“Give him the job!” That was the sentiment echoed around the visitors’ section of the Parc Des Princes, as Manchester United pulled off a seemingly impossible feat in their Champions League last 16-second leg tie.
The tactical shift that Solskjær employed to overcome a seemingly-impossible deficit to PSG had a Ferguson-style simplicity about it, but the doubts surrounding him still linger. So, why exactly should – or shouldn’t – Ole Gunnar Solskjær be given ‘the job’?
According to Youtube channel Tactical Mentor, this is how Solskjær potentially secured the United job permanently in one amazing night.
Tactical shift bears hints of ‘Fergie’
Regardless of what the football world makes of his tactics against PSG, the fact remains that he had nothing to lose. Before kick-off, United were closer to rank-outsiders Schalke than outright Champions League bookmakers’ favourites (and rivals) Manchester City, yet there is no guarantee that a similarly maverick approach will work a second time if needed.
Despite operating as part of a defensive overall setup, Marcus Rashford was given greater license to press the opposition hard alongside Romelu Lukaku. It was a gamble that paid off on this occasion, and the PSG error that led to United’s opener was down to this tactical shift.
The introduction of Diogo Dalot in lieu of a suffering player in the form of Eric Bailly was successful in giving United a greater sense of composure following PSG’s equaliser, and indicated that, in the very short time he has been at Old Trafford, Solskjær has made more of an effort to get to know his charges than Moyes, van Gaal or Mourinho ever did.
As a net result, United grew in confidence, and once they had retaken the lead, movements within online in-play match markets for the ‘next goal’ indicated (correctly) that United were likelier to go on and qualify rather than suffer heartbreak.
“Solskjær got it wrong” – Stephen Howson reviews the papers after Manchester United’s loss to Arsenal on 10 March.
Talismanic qualities vs superior experience
For some, Solskjær has yet to establish a ‘happy medium’ between pragmatism and conservatism in his playbook, and his United team still remain far from the top in the outright stakes across the most trustworthy and reliable Champions League sportsbooks. However, for the more superstitiously-minded United fans, Solskjær is a club talisman, in that he can ingrain a winning mentality into the dressing room, no matter how lost a situation may seem.
Before United’s trip to Paris, PSG had scored at least three times in 80% of their preceding five games on home turf, and done so by a margin of multiple goals. They had also scored no less than sixteen times in that period, but perhaps most importantly of all, had lost a Champions League home match by a two-goal margin just once in the 2010s – back in April 2015, as Barcelona outclassed them in the French capital.
It takes a certain type of manager to overcome numbers like that, and if Solskjær can maintain the newfound sense of self-belief in the dressing room, then he has the job in the bag.
No pressure
Some sceptics still believe that giving Solskjær the job based on the PSG performance alone is reactionary, and admittedly, it should be remembered that United haven’t won anything yet. Their 2-0 defeat at Arsenal on the Sunday after their Parisian party appears to have given Solskjær’s biggest acolytes something of a reality check.
All it might take is a few more bad results to see the pendulum of favour swing against Solskjær. Ultimately, though this is an argument against his permanent appointment at a basic level, he is still relatively unburdened by expectation. All he really needs to do is secure a top-four berth that was nigh-unthinkable in early December, and his chances of securing the job will increase many-fold.