Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Manchester United were like Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca : they always had Paris but the romance had to end.
A common paean paid to Solskjaer in his eulogies was he restored the soul to United. For almost half of Solskjaer's tenure, the turnstiles were locked and the stadiums soulless.
United's form against the traditional elite nosedived: two wins from five against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Tottenham in the Premier League. United failed to score in six of the ten fixtures. A derby day is not a proper derby day without 'U-N-I-T-E-D' or 'Hark now hear'.
Players and staff were kept at a distance from supporters and Solskjaer risked distancing himself from them when confronted by militants at Carrington as the fallout from the Super League continued to spread. Eyewitnesses said Solskjaer defended Joel Glazer, insisting he 'loves the club'. United's absentee landlord has still not been to a match since April 2019.
It was not soulful for Solskjaer's final home and away games to be soundtracked to boos. Booing had become as regular on matchdays as Aaron Wan-Bissaka hitting the first man. They were audible at half-time against Atalanta - which irked Solskjaer - and full-time against Liverpool, when thousands left in their droves long before full-time. Some exited at the interval.
The zenith of Solskjaer's tenure was Scott McTominay's derby clincher, aptly the last game with a capacity crowd until an epidemic became a pandemic. A cacophony of whistles turned to the most jubilant cheers when McTominay's curler sent the ball into the vacant Stretford End net in the 96th minute.
Solskjaer peered through the blinding floodlights to celebrate with his family. Anthony Martial and Bruno Fernandes embraced, McTominay kissed the badge and stewards restrained matchgoers from spilling onto the pitch. United had clinched their first domestic derby double in 10 years and Fernandes had literally silenced Guardiola.
That memory rendered any win last season hollow. Solskjaer conceded the 5-0 thrashing of RB Leipzig was flattering and in the reverse fixture United were 3-0 down after 69 minutes. March's 2-0 win at City was more accomplished and impressive than the win there the previous season, only that was celebrated in front of a teeming away end.
The defeat of Jose Mourinho's Tottenham in December 2019 was more significant than April's success, and nocturnal FA Cup ties at Arsenal and Chelsea intensified the bond between matchgoers and team during Solskjaer's caretaker reign. It mattered more with matchgoers.
United were so glowing in their appraisal of Solskjaer after they sacked him one had to check he had been sacked as he was still on the club premises. His time as manager was trophyless and United have never celebrated a potless post-war manager.
Ralf Rangnick only made his public pitch a week ago and already one wonders how Solskjaer lasted so long. It is not a coincidence United's longest unbeaten run of the season was sparked by his sacking.
United players appear to have been reintroduced to tactics by Rangnick and, firstly, Michael Carrick. They have kept as many clean sheets since they shot Bambi as they had all season and Rangnick has restored control to their matches.
Rangnick has already indicated Raphael Varane and Edinson Cavani, back on the grass this week, will not be considered for selection until next week. Solskjaer ran players into the ground and Anthony Martial missed the final months of last season with a knee injury. He is sidelined again.
"It's not a fresh injury," Rangnick stressed on Tuesday. "It’s symptoms that he had in the past, so we need to make sure he is reducing the amount of pain and hopefully we will have him back in training next week."
Scott McTominay sustained an early injury against Newcastle on Boxing Day in 2019, stayed on until half-time, came off, left the stadium on crutches and did not play for two months. He started this season after no pre-season and, barely a week after coming off against Leeds, underwent groin surgery.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, and Bruno Fernandes have been United's poorest performers this season and three were in the top four of last season's appearance list along with Marcus Rashford, overplayed to the detriment of his form. Paul Pogba and Varane have had long lay-offs with muscular injuries and Cavani's fitness was a bone of contention dating back to March.
Rangnick is refining United's backroom staff, recruiting the sports psychologist Sascha Lense and assistant coach Chris Armas. Some United players have used a psychologist in the past.
Lense and Armas worked under the Red Bull group and a cynic might wonder when United are about to announce their new energy drink partner. It is common practice for a coach to be surrounded by allies and Rangnick has ended the jobs for the boys culture that was rife under Solskjaer.
Solskjaer was a manager rather than a coach whereas Rangnick is both. He stayed behind at Carrington on Wednesday afternoon to personally drill Zidane Iqbal, Charlie Savage, Shola Shoretire, and Bjorn Hardley ahead of their matchday squad inclusion against Young Boys. The players also ate their pre-match meal in Rangnick's company at the training complex.
Anthony Elanga suffered from Solskjaer's indecision. The 19-year-old's pre-season training performances demanded full-time promotion to the first-team squad or a loan and he got neither. Elanga made his first meaningful appearance of the season in Rangnick's first match as manager and started in midweek.
Rangnick is dropping truth bombs with his objective assessments. "In the last 10 minutes of the first-half we played more or less like the team played in the weeks before," he said after the draw with Young Boys. "We were less proactive, we were dropping back too far. What annoyed me most was the way we played to the pressing first line."
On the eve of his final game, Solskjaer claimed United had 'put a few things right'. The more he emphasised the 'good week' of training, the worse the result that weekend. The early evidence suggests Rangnick is righting the wrongs.
Solskjaer will always have Paris.
