Ole Gunnar Solskjaer dismisses Jose Mourinho 'handbrake' talk and wants Man Utd 'philosophy' to return
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer heads into his Old Trafford return insisting: The best is yet to come.
The Manchester United interim manager began his reign with an outstanding 5-1 win against Cardiff City on Saturday.
And he brushed any concerns that he has set the bar too high after leading the club to their highest Premier League goals tally since Sir Alex Ferguson’s final game in charge.
A 5-5 draw at West Brom was the last time a United team scored so many goals in a league fixture.
But Solskjaer – who was part of Ferguson’s most flamboyant sides – is adamant Cardiff is just the start of what he expects to be a thrilling reign.
In Pictures | Cardiff City vs Man Utd | 22/12/2018
That will be music to United fans’ ears ahead of the Boxing Day clash with Huddersfield.
“You can never set the bar too high,” said the 1999 Treble-winning hero. “They're setting the standard. The players who play for this club have high standards to live up to.
“Today, it's not like they were outperforming themselves. We want to look at this game.
“We'll evaluate, look at a few clips and we can do better, we can understand each other better.
“The attacking philosophy is in the walls of Man United. That's tradition, that's history, that's how we want to play. This was a good reflection of what we want.”
The contrast between Solskjaer’s first game and the stifled performances under Mourinho this season was stark.
In pictures | The defeats that cost Jose Mourinho his Man United job
The Norwegian says he made it clear what he expected of the players under his rule.
He said: “They've not said anything to me about any handbrake (under Mourinho), but we spoke in the team meeting about how when we get one, we want to get two. When we get two, we want to get three.
“That's the nature of this team, this club. You always go and attack. It's not going to happen every game that you're going to create chances like we did. You've got to try and do that.
“With the blistering pace we've got up front, they had to chase the game. I don't think any team would like (Marcus) Rashford, (Anthony) Martial, (Jesse) Lingard and (Paul) Pogba running at them.”
He added: “Confidence is not something you store into the fridge and pick out. You earn it by your performances, by your training, how you feel.
“Hopefully this gave them a boost, so I'm happy and looking forward to Boxing Day.”
