On The Ball | Ole Gunnar Solskjaer shows he has an eye for fine margins in Manchester United’s push back to the top
- Solskjaer followed in Alex Ferguson’s footsteps by rectifying a sight issue United players had complained about
- The Norwegian has previously spoken about gaining fine margins
Alex Ferguson had never thought much about footballers’ eyesight until he received a letter from Dr Gail Stephenson in 1996. Gail was a big United fan who went to games with her daughter Rebecca. Gail was also the vision expert at Liverpool University and had noted that United lost four of the five away games in a grey strip in the 1995-96 season. She explained to Ferguson that the drab colour made it much harder for the players to pick out their teammates than the regular kit. United didn’t wear grey again and started to win.
Gail had Ferguson’s attention and he invited her for a meeting. He was impressed and she became a trusted member of the back room staff. She made the case that players’ performances could be enhanced if their peripheral vision was improved. Ferguson had assumed that peripheral vision was a natural trait, like hair colour or height. He came to think that he was wrong.
“Players who spend most of their time roaming one side of the field (a left-back or right winger) will have good peripheral vision in one direction and poor in the other,” he wrote after learning of Gail’s research based on ice hockey players who were recovering from concussion. Ferguson felt that his players benefited from her insight – though not every player or member of Ferguson’s staff was so convinced. Some thought it valid, others less so. And that’s how it is now. Opinions have been sought among Manchester United players and staff about passing to a player wearing red while playing against a backdrop of red banners covering the seats at Old Trafford during this pandemic after a few of the players raised the issue.
Maybe I asked it because I’d spoken to Solskjaer in Granada last week in a casual conversation and said: “One defeat in 24 league games ...” and he replied: “If it wasn’t for that bad start at home it’d be even more.” United had won 54 per cent of home games in all competitions this season against 65 per cent away. It would usually be the other way around.
