Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has taken a swipe at his Manchester United predecessors for their fixation on trophies, as he insists his Old Trafford rebuild is showing sure signs of progress.
The Norwegian has been in charge at United for two-and-a-half years, with the club reaching four semi-finals in all competitions during his reign, but losing each of them. They are, however, sat second in the Premier League - 12 points better off than at the same stage in 2020.
It is now four years since the club, who became synonymous with success under Sir Alex Ferguson, last lifted any major trophy.
That came courtesy of Jose Mourinho, who led the side to three separate success during his time in charge, lifting the League Cup and Europa League, while the Portuguese would also point out their Community Shield success.
Before him, Louis van Gaal led the club to FA Cup success, but failed to finish inside the top four.
And Solskjaer has questioned the logic behind chasing cup accolades, suggesting that it does nothing but fulfil the ‘ego’ of managers.
‘When you see the culture here, I see progress every day. It's for others how much to assess there's been an improvement,’ said the 48-year-old ahead of United’s Europa League last-16 clash with AC Milan.
‘We're all aiming to win trophies at this club, but sometimes the trophy can hide other things that are happening at the club.
‘It's in the league positions that you see whether you're progressing, really. The cups you can be lucky or unlucky. Of course we're aiming to win, that's why you play football.
‘I felt a big rebuild had to be made. The league is always the bread and butter and that's when you see how capable you are.
‘The cups are sometimes an ego thing for managers and clubs. It's not like a trophy will say 'we are back', no. It's gradual progression at the top of the league. Sometimes the cup competitions can hide your progress a bit.’
Yaodkrsuy
422
Exactly coach. i mean we won some cups under the special one but latter flopped did it change anything two years letter? yes we dropped badly from the top 4 n struggled to impress, people suddenly forgot about the Trophies and started mocking Jose. look at man city they are playing football ay the highest level the team is solid, just 1 addition can change everything. Today i can say we have made tremendous progress all we need are three players to transform man u into a force to reckon then we can start competing every season for great honours big up coach!!!
bukbinot
331
He's 100% right. He's been there for 2 1/2 years and clearly we're in the best place we've been since Fergie. We have a good team that with a few signings could compete with the best in the world. We bring in a CB and a Striker (Haaland) and we'll be insane. We have to be patient, look at the long term and if you do that, clearly our squad and team is sorted for the next decade with serious young quality all over the place. If Solksjaer brings in a strong CB and Striker and he still can't win the league in the next 2 seasons then we can start talking about a new manager. For now I'm happy, he's done well to rebuild the team and do it without being myopic. He's set us up for the foreseeable future and has built a world class team that by next season and with some reinforcements will challenge anyone.
fizzbizzie
212
if he was playing progressive football ,I'd back that but his football is too negative to suggest any progress.. the only reason we are in second position for now is cos the rest of the teams have had poor season so far too
rutklpz
106
He is only trying to defend his incompetence.We need trophies.