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Manchester United travelled to Wembley on Sunday well aware that a win would bring them level on points with Arsenal on 5th position. This was about to be the biggest Sunday of Solskjaer's managerial career and it was also a battle between two men who will be vying for the same post in the summer - the permanent job at Old Trafford.
The Norwegian had won the first 5 games as a Manchester United manager, however, he had been lucky with the choice of his oppositions. As such, Tottenham away was billed to be the first real test for Solskjaer, who had returned his former team to a free-flowing attacking brand of football.
His team selection on Sunday hinted that he would continue with his normal attacking tactics at Wembley as well.
Solskjaer started with De Gea in goal, with Young, Lindelof, Jones and Shaw as the back four. In the middle, he trusted the trio of Herrera, Matic and Pogba, while up ahead, Lingard and Martial partnered Rashford.
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Both teams started the game well and Wembley witnessed a fascinating night of attacking football. After coming close a couple of times, United finally took the lead through Rashford in the 44th minute, going into the break with a 1-0 lead.
In the second half, Tottenham pegged United back for the majority of the game, but some fabulous defending coupled with a brilliant De Gea in goal ensured that United earned 3 vital points.
Solskjaer has now won all of his first 6 games since joining United and these 5 tactics from the Norwegian helped United come away from Wembley with a fabulous win.
Also see : Copa America Standings, Copa America Standings
#5 Smart Substitutions
Solskjaer made no changes at the start of the second half, as he expected his team to build on their first-half performance and stamp their authority on the game.
However, Tottenham piled on the pressure on the away team after the break and United looked like they might surrender any moment. Solskjaer noticed this and had to make a decision.
His front three were showing little signs of tiredness from all the pressing and the Norwegian spiced things up by bringing on Lukaku in place of Martial. Lingard moved to the right and Rashford moved back to his preferred left wing.
This enabled United to shut out the flanks, as Rashford and Lingard religiously tracked back and gave the home team little joy on the flanks.
The Norwegian then brought on Dalot in place of the tiring Lingard and the Portuguese continued the Englishman's good work on the right, staying compact and even making a vital clearance from the box.
Finally, he brought on McTominay in place of Pogba to preserve his talisman, as the Frenchman looked tired and was also on a yellow card. Solskjaer's smart substitutions helped United as they saw out a vital win at Wembley.
#4 Nullifying Eriksen
Perhaps one of the best creative midfielders in the world, Eriksen is the man who gets the Tottenham team running. He is the engine room of the team, their heart and the brain. He dictates the play and has the ability to open up a lot of spaces for his team to capitalize on.
As such, Solskjaer was well aware that to stop Tottenham, he had to stop Eriksen from influencing the game. And that was exactly what the Norwegian managed to do in the entire game.
Eriksen was denied any room to manoeuvre his characteristic passes and he was picked up either by Herrera or Matic. When the Danish playmaker tried to set things up from deep, Lingard was at his toes.
The midfield duo of Herrera and Matic was expected to have their hands full against a brilliant Tottenham side who attacked in unison. Solskjaer set them up to press every ball, positioning them at the centre of the park and asking them to keep an eye out for Eriksen as well.
In the end, it worked wonders for United.
#3 False 9
Solskjaer decided to keep his No. 9 on the bench, instead preferring to play with Lingard as the false 9. The Englishman had the duty of running the channels on the night, as he worked tirelessly to keep the Spurs defence under continued pressure.
When the opposition tried to run at United, Lingard dropped down to act as an attacking midfielder, ensuring that Spurs did not have a player to run the proceedings from the deep.
While Lingard did all the running and pressing, Rashford and Martial ensured that Tottenham were under pressure the entire night. The Englishman continuously ran at the full backs from the right and gave the midfielders a great option to play a pass.
Martial was equally effective on the left, using his speed and skills to dislodge Tripper on quite a few times. But what made matters worse for the home team was that these three changed their position continuously to make marking them a nightmare.
Lingard drifted out wide, switching places with Rashford and Martial, who then ran through the middle. The wide players then switched places themselves, piling the misery on Tottenham. Ultimately, Rashford gave United the lead just before halftime, finishing brilliantly from a Pogba cross.
#2 Counterattack
Solskjaer played fire with fire at Wembley. He travelled to face one of the best attacking forces in the League, but he went with his own weaponry as well. And perhaps the most potent tactics in his arsenal on the night was counter-attack.
United knew that Spurs love attacking, so they stayed compact and tried to catch them on the break. Spurs sent bodies forward, trying to score a goal to ease the nerves, but in the process, left a lot of space for United to exploit. And Solskjaer set his team out to capitalize on the spaces available with the speed on their counter.
Every time United got the ball, the Red Devils looked to unleash their attacking players. The players rarely wasted time on the ball in the first half and United used the speed of their front men to unsettle the Spurs defence. And Solskjaer used the qualities of his midfielders to play a fiercely efficient brand of football that earned them three points.
As a Spurs attack broke down in the middle, Pogba was given the ball by Lingard in the United half and the Frenchman took little time to spot Rashford's run ahead. He subsequently unleashed the pass of the season to find the Englishman, who finished well and won United the game.
#1 Compact defence
Solskjaer, immediately on taking the reins at Old Trafford, unshackled the players in the team. While the attacking players were given a lot of creative license, the Norwegian also asked the fullbacks to play a pretty advanced role in his team.
As such, the United full-backs under Solskjaer mostly played like wingbacks. However, against Tottenham, Solskjaer made a very subtle change to his system and it worked very well for his team.
The Norwegian asked his fullbacks on the night, Shaw and Young to stay close to his centre-backs and tweaked their adventurous form on the night. As such, the two Englishmen rarely ventured forward in the entire game and it worked well for Solskjaer.
Tottenham found it hard to find spaces as such and while Trippier and Davies spent more time in the opposition half, it opened up a lot of spaces for Manchester United on the counter in the first half. It was from one such counterattack that United opened the scoring.
As Tottenham threw the kitchen sink at the away team in the second half, United held on thanks to their disciplined defending and an unconquerable David De Gea on the night.
