Stand-in Solskjaer sidesteps job talk before critical period at United
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER’S reaction to the latest round of questions regarding his Manchester United future betrayed his true feelings about the most pivotal period of his interim reign.
To n i g h t ’s g a me a g a i n s t P a r i s S t Germain in the Champions League is followed by a trip to Chelsea in the FA Cup and the visit of title-chasing Liverpool: three games which could secure the interim manager’s position at Old Trafford.
While 10 wins from 11 have placed him alongside Mauricio Pochettino as the leading candidate to be named Jose Mourinho’s permanent successor, the manner in which he navigates this run could make it near-impossible to show him the door. In a room packed full of the world’s media inside Old Trafford, the Norwegian was asked if it was too simple to categorise these games as defining. “You need to change the script n ow,” h e s a i d . “You have so many ways of asking that question. That is too simple. There are still a few months left of this season for me to do whatever I can for the club. Of course, we are going to play against some top teams, but now is just to focus on this one. It has always been like that.”
Solskjaer’s transformation of a squad that was on its knees when he was brought in before Christmas has been remarkable. He has led United into the top four for the first time this season with a bigger points haul — 25 from nine games — than any other team in the top flight.
Anthony Martial, who Solskjaer (right) helped to convince to sign a new five-year contract this month, underlined the support from within the squad fo r the 1999 Treble-winning hero. “We have got a coach who has different intentions and we are trying to do what he asks,” said the France forward. “Perhaps it is easier for us to play this style of football than the one of the last coach. When our new coach came in he had a lot of confidence, a lot of determination. That was really helpful. We are trying to pay him back and things are working out well.”
The final decision on Mourinho’s permanent successor will rest with the Glazer family — and the sight of co-chairman Avram at two games in as many months is an endorsement of Solskjaer’s effect. Brought in to put smiles on faces, he has done so much more. And while he has been sticking to the party line that he will return to Molde at the end of the season, he is already planning for United’s longterm future, consulting executive vice chairman Ed Woodward on transfer policy. Doubts will hang over the futures of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez after Solskjaer’s decision to build his forward line around the mobile trio of Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Martial, who are all expected to start against PSG.
Solskjaer watched the draw on TV with his son Noah in Norway. A day later Mourinho was sacked and he was fielding an SOS call from Woodward.
“When Man United ring you and ask you to help, you take a chance and think you are going to help them,” he said. “Of course I didn’t know (what was going to happen). I was watching with Noah and we said ‘wow that is a tough challenge.’
“But we have given ourselves the best opportunity in the way we have gone into this game because we’re confident. If there was any time to go into big games like this, it is now. I have loved every single minute of it here. The squad is very capable of winning against any opponents. We have to look to PSG and make sure we go through this one and then take the next challenge as it comes. If we keep working every day, we can improve and maybe surprise a few.”