You don’t have to be a fly on a luxurious Dubai wall to know that Manchester United’s stars are far more relaxed and happier with life under their new interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The pictures coming out of the United Arab Emirates have all been about the players enjoying the warm weather training, the dark clouds that surrounded the club while Jose Mourinho was in charge have certainly been lifted.

Ole, a club legend, has come into Old Trafford and he’s brought with him an attacking philosophy and a positive outlook. Those attributes have brought with them a run of five wins in a row. Within that run; The Red Devils have scored sixteen goals and they’ve managed to keep cleansheets in their last two outings.

United are now chasing down a place in the Premier League’s lucrative top four places.

The first big, serious test for Solskjaer comes this weekend as they take on Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, at Wembley.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has been widely tipped to be the United board’s favoured person to takeover the Red Devils managerial hotseat on a permanent basis. Oddschecker have the Tottenham gaffer as the bookies favourite, with Ole sitting just behind him.

So if the Norwegian coach wants to keep the Man United job on a full-time basis and he’s stated to The Metro that he does, then you’ve got to believe he needs to keep the winning run going and he needs to beat the bigger sides.

Spurs are currently lying in third place and are a full ten points ahead of their opponents. The Lilywhites have won their last three fixtures, having recently beaten Chelsea in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final.

TSolskjaer needs to figure out a way of keeping the likes of Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen quiet, while also getting the best out of his attacking talent.

United have been confident in Ole’s first five games and they’ve had the confidence to keep pushing forward. That doesn’t mean that they’ve completely sorted out their defensive problems. On Sunday, it will be the backline’s greatest test since their new interim boss took charge.

Can Ole Gunnar Solskjaer handle the pressure? Can he get important away wins? Can he build better defensive foundations at the back?

Well his first big test is coming this weekend and we’ll soon know a lot more about the form-five year old’s managerial credentials and whether he’s a longterm solution for the Manchester United managerial position.

Posted on January 11th, 2019 by scott
Filed under: Article