SO FAR, SO GOOD FOR OLE
Caretaker manager at Red Devils fits bill
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has spelt out why he believes he is the perfect candidate to take Manchester United forward beyond this season in his biggest push yet for the Old Trafford job.
Solskjaer has thrust himself into contention to become United’s permanent manager during an unbeaten start to his caretaker spell, winning nine of his first 10 games, transforming morale and overhauling the team’s tactics.
United were 11 points adrift of the Champions League spots when Jose Mourinho was sacked a week before Christmas, but they will move into the top four if they beat Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Solskjaer endured an ill-fated spell as Cardiff City manager in 2014, when he lost 12 of his 18 Premier League games in charge and the club were relegated.
But the former Norway striker believes he is an ideal fit for United, where he spent 11 years as a player, and hopes to convince his bosses before the end of the season that he is the right choice over Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino.
“Since [retiring in] 2007, I have watched the majority of [United’s] games and, of course, I had my opinion on what’s been going right and what’s been going wrong,” he said. “That’s what you do as a United supporter. So, I think I was more prepared for this one.
“It is easier here because I know what the DNA and identity of Manchester United is and what a Manchester United player is. It’s a winning identity. It’s a confident identity. We want to take risks. We want to go for the second, the third and the fourth goal because that’s just how we do things at Manchester United. If you can’t handle that then you are at the wrong club.
“This is a completely different club and situation to come into [than Cardiff]. Manchester United, of course, suits me a lot more than a club that struggles towards the bottom of the table. I wasn’t ready for that fight. I didn’t say I wasn’t ready for the Premier League. That’s different.”
United face an exacting February, with the Fulham game followed by the first leg of their Champions League round-of16 tie against Paris St-Germain, an FA Cup fifth-round match against Chelsea and Premier League games at home to Liverpool and away to Crystal Palace. Yet Solskjaer said he already had his team selections for those fixtures framed in his mind as he alluded to Alex Ferguson’s tactic of planning ahead.
“I knew the gaffer [Ferguson] was like that,” he told Sky Sports. “You do plan ahead and I think I have got my team quite ready for the full month.
“We have put ourselves in a great position and in a great vein of form. We are confident, we trust ourselves and we are ready for these games now. It’s all I hoped for and expected, and a little bit more.”
David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Mourinho all drew criticism for their defensive-minded and turgid football, as well as for their downbeat assessments of the squad and attempts to lower expectations.
Solskjaer has put the accent back firmly on attack, embraced youth and talked up his players. For example, he said he had prepared in part for the FA Cup tie against Arsenal last month by showing his squad footage of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-sung tearing through Arsenal in a 3-1 Champions League semifinal, secondleg win in 2009 and likened it to the counter-attacking roles Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard are now being asked to play a decade later.
“We should never forget those games because they are part of our history,” said Solskjaer. “My belief is to trust players and to trust them to play the right way.
“Whether it is back home with my daughter’s team or it’s this, I just love working with footballers who want to improve. I love speaking to them and giving them my help and my thoughts.” —
I know what the DNA and identity of Man United is