After Jose Mourinho was sacked in December 2018, Manchester United appointed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 'to put smiles back on faces'. That phrase soon became synonymous with Solskjaer's tenure and it encapsulated his management style at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer inherited a broken squad that was devoid of self-belief and he restored confidence in the dressing room, but he was tactically flawed and 'keeping players happy' was never going to offset his lack of tactical acumen in the long term. Solskjaer was sacked after a 4-1 loss to Watford last season and was fortunate to survive the defeats leading up to that match.
His nadir was the Liverpool debacle and yet a lifeless performance against Manchester City followed that humiliation. Solskjaer somehow survived those defeats but it was obvious that someone needed to shoot Bambi sooner rather than later.
