The talk of the town in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign at Manchester United has been how he’s magnified the untapped potential of their attack. United are playing free-flowing, destructive football going forward and have a cutting edge to their game, much more than they did under Jose Mourinho.
While the Portuguese gaffer complained about his shambolic defence after being unable to sign a centre-defender in the summer, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s also fixed that department. While cracks in United’s defending are still evident, the Norwegian’s mostly covered that up his intelligent tactics and motivational skills.
Playing a three-man midfield, Solskjaer’s allowing more cover to United’s defence with Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera always tucking in when defending deep. This makes penetrating their backline difficult. The Norwegian’s also improved the defender confidence-level, allowing them to play the ball out of defence and encouraging everyone to cover up for each other.
He’s elevated Victor Lindelof by handing him the defensive general role. By playing the hard-tackling Phil Jones against physically adverse oppositions and quick Eric Bailly against more mobile teams, he’s found the right balance in forming two formidable partnerships with the Swede. Chris Smalling is yet to get a chance, as he brings more options defensively.
Solskjaer’s also never openly criticized his defenders, something Mourinho used to do vehemently. He’s always encouraged them to keep things tight and show fearlessness. While David De Gea’s been forced to bail them out on occasions, United look much more assertive whilst defending and have regained composure under the Norwegian gaffer.
It’s not just the attack he’s sorting out, United have really struck gold.
