United celebrates a special derby success against City. Coach Solskjaer speaks of title aspirations. The Norwegian is about to lead the club to its former strength.
Manchester United win both league games against Manchester City for the first time in ten years – and could look forward to a glorious future.
The Red Devils won the first leg of the Premier League 2-1, and the return leg saw the Old Trafford score an acclaimed 2-0. United are now in 5th place and have their sights set on the Champions League again. It seems that something is growing together in the red part of Manchester. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is even squinting for the championship title again after his derby victory.
Can the Norwegian, who has internalised the club’s DNA, take the club back to glory?
When Solskjaer himself was a United striker, the club was the measure of all things in the Premier League. Under Sir Alex Ferguson (United coach for 27 years), the club won every title there is to win. The legendary coach won 13 championships alone and turned United into England’s record champions (20 titles in total).
United in search of identity since the end of the Ferguson era
Looking at the recent past, United is more of a chaos club than a feared success club. The club celebrated their last championship under Ferguson, who also ended his coaching career in 2012/2013. No one has yet been able to follow in his oversized footsteps. Since then, David Moyes, Ryan Giggs, Louis van Gaal and José Mourinho have been trying their hand at coaching, but without any lasting success.
Moyes won the Super Cup, van Gaal the FA Cup. Mourinho led United 2016/2017 to three titles (Super Cup, League Cup and Europa League), but like his predecessors, he failed to develop a homogenous team that could seriously have a say in the championship. United’s record scorer Wayne Rooney recently said that, of all things, arch-rivals Liverpool have shown that you need patience to get back on track.
“United have tried Van Gaal, tried Mourinho. You can see it in Liverpool – they have built this team,” Rooney praised German coach Jürgen Klopp. However, Rooney said it could still take “two or three years” before United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are ready.
The Norwegian himself has a similar view. After his victory in the Manchester Derby, the 47-year-old talks about plans for the coming season. “We know that we still need two or three players and a lot of experience to be a serious contender for the title. So the long-term goal of the club is clear: to play for the championship again.
Solskjaer brings the United DNA back to the field
Solskjaer is on a good path. In addition to the promotion of young talent, the club finally managed to achieve a top transfer again in winter. Bruno Fernandes came from Sporting Lisbon for around 55 million euros and needed virtually no acclimatisation time to become a leader in midfield.
In his very first Manchester Derby, he impressed not only with a good performance (he took the lead with an ingenious lob) but also with his self-confident manner. When City Coach Pep Guardiola got into a battle of words with the Portuguese, he ended it by simply putting his finger on his lip. A simple but effective gesture. The team missed the same leader for a long time. Solskjaer even compared him to United legend Paul Scholes.
But the coach also manages to use his own youth. Behind Marcus Rashford (22 years) and Scott McTominay (23 years), Brandon Williams (19 years) and Mason Greenwood (18 years) are used more and more often. Solskjaer strengthens the United-DNA through the youngsters trained in the club.
The will to win is back in the team, the belief in one’s own strength is strengthened again. United are unbeaten in all competitions for ten games, including a convincing and important 2-0 win over Chelsea FC. The Blues are back in striking distance, United are just three points behind fourth place – and the Champions League.