because he had a better squad in the first place. It’s taken Klopp three or four years to affect the culture fully and get a team fully in what he would say is his style, his culture and what he wants to do.
“It does take time. Solskjaer is working more with a squad like the one Klopp picked up at Liverpool than the one Guardiola inherited at City. From that point of view, this is going to be a long game at Old Trafford and it’s going to be frustrating at times.
“There are going to be results like Southampton, Wolves and Crystal Palace along the way, but when you watch the team a lot of the principles are correct.
“They seem to be playing the right way. You see Daniel James score that goal and you see the way in which they are trying to play.
“The style of it is right. The bones are there but there’s still a very long way to go, and it’s going to be bumpy along the way.”
VERDICT:
Gary Neville has always been in favour of giving managers time to prove themselves, be it with Van Gaal or with Jose Mourinho. So his assessment of Solskjaer is nothing out of the blue.
But then the club have been without a Premier League trophy for more than half a decade and it looks like the patience is running out for the Man United fans.
We believe if the boss cannot atleast get Man United back to the Champions League next season then all this patience and time talk will go down the gutter and the Norwegian will be shown the door.
