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December 22nd to January 5th has proven to be a historic period for Manchester United. Since being appointed as caretaker manager for the club, the atmosphere in and around the club seems to have changed; a much-needed change.
In this brief period of two weeks, Solskjaer has made history, being the first United manager to win his first five games in charge of the club. At the start of his tenure the gap between United and the top four was eleven points. With 14 goals scored in the last four league matches, the deficit is down to six points and a top-four finish seems more than achievable.
United's frontline seems to be thriving in the early stages of Solskjaer's reign. The players seem to be playing with a new found sense of freedom that was absent during Mourinho's charge of the club. Solskjaer mentioned in one of his interviews that he is here to bring some happiness back around Old Trafford and he has most definitely succeeded in doing so.
The most obvious difference in performance has come from Paul Pogba who seems to be playing with no burden on his shoulders and with the freedom to move all over the opposition half, playing more of an attacking mid-fielder role rather than a holding mid-field role which was preferred by Mourinho. United's front-line have employed a more versatile approach with Martial and Lingard switching flanks during the game and swarming one side of the field while in possession of the ball. Martial's goal against Cardiff highlighted the increase in movement shown by the front-line. There has been a substantial increase in the number of tackles made per game as well, showing a rise in the urgency of United's play.
Pogba ran the show for the team during Solskjaer's first game in charge against Cardiff providing two assists. December of 2018 has been Pogba's best month in a Man Utd shirt scoring four goals, a brace against Huddersfield and Bournemouth and providing three assists. The shackles are off, not just from Paul Pogba but the entire United front line. Marcus Rashford has been in fine form over the course of Solskjaer's first four league games. A goal against Cardiff, Bournemouth and Newcastle to add to his tally taking him upto seven for the season. Rashford managed to find the back of the net on just four occasions under Mourinho this season.
There seems to be a certain 'freedom of expression' among the United players now, which was visibly absent during Mourinho's last few months at the club. The work-rate of the team has cranked up a notch and the team under Solskjaer have been pressing a lot more on the opposition defense when not in a position of the ball as opposed to the strategy employed by Mourinho where the team would sit back and invite pressure.
There are still a few question marks on the defensive side of the game, conceding 3 goals in 3 league games but with an aggregate of 14-3 over the course of 4 league games and an average of 3.5 goals per game, United are headed in the right direction.
With the win against Reading in the FA Cup and two successive clean sheets, the club seems to be moving forward and it can only get better if the players are able to keep up with the standards displayed over these two weeks.
