Giving the Manchester United job to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was a decision of the heart, not the head.
After their worst start to a season for 30 years they now face a choice: stick or twist. I am not sure the club are in a position to think with their heart.
At some point that business element has to come in, which Ed Woodward is brilliant at, and they have to be ruthless in this scenario. You have to accept that Ole isn’t the guy.
Why? Well, do we know what his Manchester United are all about yet, 10 months after he took over from Jose Mourinho in December last year?
Almost a year to implement your style? Just look at Brendan Rodgers, right. It has taken him 20 games at Leicester to say, ‘This is how I play football’. Even Frank Lampard – I get what he is trying to do. Movement in midfield, creative, exciting.
I don’t know what Ole’s style is. Or his system. That’s what gets him sacked, not losing the next game against Liverpool.
Yet the biggest problem for Manchester United is not necessarily Ole. It is that the club don’t have a vision of what they want to be. They have gone for quick-fix, star players. Quick-fix star managers as well. None of those things have worked.
Now they are staring complete confusion in the face. On the pitch… it is so mediocre. But I find it really hard to blame the players. Pep Guardiola could coach this group and they wouldn’t get to the top four. They are doing their best.
They are what they are. A bunch of players being heavily weighted down by the badge, the Manchester United history. Players like Scott McTominay and Jesse Lingard should have been integrated into an experienced team. The responsibility should not be on their shoulders to get them back where they need to be.
The players have lost confidence. They take more touches than needed. Solskjaer has said himself they are not reacting instinctively. They are tightening up in key situations. They are playing with fear and nothing good comes with it. You need players to be risk takers in parts of the pitch. That’s why Daniel James has been their best player. They are scared to death.
Paul Pogba is part of the same story. I don’t know why they have not been able to motivate Pogba since he has been there. The longer that story goes on, I think it would be better for them to cut their losses and sell him and really rebuild and give some clear lines of what they want to be as a football club.
Top four is 100 per cent out of the question. Gone. Top six? When you look at Leicester and Wolves, there are teams around that area to make it a good battle for them to finish top six. It is not certain.
January and the summer transfer markets will tell us a lot about where United are going. It sounds really cold and hard but they need to buy better players.
United’s problems start with having no vision. They need to create some sort of link between Solskjaer, the manager, and the people doing the buying. They have not fulfilled this sporting director role still.
That would make a lot of sense to a club like United. Even if that is a slow process, it buys them time. At the moment everything is a mish-mash.
Jermaine is an ambassador for footie5 from thepools.com. footie5 is a weekly free-to-play football prediction game where you can win £25,000 just by predicting the scores of five matches from the English and Scottish leagues. Create leagues with family and friends and go for the jackpot. Download the app or play at www.footie5.com.