The silence coming from Old Trafford in the wake of the humiliating 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool 24 hours earlier is deafening.
It was there in the days leading up to Jose Mourinho’s sacking, where the Manchester beat journalists were no longer being fed the line that the board is unequivocally backing their man as they had been in the weeks leading up to it.
They have been given repeated chances to offer the manager a vote of confidence, but none has been so-far forthcoming.
Silence at Old Trafford usually means there is something going on behind the scenes, and this time it is concerning Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
According to reports from the Guardian’s Jamie Jackson, managing director Richard Arnold, who is set to take over from Ed Woodward as the club’s chief executive in the coming weeks, cancelled all of his appointments on Monday in order to address the situation.
He reportedly held crisis talks with the club’s American ownership – and particularly Joel Glazer, who lives in Florida. The Glazers are in a time zone five hours behind the UK, so any decision would be expected late in the day, or even in the coming days as a replacement would need to be found.
According to the Daily Mail, Solskjaer also spent two-and-a-half hours at the club’s Carrington training ground around lunchtime despite the whole squad and coaching staff having been given a day off.
Both Mourinho and David Moyes were sacked following a Sunday afternoon defeat (UK time), with the latter losing 2-0 at Everton to condemn United to finishing outside the top four, and the former after losing 3-1 to Liverpool.
In both instances, their sacking did not come until Tuesday (UK time), so if something will happen this week, it would be more likely Wednesday morning (AEDT) given the time difference with America, where the club floats on the US stock exchange.
The ‘if’ is in response to the new three-year deal he was given less than six months ago, and the one given to his assistant Mike Phelan a few weeks ago. Solskjaer’s other assistants, Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna, are also in talks over a new deal.
However, if it is true that he has now lost the support of the players – who had always backed him and are grateful to him for healing them of their scars from Mourinho’s era – then the decision is a simple one.
A number of reports, including from the BBC and ESPN, claim that an increasing number of players are starting to lose faith in Solskjaer and don’t trust his tactics. They believe he is out of his depth in comparison to the managers at Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City.
The Telegraph claims that “significant parts of the dressing room have lost faith in the manager’s ability”, while other senior Old Trafford sources accepted there was “a lot to do to turn things around” and that Liverpool “let them off lightly”.
It adds that his team selections and tactical acumen have been questioned inside the dressing room and despite remaining well-liked as a person, opinions towards him have hardened.
One source told the Telegraph that there was huge disbelief that Solskjaer picked the same team to face Liverpool that had been so defensively frail during the 3-2 comeback victory over Atalanta four days earlier. Solskjaer was also challenged by a number of players during frank exchanges before that Atalanta game.
Eric Bailly reportedly raised concerns as to why Harry Maguire played against Leicester after one training session following three weeks out – a game he was dreadful in – while the likes of Donny van de Beek, Jesse Lingard and Nemanja Matic are being frozen out despite those ahead of them in the pecking order doing nothing to suggest they deserve to keep getting more chances.
Cristiano Ronaldo himself is also apparently becoming frustrated by Mason Greenwood’s decision-making and reluctance to pass in goal-scoring positions and even made a remark about the attitudes of some younger players in the squad prior to the Liverpool debacle.
While it can be shrugged off as the players just absolving themselves of any responsibility, the on-field frustration show by the likes of Ronaldo and Paul Pogba and the general lack of desire to track runners points to one of two things: an inability to do so, or just simply an unwillingness to. Either way it’s a terrible look for Solskjaer.
Solskjaer reportedly warned his players to brace themselves for a week of intense pressure during a heartfelt rallying cry following Monday morning’s (AEDT) hitting of “rock bottom”.
The Daily Mail claims he called on his players to “fight” their way back and the only way they’d all get through it is by sticking together and coming up with a strong response.
“It was made clear to the players that they all, including the manager, would get battered this week,” said the source. “But the message was that the team either fights each other or fight back together.”
Players, however, seem unconvinced by this message judging by the number of reports suggesting their lack of belief in the manager now.
Antonio Conte is willing to consider replacing Solskjaer at Manchester United, but reservations are held on both sides of the negotiating table, although the club has insisted no contact has been made yet, despite reports from Italy to the contrary.
The Italian, who won the Premier League with Chelsea and last season took Internazionale to the Serie A title, would reportedly want full control at Old Trafford for him to agree to taking over from Solskjaer.
He usually refuses to take a job midseason as it is more difficult get his tactics across, but for United, he would make an exception.
However, the club were left scarred by Mourinho and Solskjaer spent the first two years of his reign successfully undergoing a “cultural reboot” as he reconnected the fans with the players and brought back the feeling of the club as it was under Sir Alex Ferguson. Conte is a fiery, divisive figure and left both Chelsea and Inter after clashing with the hierarchies, something United are keen to avoid again.
Former Red Devil Gary Neville, insisted that the club cannot turn to such a “hitman” who will do the job for two years and leave it to deal with the mess again.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said: “They won’t bring a hitman in again. A hitman who comes in and does a job for two years. Conte’s available but I wouldn’t bring him to Manchester United. I wouldn’t bring him here now, I wouldn’t.
“I don’t think Antonio Conte is a fit for Manchester United. I don’t think he’s a fit. I might be wrong, they might bring him here tomorrow and I’d get behind him.
“We’ve seen a coach with a specific style like Louis Van Gaal didn’t work here. I’m not saying there isn’t a manager who can come to Manchester United and do well.”
Even if a decision is made to sack Solskjaer this week, the likelihood is that a new manager wouldn’t brought in for a number of weeks, leaving former midfielder and current technical director Darren Fletcher as the most likely man to lead the team in the interim.
As well as Conte, Ajax’s Erik ten Hag and former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane are also favourably looked up, as is PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino, although he would be the toughest to appoint.
Story first published on Fox Sports Australia