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The amount of disrespect that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has received from some fans and pundits since becoming Manchester United manager is unprecedented.
The Norwegian has been ridiculed since his appointment, as some still believe he got the job purely based on his affiliation with the club and not due to competence.
In the last two and a half years, he’s been labeled as a fraud, a man without a plan, a coach without tactics and even, rather sadly, a PE teacher.
However, Solskjaer has walked through these adversities unscathed, having led Manchester United to second place in the Premier League and reached the Europa League final.
Ole’s chance to silence critics
The Red Devils boss used to be compared with Frank Lampard and Mikel Arteta, two managers who haven’t achieved half of what he has.
So far, Solskjaer has outlasted Lampard. He is also outperforming Arteta, who seems to be a darling boy of the media despite Arsenal’s unprecedented underperformance.
On Wednesday, all of the work that Solskjaer has done at Manchester United will be put on a beam balance when the Reds take on Villarreal in the Europa League final.
This is a team that has tremendously improved under the Norwegian. They are more dominant, more confident and generally better than they’ve been since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
Now, though, Solskjaer has the chance to serve humble pies to his critics. Should he guide Manchester United to win the Europa League, it will be the perfect repost for all who ever doubted his tactical nous.
Manchester United aim to end trophy drought
Finishing second in the Premier League is a great achievement for Manchester United but winning a trophy has never been more important than it is now.
The Reds haven’t won any major piece of silverware in four years and they deserve to win something to underline the progress chalked up in the last two and a half years.
“[I’m] Quietly confident, as I’ve always said. Trusting the players. These players are ready for this and that’s the main thing,” Solskjaer said, as quoted by Manutd.com.
“I’ve seen in them something growing inside of them, more and more confident, more and more robust and resilient to setbacks. As a group, I’m confident that we’re ready for this now.”
More than just an opportunity to end the season with a trophy, this is also a chance for Solskjaer to finally shut his critics up and there’s no room for failure.
