After overseeing Manchester United’s 3-1 victory against Huddersfield on 26 December 2018, Old Gunnar enjoyed his second victory as the Man Utd caretaker manager in 4 days. However, Old Gunnar did admit that there hasn’t been a lot of changes made to the team since he took over from Jose Mourinho.
The chaotic holiday schedule did not allow much in terms of training and spending quality time with the team, but most can already see a different squad since he took up the new role at Manchester United. How long this will last is very uncertain at the moment, but he has been given a decent selection of games to start his charge. Whether his charge will be to make it into the top four of the Premier League standings is too early to tell.
However, for now, its more than enough that the brand-new manager made the matches more enjoyable, giving fans a much-needed Christmas present which they are truly excited about. A demand for more ticket sales clearly proves this as well.
Solskjaer’s Changes
Old Gunnar insists that he was only able to change the mindsets of his Manchester United players since he arrived at the club. Whatever he managed to do, it certainly worked as the team managed to score 8 goals in two games thanks to 6 different scorers. However, there are plenty of old problems that still remain at the club and his players have promised a clean sheet following Huddersfield and Cardiff consolation goals. The team is also still struggling to successfully defend set pieces, but the changes made on the other side of the pitch is definitely noticeable since he arrived.
For the first half of the game on Wednesday, Old Gunnar stood next to the sideline pointing forward and the overall message was certainly clear enough. Obviously, there were times when Old Gunnar simply pointed at Huddersfield’s goal, bringing with it an all too familiar chant of ‘attack!’ from the sidelines. However, it wasn’t considered a plea as it was during the times when Mourinho was in control. By the end of the game, Old Trafford was demanding waves for Old Gunnar which Mourinho stopped receiving a very long time ago.
The biggest roar in the stadium that afternoon occurred before kickoff took place when the announcer of the stadium welcomed back Old Gunnar to the stadium where 76,000 supporters quickly answered with “Ole, Ole, Ole”. If Old Gunnar first job was to bring smiles back, he certainly succeeded.
Old Gunnar stated last week that is was extremely special but that he managed to stay calm. Gunner added,
“I believe my guys have settled me in extremely fast. You trust the squad you put out. It’s quite special hearing the crowd sing my song, but this time round they start chanting when the match begins. It made me feel extremely proud and it’s a day I will never forget.”