Ole, OIe Ole Oleee...

Loyal servant, classy striker, game-rescuer, versatile in attack, a gentleman of the game. Legend.

How often do you get a player who is some, let alone all, of these? All big clubs need a player that doesn't always play but give immense contribution more than proportionate to their playing time. Ole was such a player for Man Utd. This week, he decided that because of his knee injury it was right to call time on a glorious playing career that had won him fans from friend and foe.

Solskjaer's party piece was coming off the bench as a sub and scoring to either spark a comeback, secure a draw, clinch a win or cement one. According to Fergie, he had a knack for reading the game and understanding it while on the bench; this enabled him to devise some kind of plan to make an immediate impact on the game.

Ole came to Manchester United for a mere £1.5million. Despite all of his qualities, throughout his career at Man Utd, he only ever had a few seasons where he started regularly, but never complained about being on the bench. Ironically, because of his ability to change the game, Fergie considered him a better player as a substitute than as a starter, which might have done harm to his playing time.

Ole set the story of his career with his first game at Blackburn in the 96-97 season; scoring within 6 minutes of his introduction as a substitute to secure a draw. In the years to come, he would gain a reputation as one of the most feared finishers in the Premiership. Not for nothing was he nicknamed "The Baby-Faced Assassin", a title he professed to dislike; in Man Utd's Treble season, he scored a late winners against Liverpool in the FA Cup and Bayern Munich in the European Cup Final. Subsequently he would become more of a regular starter in the 2001-2003 yrs, helping United wrest back the Premier League crown in 02-03 after Arsenal had broken their hold a year before.

Happier times

In 2003, Ole would suffer a serious knee injury; its effect and recurrences kept him out for almost 3 years, until the 06/07 season. During this period of time, fans sang his name in the stands and a "20Legend" banner would often be seen flying high as fans showed their loyalty and support for one of the club's favorite sons. Their patience was rewarded in United's second league game of the 06-07 season where he scored in the 89th minute in an away game against Charlton.

They did not have to wait much longer for his first goal at Old Trafford since April 2003 against Liverpool. In true Ole fashion, Man Utd were tied 2-2 in a Champions League tie at Old Trafford. Who else but Solskjaer was on hand to bang in a Saha pass in the 91st minute to win the game.

Next was his first Premiership goal at home since the injury where he was in the right place to tuck in a Ronaldo belter that had rebounded off the post against Newcastle.

Who put the ball in the Scouser's net? - After coming on as a substitute (surprise, surprise) in Man Utd's 3rd round clash with Liverpool in the 98/99 season, Ole slots neatly into David James's near post in the 92nd (surprise, surprise) minute to send Old Trafford into bedlam

Ole was a complete forward who had a bit of everything, though most fans will immediately respond "finishing" when asked to name his greatest trait. Near post, far post, left foot, right foot, low sidefoots and close-range blasts, decent heading, long range curling efforts, and immaculate volleying from all sorts of wierd angles and contorted body shapes. Throw in a couple of bicycle kicks for good measure. Perhaps his most favored finish was the grasscutter which he would knock into the far post from acute angles with either foot, or those that he would slot low beside the keeper's foot or under him; the kind that makes you confused about whether to save with your feet while standing up, or fall backwards and save with your hands, and which you'll end up doing neither or attempting both but conceding because of the decision making time involved. His excellent control and first touch often got him past the last man, creating one-on-one situations for himself. On other occassions, he fooled defenders with his fakes and shimmys to set himself up for a shot.

Besides his skill in finishing, Ole had excellent movement and thus fit into United's attacking system perfectly. One of the reasons Fergie felt confident about selling Beckham was Solskjaer's versatility as a right winger. Ole had a great cross in him and offered different options from Beckham with his mobility. A great example would be his assist to Rooney in the Roma away Champions League match last season.

"Beckham... into Sheringham... and Solskjær has won it!"

Ole wheels away in celebration after scoring one of the most famous goals in Manchester United history -

a second injury-time goal to snatch victory from defeat against Bayern Munich in the European Cup Final of 1999

As a Utd fan, there are countless special memories in my heart, and Ole is involved in many of them; that unforgettable night in Barcelona; the four goals after coming on as a sub against Forest after Cole and Yorke had notched 2 apiece. Countless other important goals, most scored during injury time, that changed the result of the match. I remember choking abit when he celebrated with a simple bow and one-handed salute to the away fans after scoring against Charlton, and also with the winner against Celtic shortly after, this time with a more expressive celebration. The look on his face as he put 2 years of injury nightmare behind him said, "I've waited and bided my time. Now I'm back."

I found this comment on Guardian Unlimited's article on Solskjaer's retirement and I just had to put it in:

"If you were leading Man U 1-0 at your place with 20 minutes to go, Solskjaer's track suit would come off his number held up and there was a grim inevitability about what would happen next...... You knew it, your centre backs knew it, your goal keeper knew it, your manager knew it, what was worse the away fans in knew it. "

- Marwelldezueew
August 28, 2007 3:07 PM

***
Football 365's article:

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8742_2691204,00.html

Guardian Unlimited Blog's article:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/08/28/the_joy_of_six_solskjaer_momen.html