Ole Gunnar Solskjaer undoubtedly has made his mark at Manchester United. Even if the changes that were made to the side were small, the fruits of those changes are obvious. United haven't lost a single Premier League match since the Baby-faced Assassin took charge, the only blip on the radar being the PSG match.
Even after losing three starters in the first half of Sunday's Liverpool game, United survived and didn't play like they were too troubled. Although it seemed odd to opt for Jesse Lingard when he'd just come back from injury, as well as giving Andreas Pereira game time over Fred, the changes contributed to throwing Liverpool off considerably. Even with the number of injuries in the United squad, Solskjaer doesn't seem woried one bit.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s record as @ManUtd manager in the @PremierLeague:
10 Games
8 Wins
2 Draws
0 Defeats26 Goals Scored
6 Goals Conceded
6 Clean SheetsFirst PL manager to record 25 points from their first 10 games.
'Ole's at the wheel...' pic.twitter.com/qf75Pju1QP
— SPORF (@Sporf) February 24, 2019
The speculation surrounding the full-time position at United won't end until the very moment it's announced. Jurgen Klopp has said that Solskjaer will have the job next season, and Gary Neville was quoted as saying that Manchester United will have a mutiny on its hands if Solskjaer doesn't get the job.
Is it time to give Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the full-time job? pic.twitter.com/g6EfPDrCpN
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 25, 2019
That being said, a lot of credit must be given to assistants Mike Phelan and Michael Carrick. Phelan was a stalwart for the Manchester United sides of old under Sir Alex Ferguson, and he spent a ton of time on the touchline organizing United's stubborn defense on Sunday.
Carrick, as a player and assitant, has been absolutely brilliant. Carrick spent most of the time pondering tactics with Solskjaer, most of which seemed to do the job for United. It's fair to say that if United loses Solskjaer, it could lose Phelan and Carrick too.
Thanks for the support as always. We will take the clean sheet and go work to improve again. pic.twitter.com/8sK9nlEDfD
— Mike Phelan (@Mike_Phelan_1) February 24, 2019
Solskjaer understands what it means to be a part of Manchester United. As a player, he owes a lot of his success at United to Alex Ferguson's teachings — he played for a maniac who was also a very intelligent winner.
He frequently takes inspiration from Sir Alex as a manager too. Whether its having Sir Alex come to the training ground or speak before a match, Ole seems to be impressing on his players what it truly means to play for one of the world's biggest and most successful clubs. At press conferences, Solskjaer isn't talking down United's exploits like Mourinho did, rather he frequently acknowledges how much United should want to challenge for the title and not just the top four.
"The fans were unbelievable. For the whole 90 minutes. They were the 12th man today.” #MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 24, 2019
It's well understood that Solskjaer is relatively untested as a manger at a big club. His Cardiff City experiment in 2014 didn't go very well, but then again Cardiff City wasn't very good in the first place. Otherwise, Solskjaer won three trophies at Molde. That's more trophies than Mauricio Pochettino, Maurizio Sarri and Sean Dyche have combined.
Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson was never a tactically rigid and philisophical side like Klopp's Liverpool or Pep Guardiola's Manchester City. Rather, it was a side that had to exploit weaknesses, play with heart and win at all costs. The Norwegian is imparting that wisdom onto this United team, and the Red Devils would be absolutely foolish not to appoint Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as permanent manager.
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