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Dressed in the bright red kit with OGS printed over his chest between the club badge and the sponsor logo, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looked delighted to be at Old Trafford. He has aged gracefully since the last time he had lit up the stands, but Solskjaer is now back on perhaps his most important role at Manchester United in his life. He knows the task at hand, but if the way the Baby Faced Assassin handled the Press on Friday is any indication of his mettle as a manager, United should be in safe hands.
The Norwegian spoke about a lot of things from being welcomed to Old Trafford and meeting Nicky Butt. Most importantly, he revealed that Lukaku has a couple of days off and that he has not met the Belgian or Alexis Sanchez yet. It could be an early indication of how Manchester United could set up on Saturday.
Solskjaer also spoke glowingly of Michael Carrick and Kieran Mckenna, admitting that they would be helping him select the final team ahead of Saturday. The Norwegian looked confident and raging to go and his bright, smiling personality was a welcome change from Mourinho's typical press conferences at late.
Some of the points discussed were quite interesting and today, we take a look at 5 take away from Manchester United's new Caretaker Manager's Press Conference
#5 He admits his mistakes at Cardiff
Admitting one's mistakes is not easy, in fact, it is the sign of winners. Solskjaer, when questioned on his time at Cardiff, had this to say:
That period in Cardiff was a huge step for me and I’ve evaluated, reflected, made a few mistakes but if you don’t make mistakes you’re not gonna learn, I made a few of them.
The Norwegian addressed the concerns that few fans might have regarding his time at Cardiff, acknowledging that he might not have been fully ready for the job at that moment of time in his managerial career. Cardiff failed poorly under his reign, mainly because he tried to change the way they played and attempted to play attacking football with the personnel at hand. Unfortunately, he did not have the players to make that transition and Cardiff were relegated under his watch.
However, he is a changed man now, one who has apparently learned from his mistake, as he added:
I’ve had, about 300 or 400 games as first team manager now
#4 He would love the Permanent Job
Every person who has managed a game of football at the highest level dreams of becoming the Manager at Manchester United and the Norwegian is no different. He started out as the Reserves Team Manager at Old Trafford after his retirement, a spell where he was hugely successful and now that he has been appointed the Caretaker Manager of his club, Solskjaer admitted that he nurtures desires of being the full time boss at Old Trafford one day.
The Norwegian was questioned whether there had been any talks of him taking the permanent role, and was also informed that if he did well, the crowd would want him to stay on for the permanent job. This is how Solskjaer responded:
When you get a job like this and they ask you to sign for six months you say yeah, I’m happy to help out and my job is to do as well as I can
They understand there are so many managers who would love to be manager of Manchester United, I’m one of them but it’s not something we’ve talked about, they’ll do a process for the next six months.
While he would love to stay on after the summer, Solskjaer is fully focused on the task at hand. However, he does have a golden opportunity to impress the board and stake a claim for the full time job.
#3 He will be involved in making January decisions
The Norwegian's appointment has perhaps affected Manchester United's plans for the January window, because all the build up had been done with Mourinho at the helm. However, Solskjaer will still hope that the club will at least make a few smart buys to strengthen his team in January.
Also Read: Two Realistic targets for Manchester United in January
Solskjaer was asked whether he would have a say in what happens when the transfer window opens next month and he had this to say:
I will have an input but the job is to get to know the players, observe them
He understands that his main job is to improve with the players at hand:
I’ve seen more or less every game from Norway but (the main job is) to get to know the players, what do I think I can improve them on
However, he also acknowledged about the club's recruitment process, but he is yet to have a discussion with his team in that topic:
The club have got the recruitment and scouting, they’ve got their targets but I’ve not sat down and talked about that.
It will be interesting to see if Solskjaer approves the club's long term targets or wants to add a few new players of his own to the table.
#2 His preference for Team Work
He had been a wonderful servant to the Manchester United team, scoring important goals off the bench consistently. And Solskjaer understands that team work is the most important facet of football. He also expects the same from his squad now, saying that he wants his men to be team players:
When you’re at Manchester United, there are a set of demands and one is to be a team player and I don’t think anyone has been on the bench more than me! That’s all my comeback to players, you might come on make an impact.
He also stated his desire to communicate with his players well to get the best out of them:
My job is to help the players, make them grasp the opportunity, they all wanna be part of Manchester United, I’m here to help them, help the team, down to man management
I had the best manager as a player and coach to deal with players and it’s about communication, I’ll sit down and speak to the ones not playing.
He also expressed his desire to get the best out of players like Pogba by communicating with them as well as showing them a picture of how he wants them to play.
As such, after almost two and a half season of Mourinho, it would be nice to see how Pogba plays for a manager who wants to believe in him.
#1 He is deeply influenced by Sir Alex Ferguson
Solskjaer has already stated before that he has learnt a lot from Sir Alex Ferguson, but hearing the Norwegian speak about the legendary Scot showed just how much respect he still has for his Gaffer. He was asked about Sir Alex's influence and he had this to say:
He’s influenced me with everything to be fair, the way he’s dealt with people the way he was manager of the club,
He kept 25 international players happy and hungry, wanting to improve but also the staff in and around the place
He’s been my mentor but I didn’t understand early on he’d be my mentor.
It is clear that Sir Alex had a huge impact on Solskjaer's life and it also seems that the Norwegian has learnt a lot from his Gaffer. To make matters very interesting, Solskjaer admitted that he is in contact with Sir Alex, stating:
I’ve already been in touch with him, there’s no one to get better advice from.
This should be great news for Manchester United fans who have been dying to see the Scot's brand of football ever since he retired. Now everyone will be looking forward to see if the prodigal son can fulfill his legacy at United and bring back the smile on the faces at Old Trafford. After his performance in front of the Press, fans do have many reasons to be optimistic.
