LONDON • By now, it has become a familiar sight: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hugging his staff, applauding his players and celebrating a goal.
Quick, incisive football, willing to take on anyone and, up till now, always coming out on top.
The caretaker manager continues to revive Manchester United in spectacular fashion after Friday's 3-1 FA Cup fourth-round win at Arsenal.
Once again, he set the right mood. Once again, he got the tactics right. Once again, he got his starting line-up and substitutions right.
This was their eighth straight win since the Norwegian was appointed and the case for him taking over permanently is building, particularly now his restorative qualities appear to stretch to Alexis Sanchez, who scored the opening goal on his return to his former club.
A lesser team would have wilted in the face of some concerted pressure from the Gunners.
8
Consecutive wins Manchester United have registered in all competitions for the first time since January 2017.
But United have rejuvenated, epitomised by the transformation of Victor Lindelof in the heart of defence, Paul Pogba in midfield and the deadly attacking trio of Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.
Solskjaer was once part of the best counter-attacking side in English football. He seems to be building the modern team the same way and United's second and third goals, converted by Lingard and Martial, were reminders of the past when former manager Alex Ferguson led the team into battle with Arsenal.
Solskjaer was proud of his team's "classic" display, reminiscent of the good old days.
"I've had a (selection) headache since I came because the squad is full of good players," he said.
"Today, we looked more like a proper team. We looked more structured. We'd worked hard at defending and counter-attacking.
"Counter-attacking is classic Manchester United - Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Park Ji-sung - we've scored so many at Arsenal over the years.
"It was a massive step forward today. At Tottenham, we hung in and (goalkeeper) David de Gea saved us but, today, our structure was miles better."
On Friday's evidence, Solskjaer seems to have the handy managerial knack of knowing exactly when to shuffle his plethora of attacking options. In-form Rashford and Martial were kept on the bench for 72 minutes, with Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku starting out wide and Lingard in the centre.
Any eyebrows raised at his decision to field striker Lukaku on the right were soon lowered. The Belgian was exceptional, creating both goals scored by Sanchez and Lingard in the first half.
When Arsenal started to fight back late after the break, in came the speedy Rashford and Martial with the aim of exploiting the space left behind in defence when the Gunners tried to go forward.
The counter-attacking plan worked a treat, with Martial sealing the win in the 82nd minute.
And Solskjaer insists Sanchez can only improve after scoring on his Arsenal return.
He said: "Every player, the more confident you get, the more you want to get on the pitch and train and work on yourself and you trust yourself. He has been injured lately so it was great to see him get 65-70 minutes tonight and he can only improve and I think he knows that himself."
Arsenal's loss was made more painful with Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Laurent Koscielny joining the injury list.
"They were clinical today," said Arsenal manager Unai Emery.
"We played against a United side in their best moment of the season and they have a lot of players to make a difference."
THE GUARDIAN, THE TIMES, LONDON, REUTERS
Ex-United star denies homophobia after spat with PSG. PSG condemned "Patrice Evra's homophobic insults aimed at us on social media" after a bizarre spat in which Evra used the French word
Football: Patrice Evra denies homophobia after social media
Solskjaer lavishes praise on De Gea after United maintain winning run. It extended caretaker boss Solskjaer's winning start to a club-record sixth successive match in all competitions, but
Man City's title hopes dented, Solskjaer's winning run ends
BERLIN (Reuters) - German champions Bayern Munich have not yet made an offer for Manchester City winger Leroy Sane despite their long-standing desire to sign him, club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Why Bayern Munich have not yet bid for Man City winger Leroy Sane
Clock ticking for city to close $17.2M gap. By Elizabeth Dobbins, edobbins@lowellsun.com. The city expects additional revenue from local taxes on recreational marijuana, with a quarter of this
Small Cities Feel the Clock Ticking on Opportunity Zones
Pochettino's side looked like they would hold on for a point as the match entered stoppage-time, but Bournemouth defender Nathan Ake ended third-placed Tottenham's stubborn resistence to delay their attempt to guarantee a place in the top four.
Ake strikes late to sink nine-man Spurs | Football News and
Football: Klopp relaxed about Salah's Liverpool drought LONDON (AFP) - Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is relaxed about Mohamed Salah's goalscoring drought, saying the Egyptian forward remains a key part of the title chasers' attacking armoury.
Klopp relaxed about Salah's Liverpool drought | theScore.com
Jan 06, 2019 · Amond's late penalty gives Newport County shock FA Cup win over Leicester 74 places below Leicester City on the league ladder, the Newport manager, was walking around the pitch with his
Newport County | Football Paradise
President Anil Murthy (right) is seem welcoming midfielder Francis Coquelin to the club both better going forward than defending but Valencia play with such a well-drilled 4-4-2 that the
Valencia CF Official webpage - Valencia Club de Fútbol
en.valenciacf.com
Página web oficial del Valencia CF. Toda la información del Club. Noticias, calendario, venta de entradas, fotos, vídeos y servicios a los aficionados. Amunt Valencia
Valencia CF - Wikipedia
Pep Guardiola coy over quadruple bid after Manchester City reach FA Cup final over Brighton City will play Watford or Wolves in the final on May 18 City labored to kill off Premier League
Guardiola coy over quadruple bid after City reach FA Cup final
Ranieri's appointment was announced today, and the manager's job is to save Fulham from relegation. And Ladbrokes has Ranieri on 7/4 to sign Danny Drinkwater in the January transfer window. Drinking water has been told that he can leave the blues when the right offer comes in, and the chance to meet Ranieri again could seduce the midfielder.
Fulham 1-2 Chelsea: Chelsea Player ratings | Premier League
Juventus Win Eighth Consecutive Serie A Title. celebrates with teammates after Fiorentina scored an own goal following his shot during the Italian Serie A football match Juventus vs Fiorentina
Juventus crowned Serie A champions as Cristiano Ronaldo makes
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp concedes he faces a selection dilemma as centre back Dejan Lovren is unlikely to feature against Bayern Munich in Tuesday's Champions League last 16 fixture at Anfield.
Football: Liverpool's Lovren unlikely to face Bayern, says
Queiroz livid despite rout. Print Email Iran coach Carlos Queiroz blasted his critics after his side crushed Yemen 5-0 on Monday to fire an ominous warning to
Carlos Queiroz - Wikipedia
0 comments:
Post a Comment