Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would be better suited as an assistant, says Paul Parker
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Updated 09/12/2020 at 13:56 GMT
Former England and Manchester United defender Paul Parker believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's personality makes him more suited to being a number two rather than a manager. Parker also questions Solskjaer's decision to start Scott McTominay and Nemanja Matic in a must-win Champions League game against RB Leipzig with Donny van de Beek and Paul Pogba on the bench.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Image credit: Getty Images
Ole was a person who everyone liked, adored, idolised, respected as a player. I wonder if he’s really enjoying being the number one as a manager.
That’s no disrespect to him but it’s that difficult, and would Ole be a good number two? I think he would be a great number two because of his nature.
Everyone would want to go and talk to him because his CV would tell you ‘go and talk to him’ like Brian Kidd’s CV.
I worked with a person in Kidd at Manchester United who was involved in the first English team to win the European Cup. He played with George Best and Bobby Charlton. He was a hero around Manchester, a local boy. Ole would be no different because you know all about him when he walks in.
You can look at it and see the next stage now is ‘help’. He’s put himself in a position where he’s always sitting down staring at an iPad and people are looking at him saying ‘you need to be standing up, getting in there and shouting something’. That’s not his demeanour and not his way.
He’s in a no-win situation because he has not really worked between the two roles. It’s difficult because I’ve met him on numerous occasions and I know what he’s like.
I know the players who I played with that played with him and I want him to do well. Ex-Manchester United players on TV won’t condemn him because they are trying to be honest but they want to stay respectful to an ex-teammate.
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Two holding midfielders against Leipzig was wrong
Solskjaer is too reliant on having two holding midfielders all the time. It doesn’t make sense.
He’s going into a game where you can’t go looking for a draw, but when you’re putting out two holding players, their coach [Julian Nagelsmann] couldn’t believe what they were doing.
That first half tells you why Manchester United got their team selection so wrong and you can’t just keep coming out against quality sides and changing your system for every game.
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When I played for United we were 4-4-2 and then when Eric Cantona came along it was 4-4-1-1. It was very flexible. Everyone would do every other person’s job. They’re not flexible in what they’re doing.
Look out for 'Parker's Picks' on eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app on Friday as Paul makes his predictions for the biggest matches of the Premier League weekend, including the Manchester derby.
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