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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's interview with 'The Overlap' was widely circulated when he said: "In previous years, players like Andreas Pereira, James and Jesse Lingard could be on the run all the time and it was always easy to form a team and beat Manchester City. "It sounds like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer thinks it's easy to beat Manchester City, but that's not what Solskjaer intended, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's original intention was that it doesn't matter if you win a single game, the key is that we are Manchester United and we need to go toe-to-toe with a team like Manchester City.
Solskjaer's general meaning: You know I've finished second and third in the league in two full seasons, we've made good progress, but we've been behind Manchester City in both seasons, so are we ready to challenge for the title? It was the hardest because we started the season and everyone agreed that Liverpool, Manchester City and even Chelsea had a stronger squad than us. Manchester United could lose two games anyway, against Manchester City and Liverpool, which are the best teams in football in the last four or five years, so what's the point of a game like this if you lose a game and you don't score any goals?
This is from the perspective of the team, and if Manchester United wants to become a stronger team, it must collide with Manchester City and Liverpool against each other, rather than relying on defensive counter-attacks to win. From a player's point of view, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also explained: If a player feels that he is strong enough, but you have arranged a counter-attacking tactic, it is tantamount to telling the player that he is not as good as the opponent.
In fact, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's real counter-attacking use of defense was only his first full season in charge of Manchester United, and it was against strong teams such as Manchester City and Liverpool, and Manchester United gradually began to attack in the second season. This is also the subject that successive managers of Manchester United in the post-Ferguson era need to go through: the cup game depends on the defense, the league depends on the attack.
This is also the question that Manchester United INEOS needs to consider after taking over Manchester United, what kind of tactical system does Manchester United need? Is Inzaghi's tactic at Inter Milan a defensive counter-attack? Not anymore, their centre-backs can dribble through midfield and press hard. There are no advantages or disadvantages in tactics, but each club has its own traditions, and Manchester United is better off finding its own traditions, and any manager who comes to Manchester United must adapt to Manchester United's traditions, just like Barcelona's passing and Ajax's 433 all-attacking and defending.
Defensive counterattack is a big subject, Solskjaer's transition from low post defense to midfield interception is very good, the transition to high pressing was interrupted by the joining of Ronaldo, although Ten Hag's current high position has a lot of possession, but it looks like a mutual stabbing game, and his spearhead is still not as sharp as the opponent. What kind of tactics do United need?