Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave the club a warning about the problems they’re now facing under Erik ten Hag.
The Norwegian tactician had his own struggles when he was Man Utd manager, so it probably remains the case that the club were right to get rid of him when they did, and that there were surely better options out there.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that hiring Ten Hag was the right choice, and it seems Solskjaer did provide the club with some useful insights into a long-term approach for success.
Watch below as this video is now doing the rounds on social media, with Solskjaer quoted several times as warning about getting carried away by winning trophies, as they’re not always a marker of how well you’re actually doing…
?? – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer:
"A trophy does NOT mean you're back. It's the gradual progression and consistency of being at the top of the league.
"Sometimes, a cup competition can hide the fact that you're still struggling."
He was RIGHT. Sigh.. ??? pic.twitter.com/Qvt6zzhI7R
— UF (@UtdFaithfuls) September 29, 2024
Solskjaer might not have been the best manager in the world, but he clearly cared a great deal about United, and knows a lot about playing in successful teams from his playing days under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The current United board, by contrast, have perhaps fallen into the trap of backing Ten Hag for winning a couple of cup competitions even though the overall trajectory of the team doesn’t seem at all positive.
Ten Hag surely on borrowed time as United manager
Following yesterday’s 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham, we’re surely now seeing the end of the Ten Hag era, as it’s hard to imagine there being much justification for the Dutch tactician carrying on for much longer.
As Solskjaer said in the video above, it now seems pretty clear that United winning the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup masked a lot of problems at the club, and Ten Hag probably should have been sent packing this summer.
Instead, MUFC stuck with the former Ajax boss, and now they’re facing the embarrassing situation of probably having to U-turn on that pretty quickly as it’s so obvious they made the wrong choice, with results and performances looking very poor so far this term.
We have gone backwards in the last 2 years . Ten Hag and all his coaching staff need to be removed now before it is too late to save our season. They are out of their debt.
We need an experienced manager like Tuchel or Alegri here. Someone who is not afraid to change how we want and need to play. We just have no pattern of play anymore and we don’t know what to expect. Fans are just fed up at this point, and if the board are willing to listen to fans as they promised. Then it is time NOW for to sack Ten Hag and his coaches and bring in a Top Top manager.