It has been confirmed by the club this morning that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has left his position as Manchester United manager.
Yesterday’s wretched 4-1 defeat to Watford was the final nail in the coffin. United endured a painful run of form with them sustaining bruising losses to Liverpool, Manchester City, Leicester City and Watford.
United are currently seventh and sit 12 points behind league leaders Chelsea. The sacking of Solskjaer seemed inevitable and was dragged out by the club with many calling for his sacking after the 5-0 defeat to bitter rivals Liverpool.
With the managerial position now vacant, it begs the question of who the club will appoint. The club announced that Michael Carrick will take temporary charge of the team whilst the club look for an interim manager until the end of the season.
This season was supposed to be the one that saw Ole and his side push on for major trophies and that has not happened with the team being six points adrift of Champions League qualification.
The signings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, and Raphael Varane were supposed to be the missing pieces to the jigsaw but since their arrivals, United has regressed and is going through a dismal run of form.
Looking back on Ole’s time at United, it is clear to see that he has left the squad in a better situation than when he arrived. A net spend of £312 million and no silverware, however, is a failure for a club the size of Manchester United.
When Ole was originally appointed as interim after the sacking of Jose Mourinho back in December 2018, he was tasked with revamping the squad and bringing back the ‘United Way.’ As an interim manager, Ole enjoyed a great start but when the club appointed him as the permanent manager, many questioned the club’s decision to hand him a three-year deal.
As the permanent manager, Ole has managed to clear lots of outcasts from the squad and has brought in lots of young and exciting talent. However, results on the pitch are the making of any manager and Ole’s record is not exceptional with him losing 41 out of his 168 games as United manager.
United’s defending has been an issue during his tenure with the Reds conceding nearly 200 goals in just 168 games.
Ole has said in previous press conferences, that he does not do the coaching and the training is led by Keiran McKenna and Michael Carrick so it made for quite an unusual coaching setup.
What will be bewildering news to many Reds is that the club plan to keep McKenna and Carrick whilst Mike Phelan will leave with Solskjaer.
After nearly three years, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer leaves his post as Manchester United manager and will subsequently take a break from management. The bigger topic now, is who do the club appoint as the interim manager until the end of the season?
