The former Red Devils boss has conceded that the man filling his shoes at Old Trafford oversaw a "phenomenal" performance in the Champions League
Jose Mourinho may be the self-anointed ‘Special One’, but he concedes that Manchester United successor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer delivered a “phenomenal” showing against Paris Saint-Germain.
The Red Devils headed into the second leg of a Champions League last-16 encounter trailing 2-0 on aggregate and facing a seemingly impossible task.
With Paul Pogba suspended and the likes of Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard injured, a continental mountain presented itself at Parc des Princes.
United were able to climb it and make their way down the other side and into the quarter-finals after securing a stunning 3-1 win on French soil courtesy of a Romelu Lukaku brace and Marcus Rashford penalty.
That success has enhanced Solskjaer’s claims to a permanent role at Old Trafford, having filled an interim post since stepping into Mourinho’s shoes, and his achievements continue to earn widespread praise.
Even the man who had to make way in order for him to take the United reins concedes that the Norwegian is doing a fine job, with Mourinho telling RT of his “special” picks in European action: “In terms of players I was immediately thinking about [Dusan] Tadic because I think he was a key player in that amazing match [between Real Madrid and Ajax].
“But then after United’s victory, and putting together the two matchdays, Tuesday, Wednesday, and also because normally when things go wrong, everybody goes in the direction of the guilty manager, let’s say that.
“I think independent of the performances, Ajax and Manchester United results are phenomenal results, and if the responsibility in the bad days is for the managers, the responsibility of the good days is then also for the managers.
“So for me, [Erik] ten Hag from Ajax and Solskjaer from Manchester United. Incredible results, so credit to them.
“I would say in relation to Ajax by the tactical perspective and also by the mental aspect of their game. For Manchester United I would say the mental side of it, the self-belief, so for me very special days for these two men.”
Mourinho added on United’s game plan, which saw them allow PSG to have plenty of the ball before punishing any mistakes: “You can go in the pragmatic way and say football is not about ‘ifs’, it’s about results.
“Manchester United had four shots during 95 minutes, and in four shots scored three goals, and PSG had almost 70 per cent of ball possession, had more than 10 shots, and they scored only one. That’s the pragmatic way of looking at football, Manchester United scores three, and they deserve to go through.”
Dakacelz
128
I hope Mourinho has learnt something from the results United has been getting. It’s the players that win games not managers, get players in the right frame of mind and attitude and they will win games for you the fans and the club they play for. “A champion team will always beat a team of champions” Ole keeps saying it, it’s not he that is doing it it’s the players themselves. All he is doing is getting his players believe in themselves and their skill will do the rest. United has always had a good squad of players, some would say better than Liverpool and City. Ole has got them playing as a team, something Mourinho couldn’t do.
FieldMarshall
98
A good Sportsman talking.. Thanks Mou for accepting that OGS is the best and he is doing great job in Old traford..That means you have learned your mistakes... all the best in Coaching carrier.
janta22
70
morinho knows his man utd was horrible compared to OLG
_ManUMartial09
68
"if the responsibility for the bad days is for the manager, the responsibility for the good days is then also for the manager"... #Respect #Mourinho
Diubkmnru
58
Mourinho is a great coach.And he will remain a great coach.The only thing you haters got to realise is that times change so do we ..His tactics could not and cannot just work any better than they used to.If you watched Mourinho's Porto,Chelsea,Inter and Madrid,most of you newcomers will swallow your words..the term special one though self coined really fitted..it was a glorious decade(2004-2014)..the great Sir Fergie was bowing to this guy..times change but good thing and good comments from the special one
daarchorse
39
Jose is very good coach. with respect to his cv, he's the best. his time manu has been sour. manu is playing better football because ole believes in them , encourages them, allow them to express themselves. Jose on the other hand, criticised, bashed, and didn't trust his players. this sucked, drained the confidence of the players. nothing is wrong with being pragmatic. under the circumstances we couldn't expect manu to play the best football...this was the reserve team. but ole made us the fans believe that manu could win the game. he remained positive, he was confident. and these are same attributes that exuded through the players. ole is phenomenal. so is this Manchester United team.