Ole Ole Ole!!!
Yup, that's the name doing the rounds in the streets of Manchester after the amazing comeback win at the home of PSG. Every Manchester United fan felt a nostalgia about the famous 'Fergie' time when Rashford scored that penalty in injury time yesterday. This was a team, which 3 months ago, was a mid table team lying at the 7th position and way off the champions league contention for the next season. They had sacked the 'special one' in Jose Mourinho and were looking to rebuild. Then came the mercurial Ole Solskjaer, the same man who helped United win the 1999 Uefa Champions League in injury time. The way he has turned United's fortunes can be gauged by the fact that United have now won 8 straight away games since he came on as interim coach. 17 games, 14 wins, 2 draws and just a single defeat makes United the team to fear under his stroke of genius. Top teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs and now PSG have come up short against this rejuvenated side.
Back to the glory days!
The key essence of the Manchester United teams from the past was their ability to bounce back and win games when they conceded early. Unfortunately for their fans, after Sir Alex retired in 2013, Manchester United had lost the art of comeback. Teams earlier used to fear the late goals from United but until now United had a very defensive approach every time they used to get a lead or concede early. Ole's arrival has brought a sense of purpose and attacking demeanour in all the players. They are not satisfied with 1-0 wins or draws away from home. They want more. United's goal difference when Mourinho left was 0. In 10 league games ever since, this has now gone up to 20. That's an average of 2 goals victory every game! Surely an amazing feat considering the drab draws and the defeats in the early part of the season.
Motivated Players
Under the reign of Mourinho, there used to be some sort of mutiny among the players. For 2 years players of the calibre of Lukaku, Herrera and Pogba never really played upto their potential. They performed amazingly well at the 2018 World Cup. So it seemed all was not well with the management of Manchester United. Mourinho has had problems with players in the past. Despite of being a very shrewd tactician, he seems to lack management of his players. This was where the best decision came from the board of this club. In hiring Ole as the coach, they not only instilled a sense of belief in the team but also kept someone who knew the ideology of the club and who has achieved plenty of success with this team. Ole knows how to keep a team United and firing. He knows what to expect from the 20 time champions and its players are more motivated than ever to stomp their mark on European territory again after a decade of failures and frustrations. Let's hope United return the favours and give the permanent job that he so thoroughly deserves!
Yup, that's the name doing the rounds in the streets of Manchester after the amazing comeback win at the home of PSG. Every Manchester United fan felt a nostalgia about the famous 'Fergie' time when Rashford scored that penalty in injury time yesterday. This was a team, which 3 months ago, was a mid table team lying at the 7th position and way off the champions league contention for the next season. They had sacked the 'special one' in Jose Mourinho and were looking to rebuild. Then came the mercurial Ole Solskjaer, the same man who helped United win the 1999 Uefa Champions League in injury time. The way he has turned United's fortunes can be gauged by the fact that United have now won 8 straight away games since he came on as interim coach. 17 games, 14 wins, 2 draws and just a single defeat makes United the team to fear under his stroke of genius. Top teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs and now PSG have come up short against this rejuvenated side.
Back to the glory days!
The key essence of the Manchester United teams from the past was their ability to bounce back and win games when they conceded early. Unfortunately for their fans, after Sir Alex retired in 2013, Manchester United had lost the art of comeback. Teams earlier used to fear the late goals from United but until now United had a very defensive approach every time they used to get a lead or concede early. Ole's arrival has brought a sense of purpose and attacking demeanour in all the players. They are not satisfied with 1-0 wins or draws away from home. They want more. United's goal difference when Mourinho left was 0. In 10 league games ever since, this has now gone up to 20. That's an average of 2 goals victory every game! Surely an amazing feat considering the drab draws and the defeats in the early part of the season.
Motivated Players
Under the reign of Mourinho, there used to be some sort of mutiny among the players. For 2 years players of the calibre of Lukaku, Herrera and Pogba never really played upto their potential. They performed amazingly well at the 2018 World Cup. So it seemed all was not well with the management of Manchester United. Mourinho has had problems with players in the past. Despite of being a very shrewd tactician, he seems to lack management of his players. This was where the best decision came from the board of this club. In hiring Ole as the coach, they not only instilled a sense of belief in the team but also kept someone who knew the ideology of the club and who has achieved plenty of success with this team. Ole knows how to keep a team United and firing. He knows what to expect from the 20 time champions and its players are more motivated than ever to stomp their mark on European territory again after a decade of failures and frustrations. Let's hope United return the favours and give the permanent job that he so thoroughly deserves!
