By Philip Dillon.
Manchester United were victorious against Tottenham at Wembley in what was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s biggest test to date as caretaker manager.
United’s goal came from a counter-attack set in motion by a misplaced pass from Kieran Trippier. Paul Pogba played a superb ball through to Marcus Rashford who made no mistake in hitting the ball across Hugo Lloris into the bottom corner.
Solskjaer has been able to do what Jose Mourinho failed to bring in his third season with the club. The team that was embarrassed by Liverpool less than a month ago is now playing free-flowing attacking football that fans are delighted to see.
One of the main reasons Mourinho never truly fit in at Old Trafford was his style of play in the big games.
The former Chelsea coach is a serial winner, so much so that he would approach games against rivals in a defensive way just to avoid defeat.
The majority of the time Mourinho’s team would be set up to not let goals in instead of a focus on attacking teams to get the win.
There were countless drab draws during his time at the club.
Solskjaer has proved that this team has the ability to play attacking football against the top six and still win.
According to Opta, Manchester United had as many fast breaks in the first half against Tottenham as they had in the first 17 games under Jose Mourinho this season.
This stat in itself shows that Mourinho were too slow in its attacking play and he did not use the speed he had in his team to his advantage.
"From the team's counter-attacking approach to the brilliance of the goalkeeper to some slices of luck, this was reminiscent of United under Ferguson" | @RobRedmond10 https://t.co/c3ZjsHj48o
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) January 13, 2019
On Sunday, Rashford gave Trippier a torrid time and Anthony Martial was also fantastic on the other flank.
Paul Pogba also brought two great saves out of Hugo Lloris whilst also remaining composed in midfield throughout – bar a rash challenge on Dele Ali. We are seeing two different versions of Martial and Pogba under Solskjaer.
They are playing with hunger and passion – a clip even went viral of Pogba screaming at Luke Shaw for not tracking back.
At times under Mourinho, both players looked disinterested and they were both regularly linked with moves away from the club.
It is easy to say anyone could have come in after Mourinho this season and made an impact but Solskjaer has more than exceeded expectations.
He is the only Manchester United manager to win his first six league games and he deserves credit for how he set his team up on Sunday.
United lined up in a diamond formation which left Martial and Rashford plenty of space to attack the flanks.
The wingers were a constant threat in the first half, Tottenham were forced to change formation in the second half to somehow try to stop United’s counter-attacks.
Solskjaer’s side were saved multiple times in the second half by David de Gea but they always looked threatening when attacking which could not always be said under Jose Mourinho.
A new lease of life has been given to this group of players. If Solskjaer continues to deliver these results for Manchester United he could be appointed the manager on a permanent basis.
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