A Man United fan’s open letter to Solskjaer (drop Lingard)

Send your thoughts and open letters to theeditor@football365.com

7 years
Chuckled at the chap who reckons it will be (gasp!) 7 years until United win the league again. I wonder if that is what some Liverpool fans considered as a ‘worst case scenario’ back in 1993-ish. Lovely stuff.
Mike (Stokes for PM, you heard it here first), WHUFC

An open letter to Ole
Dear Mr. Skolskjaer,

I am writing this to you as a lifelong United supporter. I have been following United since 1956 as little kid growing up in the North of England. Needless to say I have been through the great times, the good times and the bad.

Today’s footballers playing for a top level club are very fortunate. They have an amazing life style and are incredibly rich. They make enough money to retire by their thirties and never work again if so desired. The problem is that they feel entitled and every thought is controlled by their agents. Upset them and the toys go out the cot and the agent is looking for another club.

Now to your current problem. I know you strive to emulate you hero Sir Alex Ferguson but you need to do it as your own man. So if you haven’t already take his old parking space as you are the manager. Stop allowing players and staff calling you Ole, you are Mr. Solskjaer, Boss or Gaffer. Can you imagine SAF allowing his players calling him Fergie?

I know you like to show loyalty but I have wondered why you pick certain players all the time. For example Jessie Lingard who I know can run very fast for long periods (so could David Bellion) but other than that shows no discerni

• ble skills that would warrant his continued selection. If he has compromising pictures of you and is blackmailing you, let him expose them the fans will stand by you. You can’t win matches starting with 10 men.De Gea has been a great goalie, has a great offer on the table and isn’t signing. Drop him I reckon he will sign a pre contract in January. Recent performances suggest his head is elsewhere. Making him captain won’t keep him.Rojo, Sanchez, Matic, Jones, Smalling done, why are they still there?

  I know you advocate “pace” but you still need someone with composure and technique. Surely in any world Juan Mata as a number 10 is way better than that youngster Jessie?

  You have some potentially great players coming through, Greenwood, Gomez, Chong, Garner, Tzunabe (play him as a holding midfielder?). I know you can’t play them all but do play some of them. As that Liverpool hero Alan Hansen said “You can’t win anything with kids”, prove him wrong again. At least you can win the crowd back.

  I don’t mind not wining cups every year but I do mind watching a team that couldn’t be bothered to give everything for the cause. Living in the USA we get to watch all EPL games. I look at the team selection before and see Lingard and/or Matic and I switch off.

  If Mr. Ed isn’t backing you in the transfer market best you quit and leave before your legacy as a United legend is totally destroyed. You were one of my favourite players I would hate that image to be tainted.

  Everyone sees you as a really nice guy who we want to succeed, maybe you need to stop being so nice. Maybe get Roy Keane on a two week contract to adjust some attitudes with a threat to bring him back every two weeks if no improvement.

  Regards
  Jim Bellis (retired and living in Myrtle Beach)

   

  What would you have done?
  Everyone seems to be criticising Emery for his formation and tactics, but ask yourself this. Do you have a better suggestion?

  If you focus on the wings-backs, you leave of the best attackers in the world loads of space through the middle. You focus on the attacks, it goes wide to some of the best full backs in the world. If you drop very deep, you will end up overrun from workhorse midfielders. If you press very high, they will hit balls over the top for pace to catch.

  Reality is, Liverpool are incredible. 97 points, 1 loss all last season, and European Champions. This is that same team firing back on all cylinders. For 40 minutes Emerys tactic was working fairly well. Problem is, this isnt 5 a side, you have to stop them for 90 and I doubt any teams will win at Anfield for a while yet that dont wear light blue.

  I think there were enough positives to see progress, noticeably adding Pepe gives us some variety in attack. Our young players are proving they are capable deputies against teams not in the top 6 (if that survives the season). Our first 11 was missing a probable starter CB (holding), RB, LB, probable 2 midfielders (Xhaka and Torreira) and a ST. That’s without including Ozil who I can only assume is our new kit man at this point.

  Toughest game of the season done, not being embarassed. Quietly happy gooner. Win on Sunday and it will be a fantastic start to the season.
  Rob A (helps everyone else is playing a bit pants) AFC

   

  Calm down, calm down
  Is it just me or has everyone completely lost it this season? It seems like every player and manager is one bad game away from being sacked.

  When a team wins (no matter the style of the win) they are immediately favourites for a Champions League position, but when they lose the next game then the wheels have fallen off and if they don’t sack the manager or get rid of 5 players they’re going to get relegated. And then I’m guessing these same people will be complaining when the manager does get sacked saying that there’s no stability anymore.

