When the Premier League was founded in 1992, Sky threw money at its founder members. The clubs in turn spent swathes of money luring players from other European leagues, especially Serie A which, with its money, glamour and high-level competition, was the Premier League before the Premier League. Many of the players were names – often slightly older, slightly faded players with reputations built on performances in World Cups and European Championships. But Attillio Lombardo and Thomas Brolin didn’t come to Crystal Palace for the fish and chips on the team bus or to play under Steve Coppell. They came for the money.
Thirty years in, the Premier League’s standards have improved greatly. Players now come and stay for a variety of legitimate reasons. But in many ways the faded, once great player has been replaced by the faded, once great manager. In the past five years or so we have van Gaal at Manchester United, Dick Advocaat at Sunderland, Guus Hiddink at Chelsea and now Carlo Ancelotti at Everton. All past their best.
This is not meant as a criticism of older managers; Roy Hodgson has been excellent at Crystal Palace and Marcelo Bielsa has awoken a sleeping giant in Leeds United, but should rather serve as a reminder that managers are now the stars. The current title race (if we can call it such) is not pitched as Mané vs Agüero but rather Klopp vs Guardiola. The obsession with name brand managers explains why Tottenham are currently pissing away a king’s ransom on Paddy Power’s José Mourinho.
The obsession with styles, with pseudo-philosophies mean that a managerial appointment has become an existential exercise: Who are we? Where are we going? What matters to us? Do we take the Guermantes or the Swann way? (Reader, before you look up these managers, this is a Proust joke). A name – Klopp, Mourinho, Guardiola rings a bell, sets the key, reverberates. We live in the age of the manager as sage, as saviour, as God.
This is why the appointments of experienced, unspectacular men are pre-empted by scorn, by rage. Steve Bruce was nearly hounded out of the Newcastle job before he had managed a game. This is why Big Sam and Tony Pulis will never again get a crack at the Premier League. This is why Ole Gunnar Solskjær is in the crosshairs of so many, because he is not a once in a generation innovator-genius. But does that mean he is failing?
The question is one of criteria, of how we should we judge a manager. It can be broken down as follows; results, performances, recruitment and retention, youth development, man-management, mood.
In many Solskjær has performed admirably. He has overseen fine wins over Manchester City, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and good draws with Arsenal and Liverpool. Amongst these there have been some strong performances; brave, gritty, counter-attacking ones reminiscent of Bernard Hopkins great win against Félix Trinidad – boxing with the right hand held high, popping the jab to disrupt the opponent’s rhythm, full of tenacity and belief in the face of a skilled and dangerous opponent.
His recruitment and retention decisions have largely been very good. Lukaku was sold for what they paid for him – a stellar result for a B+ player. Fellaini was quietly sold to China. He somehow even managed to offload Alexis Sánchez to Inter Milan, albeit only for the season and with his wages subsidized. Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James are both excellent signings for today and tomorrow, Harry Maguire will come good and he has blooded a whole batch of youngsters who will either make the club money when sold or in the case of Mason Greenwood make a real contribution to the first team over the next few years. Unlike his post-Ferguson predecessors, he has not wasted money on inappropriate signings.
His man-management must be good as several players have improved greatly under his leadership; Lindelöf, Rashford, McTominay, Pereira, Fred, even the enigmatic Martial has performed better than he has for two or three years. No, Pogba hasn’t emerged from his cocoon of what? Self-pity? Injury? Indifference? There is a tedious mystery around the player but no matter, he will be gone in the summer, failing upwards to Real Madrid.
He has mostly kept the fans pretty happy – though last night’s loss to Manchester City was an undoubted low point. The overall mood around the club may still be a bit low but as a colossus humbled how could it be else? Crucially, it’s no longer a toxic, noisy place, he’s helped to quieten everything down – no more weekly stories about Luke Shaw’s issues or spats about transfers.
One criterion left off the list but running as an implicit thread through them all is will the manager leave the club in a better state than that in which it was found? Let’s keep it simple – yes. Solskjær may not be a genius: but he is a responsible, sensible human being, which for now is exactly what Manchester United need.
Fioruisce 