OLE’S THE SPECIAL WON Five-in-a-row Solskjaer’s set his United stars free, fired up Pogba, plugged a leaky defence and brought Fergie into inner sanctum
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER’S bid to become the permanent manager of Manchester United is becoming more compelling with every game.
The 45-year-old Norwegian guided United into the fourth round of the FA Cup by winning his FIFTH successive game since becoming interim boss after the sacking of Jose Mourinho.
And while a 2-0 victory over Championship strugglers Reading on the back of Premier League wins against Cardiff, Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Newcastle have given Solskjaer the perfect platform to strengthen his claim, the feel-good factor at Old Trafford has now started to seep through the corridors of power at the club.
Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino remains United’s No.1 target to take charge but there is a growing realisation that meeting Daniel Levy’s £40million compensation claim might not be enough to bring the Argentine 200 miles north to Manchester.
Real Madrid are also interested in Pochettino – but the 46-year-old has built a formidable team in North London and United are continuing to draw up a hit-list of potential alternatives should their firstchoice manager escape them.
Solskjaer already has staunch supporters on United’s football board.
We take a look at how he is building his bid to convince the executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and the American owners that his sabbatical from Molde should be made permanent at the end of the season.
WINNING GAMES
SOLSKJAER has become only the second United manager to win his first five games. The first was Matt Busby.
The gap to the top four has now been slashed to six points with 17 games of the season remaining and if Solskjaer can deliver a place in the Champions League then he will have achieved more than the club expected when they asked him to heal a dressing room that had been torn apart by Mourinho’s methods.
Next up for United is a trip to face Pochettino’s Tottenham at Wembley. A victory over the man who is the club’s top choice to take charge in the summer would crank up Solskjaer’s growing reputation at the club another notch.
SIR ALEX FERGUSON
THE former United manager is once again exerting his influence in the boardroom following his health scare last May – and he is a staunch supporter of the man who once scored a goal to win him the European Cup.
Fergie was instrumental in the decision to replace Mourinho and take the extraordinary step of bringing in an interim boss, whose only previous managerial experience in the Premier League ended with Cardiff being relegated.
The 77- year- old Scot is also a huge admirer of the job that Pochettino (below) is doing at Spurs – and wanted United to make a move for the Argentine when David Moyes’ attempt at replacing the club’s most successful manager ended in April 2014 only for Louis van Gaal to come in.
Ferguson’s fingerprints are all over the way United have thrown off the Mourinho shackles and if a kindred spirit like Solskjaer can continue to improve the team m then the Norwegian will have a strong ng ally in the boardroom next May.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ON
ONE of Solskjaer’s first orders s when he took over was to tell Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial that he wanted them to spend less energy tracking back to defend so that they could exploit their explosiveness where it mattered.
Both forwards looked like they were tethered to a ball and chain under Mourinho, but now they are operating higher up the pitch and are on the front foot.
Rashford, in particular, has looked a revelation in the central attacking role he favours and his cool strike at Newcastle in midweek hinted that Solskjaer’s promise to make him a better finisher is paying off.
Solskjaer has brought an immediate improvement in United’s results and performances because he trusts his players.
PAUL POGBA
THE sight of the French midfielder arriving late in the six-yard box of the opposition to score goals at the Stretford End is what was envisaged when United sanctioned a worldrecord £89m transfer fee to bring him back to Old Trafford.
Despite the flicks, tricks and terrible dance moves, Pogba is a simple soul who just wants to be loved. Solskjaer has found a cure for the man Mourinho called “a virus” by letting him to do the things he does best.
Pogba does not possess the discipline to operate as the deep-lying playmaker who protects his defence, but he has got the vision, the technique and the physicality to influence games with a flash of genius.
DEFENSIVE STABILITY
SOLSKJAER has abandoned the flat backfour that invited pressure by ordering his full-backs to push up high and get United on the front foot.
But his tactical plan has an insurance policy that includes s both Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera offering protection as central midfield screens. s
Victor L Lindelof, in particular, is thriving under the greater responsibilit sibility and has blossomed into a bal ball-playing centre-back.
Un United need another centreback and a new right-back, but Sols Solskjaer’s better use of the play players at his disposal has enab enabled the team to make the mo most of the potent counteratta attacking threat they have.