Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
GREENWOOD IS A NEW BABY-FACED ASSASSIN FOR OLE
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER believes Manchester United have discovered another Baby-Faced Assassin in Mason Greenwood.
Solskjaer’s youthful looks belied a ruthless nature in front of goal when he was a player in Sir Alex Fefguson’s all-conquering United teams two decades ago.
And, in 18-year-old Greenwood, he recognises a kindred spirit, who shows no fear on the Old Trafford stage.
Greenwood has scored 17 goals in his breakthrough season – including four in the last three games.
And Solskajer said: “At that age, you’ve got so much energy, no fear, you just want to play football.
“If we had a day off, Mason would be out playing football with his mates.
“We just need to look after him. He’s a fantastic boy who loves football and gets the rewards for his hard work.
“We know what he’s capable of and always trusted him to be a part of this squad and chip in with performances and goals.
“He’s just a natural footballer and when you put natural good footballers in with better footballers, that gives him more chances to show his qualities.
“This club know what they’re doing when educating players.”
United are bidding for glory on three fronts on the back on a 17-match unbeaten run.
Their quest for a top-four finish and Champions League qualification continues when Southampton arrive at Old Trafford tomorrow night.
Fergie will again be an interested observer – after Solskjaer revealed his former boss has become a big armchair fan during lockdown.
Questions were asked when the Norwegian was made United manager.
But it is clear from the way his players are now performing that he is committed to the kind of attacking philosophy that the club is based on.
Solskjaer said: “I think you have a responsibility when you are at Man United to play a certain way and play with pace and power. You’ve got to attack quickly and you’ve got to have some youth players in there.
“You’ve got to have courage and risk things, so sometimes we do leave ourselves open at the back.
“But that’s also an instinct I learned from my time here at the club with Sir Alex.
“You have to give players the freedom to express themselves, but you’ve also got to work hard – and that’s improving. Sir Alex is watching the games – he’s watching everything. There have been a couple of texts because, of course, we’ve not managed to meet up.
“We’ve had some good games and, hopefully, we can continue this.”
Solskjaer admitted that returning to Europe’s elite will help with his plans to make United title contenders again.
He added: “There’s quite a lot of planning going on and that is obviously determined by how far we go in Europe.
“You’ve got to plan for different scenarios.
“I don’t think the club would panic or go crazy with plans that we’ve already talked about for years to come.
“You do have to have a long-term plan, but some short-term decisions will be easier to make if you get the Champions League.”