Ole has let Pog off the leash
JAMAAL Lascelles is braced to face a rejuvenated Manchester United, claiming the Old Trafford players were not suited to Jose Mourinho. The Newcastle skipper is hoping to halt the charge of caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has won his first three JESSE LINGARD says Paul Pogba is back to his best because Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given him licence to thrill.
Lingard and Pogba came through the ranks together at Manchester United, before the Frenchman joined Juventus in 2012, and says his team-mate is playing with the freedom he enjoyed as a youth product.
And the England winger attributes that to Solskjaer allowing Pogba to play his natural game.
“He’s enjoying his football,” said Lingard. “He’s playing in the role he likes to play in, just inside off the left. He has the freedom to make things happen. He’s always got forward in that position and scored goals.
“Ole has helped him, 100 per cent. He has given him the confidence and licence to be free and play his game, and do what we know he can do.
“I can definitely see the Paul I used to know. I have seen him playing through the ranks and he is back to that player.”
Following Pogba’s rejuvenation, tomorrow’s game at Newcastle could provide a further test of Solskjaer’s ability to do what Jose Mourinho found impossible – properly utilise the talent of Alexis Sanchez.
The Chilean, who has missed nine games with a hamstring injury, has been an expensive failure at United since joining last January from Arsenal, with Mourinho unable to fit him into his jigsaw. But Solskjaer remains confident he can do just that.
He said: “He’s had some great training sessions the last few days. He wanted to play against Bournemouth but we have to manage him, as he’s been out for a month.
“But he’ll be involved against Newcastle. He wants to play all the time, he’s one of those characters. He put himself available but it was a few days too early for him.
“He’s not had enough fitness or whatever, but he’s champing at the bit and he’s a player that would benefit from the interchanging, the rotation, the movement. The more chances you create, the more times you get the ball into the final third, he’ll be an asset.”
Lingard is also enjoying working with Solskjaer again, having played under the Norwegian during his stint as reserve boss a decade ago.
“He’s great one-on-one with players, he has great man management,” said Lingard. “He knows what kind of a player I am. When I’m on the right wing he likes me to come inside and make things happen. He gives me licence and freedom to do that.
“He gave me my reserveteam debut. He was always there on hand to give advice and help the youngsters out. He helped me out coming through and I learnt a lot from him. He’s very special to this club.
“He knows where United has to be, and that’s at the very top and putting in performances like we did against Bournemouth.”
Solskjaer conceded after a third vibrant victory of his tenure that “tougher tests” lie in wait, not least of which is the trip to Newcastle.
United will travel with a threadbare defence after Eric Bailly’s red card left just two fit centre-halves in Phil Jones and Victor Lindelof. Chris Smalling remains out with a foot injury and Marcos Rojo’s continued niggles leave Solskjaer with a headache.
And there is no doubt Rafa Benitez will have been burning midnight oil formulating a plan to make it worse.
“It’s going to be a tough one,” said Solskjaer. “We need to keep clean sheets and we’ve not done that so far. So there’s loads we need to work on.”
@gideonbrooks