Solskjaer’s United is more attractive than Mourinho’s United – that is fact
For anyone who has viewed more than 10 minutes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United side playing football, it is quite clear that his players are enjoying playing attacking football under a manager that believes in them.
There has been a stark contrast in this United side from the one which was managed by former coach Jose Mourinho and laboured through each and every match, regardless of the quality of the competition.
Manchester United’s impressive (if a little lucky) 1-0 victory was evidence of this contrast. From the first minute United attacked their hosts, stretching Spurs whenever they got on the ball and harrying the home side when out of possession.
In terms of statistics too, United are excelling compared to their previous iteration, with an Opta stat from Sunday showing that United had as many fast breaks in just the first half at Wembley as they did in the first 17 games of the season under Jose.
According to Opta, Manchester United had as many ‘fast breaks’ in the first half against Tottenham as they had in the first 17 matches of the season under Jose Mourinho.
— Adam Bate (@ghostgoal) January 13, 2019
One of those fast breaks saw Jesse Lingard intercept a terrible Kieran Trippier pass and lay the ball off to Paul Pogba, who then curled a lovely pass to Rashford, with the striker taking a deft touch and sending the ball into the bottom corner.
The above stat and United’s goal proved that – unlike Mourinho – Solskjaer is coaching his players to immediately get on the front foot once they have retrieved possession, something very different from Mourinho’s tactics
This tactical shift was something touched upon by Pogba during a post-match discussion with Sky Sports, where the Frenchman revealed that Spurs’ high line had been identified in training as a potential area to exploit.
“It’s a great ball but we have been training on this we knew that was the weakness of Spurs, they got high and we need to attack in the opposite side and that’s what we tried in training,” Pogba told Sky Sports.
“We knew it would be difficult and that we knew we could hurt them. That’s what we worked on, they are very good with the ball they know where to go and good pattern and movement they did it for three years they knew it was the key to create changes.
“He makes a great run and helped me as well for the pass and I tried to give him the perfect pass.”
Solksjaer’s coaching, as well as his man management, is clearly having the desired effect with United’s players, and their fans too will no doubt be delighted to see breakneck counter-attacking football return to Old Trafford.
