Are Manchester United heading in the right direction under Ole?
By Varun Aithal
It’s close to two years now since Manchester United appointed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the permanent manager at Old Trafford. The treble-winning striker was hired after an impressive display during his stint as a caretaker manager.
Despite the club starting the 2018/19 season on a bad note, the manager was able to finish in a European spot. Sadly, they could not progress further than the group stages of the Champions League following their fourth-placed finish in the 18/19 campaign.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, the Premier League giants have not been able to win the English title. Included with their failure in England’s top-flight, the club has struggled to achieved Champions League qualification in successive seasons.
Prior to Solskjaer, they finished second under Jose Mourinho but took a backstep between then and now. This season, however, they are on the verge of finishing second again under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, securing back-to-back UCL qualifications if they continue to win games and suffer from no setbacks.
Moreover, there are monumental changes happening within the club since the appointment of the Norwegian. When Sir Alex retired, he left a comparatively aging squad for David Moyes which failed on almost every front. Not only did they finished outside of the top four but they also failed to get a Europa League spot.
Multiple managers were sacked and appointed by the club’s hierarchy with none of them able to lead the club back to its glory days. Though Jose Mourinho was on his way to prove his “The Special One”, the “third season syndrome” kicked in for the now Spurs boss.
He fell out with the likes of Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial which lead to his inevitable sacking. It was then Ole was named as a caretaker manager for a short duration with results were good enough to get the job as the permanent boss.