The debate of whether or not Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should remain as Manchester United's manager has resurfaced following the side's lacklustre 2-0 loss to Manchester City last Saturday.
Ever since Ole was hired as manager of Manchester United in December of 2018, there has been plenty of conjecture around whether he was the right man for the job when taking into account his very limited coaching experience.
However, after a successful campaign last season where United jumped to second on the Premier League table, United seemed to be progressing with Ole at the helm.
This progression seemed even more palpable with the additions of superstar signings Cristiano Ronaldo, Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho over the off-season. Despite such high hopes, a streak of poor results, most notably against rivals Liverpool and Manchester City, have seen Ole become the target of all football fans.
We take a look at some of the pros and cons for Ole staying as manager.
The Pros
Ole isn't far off how other managers were travelling at this point in time.
Throughout his time as Manchester United manager, Ole has won 92 games, drawn 35 and lost 40. This equates to approximately 1.86 points per game, which is very similar to world-class manager Jurgen Klopp - who averaged 1.87 points per game in the same amount of matches.
Ole has vastly improved the squad
Since Ole has taken over, he has brought in the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane, Edinson Cavani and Jadon Sancho, whilst developing youngsters Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay. Without these inclusions, United would be gripping to a mid-table spot.
Ole has the support of the board and management
In July earlier this year, chief board member Ed Woodward said that "We are more confident than ever that, under Ole’s leadership, we are heading in the right direction" and he has since backed up his comments, showing the confidence he has in Ole. This confidence from above is very important in building a successful team.
Ole is a club legend
The fact that Ole was part of Manchester United in their glory days connects United's amazing past with their hopeful future.
Limited external candidates
Even if Ole was to be sacked, there aren't too many candidates with better coaching careers to take over.
The main names that have popped up are Zinedine Zidane and Antonio Conte (who is now at Tottenham). Whilst Zidane was a decent manager with Madrid, it is a stretch to think that he would even want to come to United since he is likely to become France's new coach.
Apart from Zidane, United could pick up a coach from another club such as Brendan Rodgers (Leicester City), which would assume coaches would like to leave their clubs to join the Red Devils.
The Cons
United are still behind after three seasons with Ole at the wheel
It should be clear as day now that Manchester United are nowhere near the top teams. Since their squad is as good as any other in the Premier League, the most likely reason for Manchester United's issues are either a tactical issue or a mindset issue, both of which come back to Ole.
Shaky System
All of the top Premier League sides such as Chelsea (5-3-2), Liverpool (4-3-3) and Manchester City (4-3-3) all have a system which works for their side. On the other hand, Solskjaer has not found a system that works for his side and is constantly switching mid-game to find a solution.
Lack of confidence from the playing group
This is evident by the words of Bruno Fernandes who following Liverpool's defeat told the Guardian "the coach also knows there has to be some improvement at their end but that is part of football... His ideas might be right or wrong, but we’re sticking with it until the end.” If that doesn't speak volumes for what the players think of Ole then just watch a game where United play. They look completely confused.
Verdict
Since Manchester United are the biggest and most successful team in history, they need the best. This includes managers. Even if you think that Ole is a good manager, there is no denying that the likes of Tuchel, Klopp and Guardiola are all better. They need better.
United could stick with him for a bit longer, as they did with Sir Alex Ferguson, and like they should have done with David Moyes, but that could just waste time.
If they do sack him, who comes in? There are no clear answers to this question anymore, which leads me to think that United should contact as many managers as possible until they find someone willing to move. Whether this means Unai Emery, Brendan Rodgers, Erik Ten Hag, Mauricio Pochettino or anyone else, United should get them. In the meantime, I believe United should keep Ole in until the right replacement comes.
