Club Brugge hopes to finish the current season without too many problems, but it is increasingly clear that making play-off 1 is almost impossible. Next season should go better and the new head coach will have to take care of that. Several profiles have been mentioned as a potential new Club Brugge coach, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer added last to the list. Apart from two titles with Molde FK, the Norwegian has had few impressive results as head coach and failed miserably in his latest adventure at Manchester United.
SOLSKJAER ON THE LIST AT CLUB BRUGES
Vincent Mannaert and Bart Verhaeghe have something to make up for at Club Brugge. The dismissal of Carl Hoefkens, who guided Club Brugge to the eighth finals of the Champions League for the first time in club history, was already much discussed, while his successor Scott Parker was a real miscast. Rik De Mil will take over as interim trainer until the end of this season, but a definitive solution must be found in the coming weeks and months. According to journalist Sacha Tavolieri, Club Brugge is already considering making Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was also mentioned at RSC Anderlecht in 2016, the new head coach.
A new blunder in the appointment of the head coach is therefore out of the question for Vincent Mannaert and Bart Verhaeghe, and from that point of view it is questionable whether the Norwegian ex-top football player would be such a good choice. Although Solskjaer won the Norwegian national title twice at Molde FK, he fared much worse at a higher level. He was relegated from the Premier League with Cardiff City, before being sacked when the club found itself in the lower echelons of the Championship. And at Manchester United, his last assignment as head coach, he did not win a single trophy in almost three years.
FOLLOWING FERGUSON WITHOUT A PLAN
Ole Gunnar Solskjær wanted to restore Manchester United’s identity and bring stability back to the club after the Mancunians previously appointed one manager after another: David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho. Solskjaer mirrored Sir Alex Ferguson, with whom he achieved the greatest successes in club history as a player. Solskjaer even aligned its purchasing policy with Ferguson’s example: Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Jadon Sancho, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes each had their best years ahead of them. In analogy with Ferguson, Solskjaer also focused on his own youth, with Brandon Williams, Scott McTominay and Mason Greenwood.
Manchester United played back with pace, width and plenty of attacking players. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer laid the foundations from 2018 to reach the final of the Europa League in 2021 and to be the runner-up in the Premier League. With 340 million investments in new players under his reign, that was of course not a real feat. But despite all the good intentions, Solskjaer never really got a clear line in his team’s game. Manchester United lacked balance and control in the games. The good performances alternated very often with sometimes dramatic matches.
The Manchester United fans, who always had great respect for the player and coach Solskjaer, saw a stereotypical team on the field, who allowed far too many chances and goals against. Especially in the transition moments, United proved to be very vulnerable under the Norwegian coach. But the most worrying thing was that the team lacked style and strategy, something that was strongly denied at the Carrington training center, but was noticeable during the games. Manchester United sometimes had no plan, and the opponents often even adjusted their own tactics to that.
ONE OF THE EASIEST OPPOSITIONS
“We train tactically the day before a match, based on how the opponent will play,” said Kevin De Bruyne at the time. “Before the match against United, Pep (Guardiola, ed.) said: ‘We don’t know how they are going to play. We will see. And then we stopped the training after 10 minutes.” Other clubs and coaches also noted the same about Manchester United’s (non-existent) game plan. A then Premier League manager stated at the time that Solskjaer was not made to be a coach at that level and that Manchester United were one of the easiest opponents to prepare for under his reign.
In addition, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was not the best people manager either. The sympathetic Norwegian is a pleasant and nice person, but that does not necessarily mean that you are a good people manager. Solskjaer brought more harmony to the club, which was not the case for his time, and he gave great confidence to his coaching staff, medical staff and data analysts. He listened to advice and implemented it, which earned him great respect in the backroom staff. But in the end only the results count, and they were therefore very disappointing.
NO IDEAL CANDIDATE FOR CLUB BRUGES
This season, Club Brugge is a drifting ship that sailed a historic course in the Champions League, but has lost track in its own country. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer therefore does not seem to be the most suitable coach to take on Club Brugge next season, because at Manchester United he was unable to align the team, the results and performances were inadequate, and moreover his people were -management skills not of a very high level. In addition, his previous passage at Cardiff City was also not positive. Solskjaer is therefore not the ideal candidate to guide Club Brugge back to new successes.
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