Sunday 21 November 2021
Bitter attrition as the final act
Man United apparently throws club legends out
Manchester United have lost five of the last seven games in the Premier League. Now the English record champions are reacting according to matching reports and putting coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in front of the door. A French football icon is being discussed for the successor.
At Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo were a royal dream duo, now the world stars are supposed to lead a deeply fallen Manchester United back to the football throne. Success coach Zidane is considered the English record champions’ dream solution to succeed team manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The separation from hapless Norway was after the humiliating 1: 4 (0: 2) at newly promoted FC Watford only a question of the amount of the severance payment.
Because Solskjaer had only extended to United in the summer of 2024, his departure after three untitled years should be made easier with 7.5 million pounds (almost nine million euros). At the same time, according to the Times, Manchester increased the offer for dream candidate Zidane. He had paused since leaving Real in May, but recently started an English course, according to the Manchester Evening News.
“If the club management wants to do something, it’s a conversation between you and me – not between you and me,” Solskjaer told reporters after the fifth league defeat in the last seven games. The bosses’ discussions had long been underway, and a little later they and the American owners, the Glazer family, kept their fingers crossed.
“Roll up your sleeves and get the job done,” said Ronaldo as a motto before the game. But the stars declared bankruptcy. Solskjaer then apologized with some players in front of the curve of the angry fans and was booed. There was nothing left of the hero status that he had enjoyed since his winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final against FC Bayern.
“It’s ole over”
“It is obvious that the players no longer want the manager. They have lost respect for him,” said BBC expert Alan Shearer. Goalkeeper David De Gea called the performance “shameful” and spoke of “another nightmare”. The stars were to blame, he said, “we don’t know what to do with the ball”. Solskjaer could never convey it to them.
“It’s ole over” was the headline of the “Mail on Sunday”, the phrase “Star” played: “Ole Goner”. Solskjaer took over the Red Devils in December 2018 as the successor to Jose Mourinho and took second place in the Premier League and into the final of the Europa League last season. In the summer he was allowed to do some big shopping, alongside Ronaldo top players like Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane from Madrid.
But Manchester has only won two of the last eight competitive games. It was a historic 5-0 win against Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool FC, and United also had no chance in the 2-0 draw against city rivals City. The gap to league leaders Chelsea is already twelve points.
On Tuesday in the Champions League at Villarreal, the technical director Darren Fletcher will sit on the bench, then Zidane will take over as soon as possible. With star striker Ronaldo, the great Frenchman Real led to three triumphs in the premier class from 2016 to 2018. United can only dream of such successes at the moment.