With Manchester United on the brink of a Champions League exit and out of form in the league, questions are being raised about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has fond memories of Camp Nou. After all, it was in the famous, old arena, a gladiatorial pit of a soccer stadium, that the Norwegian delivered the moment that would define him for the rest of his life. Not just as a player, but into management too. Appointed Manchester United interim coach back in December, Solskjaer talked enough about his goal in 1999 before the possibility of a return to Catalonia was even raised.
Indeed, Solskjaer, now permanent boss at Old Trafford, has made nostalgia and the power of precedent a pillar of his managerial philosophy. If United were, not so long ago, great, why can’t they be great again? At first, it was a powerful message to a group of players who had grossly underachieved under previous managers. Belief is what he gave United.
Now, however, with Solskjaer’s team requiring another Champions League comeback, it might be all they have. 1-0 down from the first leg, United must evoke the spirit of the Parc des Princes, or maybe Camp Nou ’99, to stand a chance against Barcelona. If Solskjaer plans on once again drawing on nostalgia he at least has two sources to choose from — one month ago or two decades ago.
United held their own in the first leg, but that’s all they really did. Very little threat was posed to the Barca goal — not since 2003 had United failed to register a single shot on goal in a home Champions League match. If Solskjaer can somehow unlock the attacking verve of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, his side might stand a chance in the second leg, but this could equally leave the door open for Barcelona to walk through, as if they need any further invitation.
United’s Champions League elimination is expected on Tuesday. This would leave the Old Trafford without a run to the competition’s final four since 2011, when they lost in the final at Wembley to, you guessed it, Barcelona. Is that really a record befitting of a club of United’s stature?
Solskjaer’s nostalgia trip might work well as a motivational tool, but in the event of failure it only adds to the cold water poured over United in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson age. Arguably the biggest soccer club on the planet, a club that dominated the English game for a generation, United now find themselves on the periphery of the elite.
Just a few weeks ago, there was hope that times were changing. That Solskjaer was set to lead United back to past glories. Four defeats in six games, including two damaging losses to Wolves, have dulled the hysteria that had been building at Old Trafford since the turn of the year. Now, a familiar sense of dread is bubbling to the surface again.
Not dread at Solskjaer’s appointment, per se. The announcement of his permanent hiring seemed somewhat premature, but more pressing are concerns over United’s continued reluctance to address their fundamental structural deficiencies. After Jose Mourinho’s sacking, there seemed to be an acceptance in the corridors of power that a sporting director, or similar, would have to be hired. Solskjaer’s astonishing early success gave United an escape route to avoid doing that.
Talk has now turned to summer transfer targets, some of which have provided a convenient distraction. Soccer fans are like magpies and so dangling a shiny, new signing in front of them almost always works to divert the eye. Supporters are talking about the possibility of Jadon Sancho, Kalidou Koulibaly, Gareth Bale and Philippe Coutinho pitching up at Old Trafford this summer, but not the process of how they have been shortlisted in the first place.
Even if United ultimately appoint a sporting director-type figure, they’ll have done so following the appointment of a new manager and, it seems, the drawing up of a summer transfer plan. What would be left for a sporting director to mould? How would Edwin van Der Sar, Paul Mitchell, Fabio Paratici or any of the names linked with the role shape a soccer club with all the big decisions already taken for them?
Manchester United have been a broken institution for a long time now. No one man, not even someone as revered as Solskjaer, can fix that on their own. Defeat to Barcelona this week would throw into focus how some of the grand reports of recovery made just a few weeks ago were made prematurely. Ole’s at the wheel, but the direction United are heading might be lateral rather than forwards.