  Can we all just take a breath and realise that things have changed in the last 5 years. Smaller clubs aren’t selling their best players to the top teams anymore which has made it a seriously competitive league. The big six (if that’s still a thing) all have similar buying potential and similar aspirations but there’s only space for four teams in the Champions League.

  Which brings me to my next point – I believe the next trend in transfers is going to be that of managers. We’ve seen the effect of great managers with the resources they have available (Guardiola, Klopp & Pochettino). And now that players cost so much to recruit how much longer will it take before clubs realise the value of their managers and refuse to sell them too?
  Ed B (just some musings)

   

  CD Rom
  At Manchester United Football Club (Best Team in the Word), we are family. And so when I saw that Inter Milan were playing Lecce, I decided to come out and support my boy Lukaku. But I needn’t have bothered.

  For starters, it was the same old “first touch” Lukaku. Even the commentator said something about his first touch. And then the pace of the game. I mean, what pace? The play was slow and ponderous. Like watching Man United trying to break down a stubborn Crystal Palace side. They should call it Serie zzz because it will put you right to sleep.

  It’s halftime and Inter are leading 2-0 but I don’t think I will put myself through another 45 minutes of torture. Good luck to you Lukaku.
  Mzeiya

  PS-I’m a glutton for punishment so I watched the second half. Luk who’s scoring on his debut. 4-0 final score. The fourth was a thunderbastard from Candreva.

   

  What is the VAR end game?
  Dear Editor,

  Sorry to make you read another VAR email but I wanted to write and share my confusion as to why the referees in the Premier League are not fully embracing VAR and how much it can help them raise their game and avoid so much criticism. We all know that being an official in the PL is extremely difficult. Huge games with a lot riding on them, extremely fast play, players willing to push the limit of the rules and in some cases outright con the referee make it an incredibly high pressure job. These officials are only human and cannot see every single incident clearly in real time. Nobody would dispute that and yet here is a piece of technology specifically designed to help them get decisions right that they just don’t want to use correctly or in some cases at all.

  What is the problem with admitting that they couldn’t see a player standing on another players foot and they would like someone to double check it for them? Are they afraid that people will think they are poor referees? In my opinion the way they are approaching it now makes them poor officials. They just don’t want their authority questioned which is in turn heaping more pressure on them. Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to what their end game for VAR is here?

  Cheers,
  Mark D (Toronto)

   

  Sensible soccer
  I would be grateful if I was allowed to respond to Bobby’s mail which was in turn a response to mine as to my mind it brings up another negative aspect of football culture.

  It seems his main gripe is that the Salah/Luiz penalty was not given top place for validity by me. Whatever, fine, it doesn’t dilute my point, I did say it was a penalty, I’m sorry I disagree it wasn’t the most worthy penalty of the season so far!

  It does lead on to your point that City fans moan and whinge though. I tried to make my points a concern which I believe are a worry for the premiership and all teams, not just City, sorry if you thought otherwise, but I still think that’s what I did. My examples do focus on City in the main, but obviously I watch a lot of City and a lot of the VAR controversy has been when City have played.

  The Silva non-penalty was shown repeatedly, and in full speed and slow motion it is clear that he was stood on, all media/pundits/commentators agreed as far as I have been able to gather, so I really don’t understand why you reference blurred Twitter images as invalid evidence. Of course that pausing play where you like to suit your point nonsense annoys everybody who is reasonable. But what you’ve done is the sort of thing Trump and Johnson do, mixing different unrelated truths that folks do believe to give a weak point credence and validity where there is none.

  I couldn’t let that pass, but my main point is the tedious nature of so many football fans to turn anything in to a gripe about a particular teams fans. Most of the comments section is so nasty and depressing, hardly ever are there any objective and sensible responses. Bobby, for me, that’s you in a nutshell, concentrating on one opinion and going in to full blown histrionics, then taking a discussion and myopically turning it into a dig at an opposition fanbase.

  I mean, really, most people support a team because of their family, or where they were born etc, it’s pretty arbitrary but the passion is not. It makes no sense to play such one-upmanship, and show animosity towards opposing fans. When it’s entertainment, fun joshing, it’s fine(although personally I don’t care for it), but otherwise it’s tedious boring and so negative, it contributes nothing but sourness.

  I’m not the F365 editor, but I beg you not to print a reply to this unless it’s genuinely sensible and interesting, assuming mine is both sensible and printed(har har).
  David Watson (I am not all City fans)