A startling squad rotation stat has revealed one of the worst home truths for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as Man United manager.
For the last few years, many fans have been willing to give Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a break. After all, he’s a fan favourite who has been willing to spend big in the name of getting United back to the top of the mountain.
Unfortunately, in the last few months, things have begun to turn sour.
Solskjaer avoiding the sack pic.twitter.com/09PyT2wd7O
— ً (@TheFergusonWay) November 8, 2021
The supporters aren’t happy, United have suffered multiple humiliating defeats in recent weeks, and the title looks like a more distant prospect than it has in a long time.
The stats back up the feeling and put a spotlight on the decision-making of Solskjaer.
What’s going wrong for Solskjaer at Man United?
Our league minutes this season:
— UtdArena (@utdarena) November 8, 2021
Despite leaving the club over two months ago, Dan James (126) still has more minutes for us than Eric Bailly (45), Alex Telles (18) and Donny van de Beek (17) combined. pic.twitter.com/1OumatiyaH
Eric Bailly is slowly but surely making his way back into the team. However, Telles and Van de Beek must wonder what exactly they’ve done to warrant such neglect from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
As detailed by the @UtdArena account on Twitter: “Despite leaving the club over two months ago, Dan James (126) still has more minutes for us than Eric Bailly (45), Alex Telles (18) and Donny van de Beek (17) combined.”
Dan James never really looked like a world-beater at Old Trafford. Still, that didn’t stop Solskjaer from making him a featured squad member before his departure.
We’ve gradually fans call upon Van de Beek and Telles.
So, why isn’t Ole Gunnar Solskjaer listening to the Man United faithful?
It could be stubbornness, or it could be a distinct lack of understanding of how man-management works. There are rumours in the press every day, his body language is lethargic, and there is no motivation within their play. Whenever there is some, it seems to stem from Cristiano Ronaldo.
Solskjaer can’t be afraid of making substantial changes that upset the status quo. Shaw has made mistakes, Fred has been poor, and McTominay isn’t the world-beater he needs to be. If they need to take a seat on the bench to learn and develop, then so be it.
Will Solskjaer be Man United boss when the season ends?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrXXl4a_qPcIt’s a question that nobody besides the people behind the scenes can answer. With that said, losing to bitter rivals Liverpool and Manchester City – to go alongside being sixth in the league – would usually be enough for a United manager to get his marching orders.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer doesn’t look too worried about his future. He’s got the backing of the board and Sir Alex Ferguson, so unless things turn into a total disaster – and it’s hard to know exactly what that looks like at this stage – he’ll stay put.
Featured image credit: Getty