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By Brenya Edward Kwabena Owusu, School of Communication Studies, WIUC-GHANA
Wisconsin Accra – 27 March, 2019
When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over as interim manager of his beloved former club Manchester United, not much was expected of him.
But after 19 games in all competitions since his appointment on 19 December 2018, the former super sub of the club has recorded 14 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses.
But has he done enough to convince the board?
This question will be answered either in May or even sooner. Solskjaer, however, still has a contract he needs to honour at his parent club Molde and they expect him to return after the loan spell ends.
Solskjaer has brought back the fear factor to Old Trafford although he possesses a better away record beating Arsenal and Chelsea both in difficult FA cup ties.
He has also been praised for bringing the best out of a squad which had been referred to as a liability by Jose Mourinho, the immediate past manager.
‘Manchester United have always stood up again and bounced back,’ declared Solskjaer. ‘It’s just in the DNA.’
And this was on 16 March, 2019, when Wolverhampton knocked his team out of the FA cup at the quarter final stage.
Despite that, it is evident that there is happiness all over Old Trafford and the United faithful are beginning to believe that they can win trophies again or at least to make it into the top four of the English Premier League, a prospect which seemed impossible three months ago.
But it will be unfair to leave out Mike Phelan in the success story.
He made the best choice in calling on the former right hand man of Sir Alex Fergusson. Many have said Phelan is the mastermind of the entire resurgence.
There are a few things Solskjaer can do – beyond Phelan – to win the hearts of the rest of the Man United board members and the Glazers, the owners of the club.
He just has to make it into the top four of the league table or possibly do what seems impossible for the team right now – winning the UEFA Champions League (ECL).
Man United did win the ECL twice under Sir Alex in 1999 and 2008 and the erstwhile European Cup in 1968 under Matt Bursby.
Barca have won it four times and also more recently; 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015, all when Lionel Messi was playing.
One interesting stat haunting Messi and his fans is that he has never scored in the quarter final stage; Messi has failed to score in his last eleven quarter final games.
And one interesting stat about Solskjaer is that he has done wonders as a substitute.
In 1999, he came on as a substitute player and scored an injury time goal to win the ECL at a times Ghanaian defender Samuel Osei-Kuffour was at his peak in the Bayern Munich defence.
This time around, he is on as a substitute coach.
Manchester United, under David Moyes, were beaten by Bayern Munich in the ECL quarter final in 2014, their furthest ECL appearance.
When Man United, under Sir Alex, met Barca in 2008 in the quarterfinal, they played to a goalless draw away at Camp nou and won by a lone goal at home, courtesy of a Paul Scholes stunner.
Time to prove if Solskjaer’s substitute performances are a fluke or he is really another Special One, beating Jose Mourinho to his preferred title and getting a special place on the coveted Sir Alex seat.
Feedback; [email protected] or to Edward via the Faceboook account Edward Brenya or WhatsApp to Edward on (+233) 026 578 4200.
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