Ole Gunnar Solsjaer has been such an inspiration since arriving back at Old Trafford in December.

The Norwegian interim manager has brought in an infectious positivity and attacking philosophy that’s lifted the gloom that surrounded Manchester United under former boss Jose Mourinho.

Ole’s managed to get the most out of the club’s youngsters and has watched on as star players like Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford have flourished.

In his ten games in charge, Solskjaer has guided United to nine wins and one draw. They’ve also preformed in the big games producing wins against Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.

They’ve scored twenty-five goals in those ten games, showing that Man Utd really are at their best when they attack their opponents.

The Man United squad have all been positively impacted upon due to Solskjaer new attacking mentality as witnessed in their goals and their superb performances.

The Red Devils caretaker has stated in a recent interview with Sky Sports how much he likes working with and improving footballers:

“Whether it is back home with my daughter’s team or it’s this, I just love working with footballers who want to improve,”  

“I love speaking to them and giving them my help and my thoughts. That’s what coaching is about. It’s about improving players. It’s not about anything but that really.”

It’s this enthusiasm with improving players and playing with an attacking intent that has seen United move up to fifth place in the Premier League and fighting for a top four spot.

Yet for all the great performances, for me, Ole’s greatest influence thus far has been convincing French forward Anthony Martial to sign a new deal to stay at Old Trafford.

The club’s website announced that the attacker has put pen to paper on a new deal that will keep him at United until 2024.

Why is this deal so significant? 

Well the French internationalist is an extremely gifted player. He’s got the potential to become a world class striker. Yet under Mourinho, you could tell that Anthony had become disillusioned with life at Man Utd.

He was given very little time as a central striker, instead he was deployed on the left and asked to be more defensive minded. Even when he adapted and played well on the left wing he was dropped as soon as Alexis Sanchez arrived in January 2018. Mourinho would often criticise Martial, even though the youngster was one of his team’s best performing players.

Since Solskjaer’s first game in charge, Anthony Martial has played in seven games; scoring twice and creating an assist. The forward in total this term has scored ten goals for his side.

He has that dribbling ability to glide passed opponents, curl in shots, win his fair share of headers and put the opposition on the back-foot.

He’s the type of exciting young player that gets Red Devils supporters off their seats.

Managed properly, I’ve got no doubts that Martial will become a top top forward!

The new deal has shown the rest of the world that Manchester United are bouncing back and that they can convince their best players to commit to the cause. That’s the sign of a big club and a club with a positive future.

Chelsea are struggling to convince young talent to stay at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal are losing talisman Aaron Ramsey for nothing in the summer (Via The Guardian) and Tottenham have players like Danny Rose and Toby Alderweireld questioning their futures at the club.

The two Premier League title challengers Liverpool and Manchester City are the ones leading by example. Liverpool have tied down a host of players to new longer term deals in the past twelve months and you don’t hear of much discontent coming from City’s squad.

Man United have a renewed confidence and with Anthony Martial signing a new long term contract, it shows that the squad’s best talent believe that the future looks bright at Old Trafford again.

All credit to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for bringing that confident feeling back to the Red Devils. I think convincing the club’s talent to sign new deals will see the caretaker move a step closer to the full time position!

Posted on February 5th, 2019 by scott
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