Y'all, I'm tired. I could have written this week's piece about the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, but it was painfully obvious what was going to happen, starting when the judge prohibited the prosecution from referring to the victims as... victims. I think back to the Trayvon Martin verdict, which also hinged on reasonable doubt; that felt radical, that such a miscarriage of justice could occur, but in 2021 it feels commonplace.
So instead I'm going to fiddle while Rome burns and write about Ole Gunnar Solskjær's inevitable departure from Manchester United, after a shocking run of results. It's narrow, it's inconsequential, but it isn't the harbinger of lawlessness and collapse that a murder trial effectively allowing vigilantism, so let's talk about that this morning, instead.
I was quite excited when Ole took over, back in 2018. I'd spent the past two decades loving to hate United, but somehow the idea that they'd bring him in after sacking José Mourinho felt romantic, rather than the latest mercenary super-manager from the continent. Of course I'm always happy to see an Italian manager do well, in particular, but the idea of hiring Antonio Conte or Massimiliano Allegri (to say nothing of Mauricio Pochettino, Carlo Ancelotti, Zinedine Zidane, etc) just contributes to the sense of a class divide in management, where the same foreign coaches get the big jobs and the same British or English coaches get the mediocre ones.
Obviously Ole's not British himself, but there was something in his appointment that suggested the divide wasn't a foregone conclusion, even if it was just an interim appointment at first. He then surprised everyone by doing really well, and getting the job permanently, after which his results dipped for the rest of the 2018-19 season.
There have been ups and downs since then, the most significant up being the transfer in of Bruno Fernandes, who quickly turned into one of the league's best players. The team posted a couple of top-four finishes in the last couple of seasons, but notably won no trophies, despite doing well in various cup and European competitions. This was fairly ominous, as was the seesawing of results, with humiliating scorelines becoming rather common.
As long as Ole's team got results, I felt the criticisms were a bit snobbish (I'm thinking of Jonathan Wilson here). I wouldn't claim Solskjær is some unheralded tactical genius, but he got the team organized after the lows of the Mourinho era, and then picked a gem like Fernandes out of complete obscurity to take the league (and fantasy league) by storm. This was without a sporting director, mind you, and no clear link between Ole and Fernandes, unlike David Moyes bringing in Marouane Fellaini during his tenure because he'd coached Fellaini at Everton.
The subsequent signings have seemed a little scattershot, like Donny Van De Beek, and haven't really addressed the side's biggest faults. Though the signing of Raphaël Varane was a step in the right direction, and Edinson Cavani turned out to have more life in him than you'd have expected of a 34-year-old striker, they didn't address the issue of midfield and the focus came onto big-name signings like Jadon Sancho.
I think the thing that upset the whole balance, though, is the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite him still being sort of a cartoon super villain on the pitch, and a problematic figure off it, he's a fiercely talented and ferociously hardworking player. But as loads of commentators have pointed out, he doesn't play the game the way it's played now, with the entire team involved in attack and defense, and as a result he no longer makes teams better. The pressure to pick him means that United doesn't pick Cavani or Sancho, which in turn suggests that they blew £73 million to make one of England's most promising players squander his best years sitting on the bench.
But the question is, how much of that is Solskjær's fault, and how much the board's? As I say, there's no sporting director, so the signing strategy is split between the coach and the chief executives, and it's clear that the executives thought getting Ronaldo in was more important than winning trophies. I could be wrong, and Ole could have floated the idea, since they played together for a few years at United, but it's just not in keeping with the same manager who brought in Fernandes.
Though maybe that's the tactical muddledness of Solskjær in a nutshell? After all, he signed Van De Beek and promptly parked him on the bench, too (ironically he scored the only United goal in Ole's last game in charge, the loss at Watford).
So what's next for Ole? He'll likely dip down the league if he stays in English management, though with his strong Manchester United association it's hard to see any of their rivals taking him on. More probable is a return to Scandinavia, and perhaps one day a stint managing Norway's national team.
As for United, they're starting to bandy around names again, like Mauricio Pochettino. I'm a little unconvinced by him, because even though he turned Spurs into genuine contenders, they also never won any trophies during his tenure. His style also leaves the players jaded and burned out after a few years, so it doesn't feel like an appointment for the long term (though it might also be wrong to frame "long-term" in terms of Alex Ferguson's million years in charge).
Conte's now spoken for, at Spurs himself, but he'd have been a short-term appointment too, since he falls out with club boards quite regularly, especially when he wins leagues. The big one I can think of who's available and a potential fit is Allegri, though whether he'd fancy working with Ronaldo again is an open question. I'm sure there are loads of Spanish coaches that have the profile United is looking for, as well.
Or...
Apparently Michael Carrick will be caretaker, until they find an interim manager to see out the end of the season. Maybe he'll do well enough in the position to hold onto it longer? It's unlikely, especially since the last club legend just flamed out so spectacularly, but the board might be so scattershot that it could even happen...
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