Manchester United have confirmed the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as their permanent head coach on a three-year deal. The Norwegian joined the Red Devils on an interim basis in December after the sacking of Jose Mourinho, and the performances from the team have since improved to the extent that has been rewarded with the permanent job.
United were struggling to keep up with the Champions League positions under the tutelage of Mourinho and that contributed to the chop after a disappointing 3-1 defeat at the hands of fierce rivals Liverpool on the road.
However, that decision has proved a good luck charm for the Mancunian giants with Ole transforming the club’s fortunes with 10 wins from the next 13 league games which have followed, while suffering the solitary defeat at the hands of Arsenal.
Owing to this, they find themselves within the cusp of pushing for the Champions League places with just two points separating them from fourth-placed Arsenal while they are just a further point behind Tottenham, who are in front of the Gunners.
As such, it appears that it was a no-brainer to hand Ole with the permanent job, but the players still need to put in the hard yards following the international break, considering they have recently suffered a double setback.
Before the Gunners game, Ole’s team had not suffered a single domestic loss but things have changed this month with both Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers getting the better of them in the league and FA Cup respectively.
Untimely injuries can be attributed to the drop in form, but they need to get their act together in the league sooner rather than later, given they have testing challenges against Manchester City and Chelsea at the end of the month.
Prior to that, however, they have four more league games to contend with, while they have a double-legged Champions League quarter-final tie against Barcelona sandwiched in between.
United remain outsiders for the Blaugrana meeting, but they can’t be taken lightly after the stunning comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the last round to win on the away-goal rule.
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