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Having seen their club struggle for the most part of the season, with disastrous results on the pitch, as well as numerous off-field clashes with his players and board, it came as no surprise when the management at United decided to terminate the contract of Jose Mourinho.
Amidst speculations of the club hiring a number of replacements, it was announced that Ole Gunner Solskjaer was going to take the reins in the dugout in a caretaker capacity until the end of the season.
Nicknamed the ‘baby-faced assassin’, Solskjaer is an Old Trafford great, making a name for himself due to his penchant for coming off the bench to score vital goals, the most famous of which is unarguably the winning goal scored in injury time in the 1999 UCL final triumph over Bayern Munich.
Solskjaer called time on his playing career in 2007 and delved right into management, being in charge of the United youth setup for three years before going over to former club Molde whom he guided to their two first-ever Norwegian League titles in his first two seasons with the club.
United’s season has been so catastrophic that it would take almost a miracle to make any success out of it, but Solskjaer has some factors in his favour which could make his tenure as United coach a success. In this piece, we take a look at three factors which could make Solskjaer succeed as Manchester United boss.
#3 He is steeped in United culture
As stated earlier, the Norwegian spent eleven highly successful years between 1996 and 2007, making 366 appearances and scoring 126 goals. He was an integral part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s setup and won a plethora of titles at the club including seven Premier League titles, two FA Cups and one Champions League trophy.
Till today, he remains a firm fan favourite at Old Trafford owing to his wonderful displays at the club and is firmly steeped in the United culture of attacking vibrant football, having experienced it firsthand under Fergie.
Upon his retirement, he further strengthened his bond with the club by managing the club’s reserve side for three years where he won a couple of titles and oversaw the progress of a number of players, some of whom are currently key members of the first team.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is a Red Devil through and through and his playing, as well as managerial careers at Old Trafford, gives him an inside view of the way things operate at the club.
This is a significant advantage over an outsider who would first have to familiarize himself with the club and is one which could see Solskjaer succeed as United manager.
#2 He could help bring out the best in Pogba
Signed in the summer of 2016 for a then world record fee of £89 million, Pogba was supposed to be the man who would lead United into the future alongside Jose Mourinho, but two-and-half years on, those hopes have largely been dashed as the Frenchman has been accused of inconsistency as well as not doing enough to justify his huge wages.
A lot of Pogba’s problems can be traced to former manager Jose Mourinho, as the pair clashed on numerous occasions, with the Portuguese calling him a host of insulting names, as well as stripping him off the captaincy and benching him for key matches.
However, for all of his misgivings in a United shirt, Paul Pogba is still an extremely talented player. We have seen this in glimpses during his United career, as well as with his displays for the French national team and Juventus.
Thus, United would undoubtedly benefit from getting the best out of Pogba, as despite his inconsistencies, the World Cup winner remains a key member of the United dressing room.
It is here that Solskjaer’s appointment could prove to be a masterstroke, as the 45-year-old has previous experience working with Pogba, having been in charge of him in the United youth set-up and has stated in the past that he would not hesitate to build his team around Pogba if given the opportunity to work with him.
Solskjaer worked with Pogba at youth level to tremendous success and if he can replicate that on the main stage, United would undoubtedly be the better for It and reap the dividends from a player on whom so much was expended.
#1 He does not have the weight of expectation placed upon him
Manchester United’s dire season so far means that it’s almost impossible for it to get any worse and only slight improvements are needed to be seen as signs of progress and it is against this backdrop that Solskjaer comes into the fray.
His managerial career thus far has been somewhat impressive even though not spectacular, as, despite his league triumphs in a not so strong Norwegian league, he failed at his other high profile job when he led Cardiff City to relegation from the Premier League and departed having struggled for points in the Championship.
High profile managers are usually appointed to much fanfare, as their pedigree puts them under pressure to achieve instant success at the clubs and this sometimes backfires as they struggle to match expectations with Jose Mourinho’s spell at Old Trafford being a perfect example.
On the other hand, coaches with little to no experience devoid of world-class managerial positions usually arrive top jobs with little expectations and this could play to their advantage by going all out as they have nothing to lose but everything to gain.
This was precisely the case with Zinedine Zidane who got the Madrid job as a relative greenhorn but departed as one of the most successful managers in the club’s illustrious history.
Solskjaer has not had a glittering managerial career thus far and even though there is some mild optimism over his appointment, there were not really fireworks as would have been the case had a more high profile manager been appointed and this could play into his favour in making his tenure at Old Trafford a success.
