Solskjaer the Man for United?
Having sacked Jose Mourinho before Christmas, Manchester United have since been linked with several big names in management.
However, instead of appointing a new permanent manager half-way through the season, the club opted to go for a temporary boss until the end of the campaign. The man chosen came as a surprise to many and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was announced as the caretaker manager of Manchester United.
The Norwegian striker enjoys legendary status at the club but that alone is not a reason to appoint someone the manager of one of the biggest clubs in world football. Solskjaer does have previous experience of managing in English football but was relegated from the Premier League as manager of Cardiff City and sacked the following the season.
In October 2015, Solskjaer signed a three and a half year deal to become of the manager of Molde in his native Norway. He has twice led the club to second place in the Eliteserien and has taken them to first place in a Europa League group which contained Celtic, Fenerbahce and Ajax.
Despite enjoying a decent spell in charge of Molde, these are not the credentials of a man ready to become manager of Manchester United. However, the one thing in favour of Solskjaer is his relationship with the fans and the players.
Manchester United have won all four of the matches overseen by Solskjaer and while they have all been against teams the Red Devils were expected to beat, there has been a marked difference in the approach to games.
The fans have witnessed attacking football, with Paul Pogba being allowed to express himself further up the field and Marcus Rashford playing through the middle on a regular basis and scoring goals. The atmosphere surrounding the club appears to have completely changed and Solskjaer has lifted the spirits of everybody involved with Manchester United.
In the history of Manchester United, only Sir Matt Busby won his first four games in charge of the club but Solskjaer has matched the illustrious manager. However, tougher tests are on the horizon. Manchester United face a free-flowing Tottenham Hotspur away in their next Premier League game and have Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
While the attacking side of Manchester United’s play has improved, the Red Devils still look suspect at the back. The defence kept a clean sheet at Newcastle United last time out but there were times when they looked shaky and Newcastle could have scored. Any mistakes at Spurs and Manchester United will be punished.
Solskjaer has enjoyed a dream start to the job but the fact the mood has lifted since Mourinho’s departure may be more to with the fact the Portuguese has gone rather than the impact the Norwegian has had in terms of management.
Mauricio Pochettino remains the favourite with the bookmakers to take over at Manchester United next season. Solskjaer will be hoping he can lead Manchester United to victory over Pochettino’s current team and get his own name at the top of the list in the process.
If the Norwegian can take Manchester United into the top four and defeat PSG in the Champions League, the board will have a tough decision to make in the summer.
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