Why Are Manchester United Sticking with Solskjaer?

The question is not meant to be as inflammatory as it may sound. No matter what their current position and problems, Manchester United are one of the biggest clubs in the world. As such, you would expect them to act in a certain way when it comes to arguably the most important person at the club.

Whatever your opinion on Solskjaer’s abilities, ask yourself this question. Would he get the role at any of the other major clubs in Europe?

Last week’s win over PSG was impressive, perhaps more so than the one that defined and set in motion his career at Old Trafford in March 2019. The problem is that the 17 months in between those two bookend games have seen little in the way of progress. It has been very much a case of two steps forward, two steps back.

Just when it looks like the writing is on the wall and it’s all about to end, his team puts on an impressive run of results. Similarly, when it looks like he has finally found a team, a shape, and a mentality that can take them into the top two, there inevitably follows a run of results that once again make his position shaky at the very least.

Back to the Beginning

Questions were raised when he was first given the caretaker’s job in December 2018. His managerial career up to that point could be described as sketchy. The results spoke for themselves though, and he confounded his critics, as well as some of his fans in all probability.

That decision to take a practically untested manager and put him in charge of one of the biggest clubs in world football is still baffling though. That said, this is 2020 and there are more than merely footballing reasons behind many of the decisions made in football club boardrooms.

Solskjaer is a national hero in his native Norway, so one upside of his appointment and continued employment is a surge of interest in Manchester United, their odds, results, and performance. That argument hardly holds water, however. If the Glazers were that way inclined, they would have employed a full-on Chinese management team.

Start of a Trend

Since the former United legend was appointed, you could argue that both Chelsea and Arsenal have followed suit. There has been a move from several clubs to go down the route of the younger man, with less experience perhaps, but fresh ideas and a better grasp of the way winning football in 2020 needs to be played. Arteta at Arsenal had schooling under the wing of Guardiola, but no managerial experience. Lampard at Chelsea had a mixed season at Derby.

But Lampard’s situation was slightly different as the club was in a unique position with their transfer ban, and the former England midfielder did more than well enough in his debut season to get the nod for this one.

The question at the start was why are Manchester United sticking with Solskjaer? The reasons don’t make for brilliant reading if you are a United fan. There is no doubt the jury is still out on the former Baby Faced Assassin. That is one of the issues though. The jury was definitely not out on all the other managers since Fergie’s departure.

If there was a time for Solskjaer to be given the boot, it was last January. Since then his team have just done enough to keep the wolves at bay and him in the job. The problem the board has is that he may never do badly enough to force them to pull the trigger, and with his affable personality and his legend status, they could well find themselves with a team that bumbles along doing OK. Indefinitely.