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Rob DawsonCorrespondent
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is a statistics geek and can tell you that his Manchester United players are running further, creating more and giving up fewer opportunities than at any other time during his two years at Old Trafford. But there are really only a couple of numbers that you should turn to to show the progress your team is making.
On New Years Day 2020, United ranked fifth in the table, 24 points behind leaders Liverpool. On the first day of 2021, with a win over Aston Villa, they will be together in front with Liverpool. They may not win the title this season, but at least they’ve given themselves a chance.
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Solskjaer, Marcus Rashford and David De Gea were all put in front of the television cameras after the narrow 1-0 win over the Wolves and all played down the prospect of a challenge in the new year. But the truth, whether they admit it or not, is that the positive results from their next two league games against Aston Villa on Friday and Liverpool at Anfield on January 17 will put United at the center of the race. Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge the last time fans kept talking about the title in January.
Solskjaer, a six-time player title winner with Ferguson, knows better than most that a nose for defiance isn’t enough in a club of United’s size and ambition. Instead, he will have to win it before all doubters are silenced.
He also knows that it doesn’t take much to move the boat at Old Trafford and while there is a clear sense of optimism around the club heading into the New Year, it can wear off very quickly. United ended 2019 with a nine-game streak undefeated before winning just two of the next seven to leave Solskjaer facing more questions about his job. Even as recently as December 8 and that disastrous Champions League exit at the hands of RB Leipzig, the Norwegian was asked in press conferences about his future.
However, Solskjaer has been adamant that he is the right man, while behind the scenes, club bosses have insisted that the approach of hiring and firing managers since Ferguson retired in 2013 is over and that the 47 year old player will receive more time and more money.
He’s not the type to publicly criticize the owners or top management, but sources have told ESPN that he has made it clear that the team needs at least one other forward and central defender before they can consistently match Liverpool and Manchester. City.
There remains the feeling among many fans that the club is more interested in investing in the team when they try to return to the lucrative Champions League rather than taking the final step to win trophies. Regardless of the progress made this season, fans are still hoping that funding will be available to new players next summer, even during the financial uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic.
In a New Years message to fans ahead of Villa’s visit, Executive Vice President Ed Woodward promised more investment in the team and those words will need to be backed up if Solskjaer is to make this team a consistent contender for the biggest trophies at home. and in Europe.
“The team has managed well under challenging circumstances and, at the time of writing, we have earned more points per game since Project Restart last June than any other club in the Premier League,” Woodward said. “We also have four more wins and nine more goals than at the same time last season. There are a lot of positive statistics like these that show the progress made with Ole in the last year. But they only tell part of the story.
“Just as important is the work we see being done behind the scenes to build a winning culture consistent with the traditions of the attacking soccer club played by young, hard-working teams that fuse local talent with top-notch recruits.
The statistics, the mood and the Premier League table show that progress is being made at Man United, but the goal must be to turn it into something more tangible. As Woodward noted: “As always, our priority is winning trophies, and with the team entering the New Year competing on four fronts, we are optimistic about the way forward in 2021.”
A first trophy, perhaps a first title, are realistic goals in 2021 and Solskjaer won’t need to remember that the only stat that really matters to a United manager is his cutlery count.
