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Rodgers up and running thanks to late Vardy double
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER will be a harder taskmaster than his ‘smiley’ reputation suggests when he gets the Manchester United job full time.
United’s historic Champions League success at Paris Saint-Germain means it’s a question of when rather than if the Norwegian interim is confirmed as Jose Mourinho’s permanent successor.
But ahead of today’s trip to Arsenal — which could define who finishes in the top four — Solskjaer is using United’s remarkable run to lay down a few markers, emphasising the workload his Old Trafford superstars need to challenge the very best like Manchester City and Liverpool.
‘The foundation is here. We just need to add a few attributes to the squad, like we saw against PSG,’ he said. ‘I’m talking about things like total running distance — that was the highest we’ve ever had. That has to continue. There’s absolutely no reason why Man United shouldn’t be the hardest-working team in the league.
‘Ask all the players back home (in Molde). One of the things I always demand from my players is work-rate and attitude and fitness.
‘So we need to keep working on the fitness and next season the players know they will be asked if they want to challenge the top.
‘They have got to get the habits, they’ve got to improve all the time — because that’s what the best teams in the league do. They run more than us. That’s not acceptable, really.’
Solskjaer has won all nine of his away games as United manager and talking like a man who has been told he’s in it for the long term.
‘I love to work with teams that play forward, run forward, chase the ball and work harder than the opposition,’ he added.
‘When you play for Manchester United, you can’t just think: “I’m talented, I’ll just do my magic when I get the ball”.
‘That’s not enough and it’s not going to be good enough if we want to challenge the top two.’