[ad_1]
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will become the 70th man to manage 100 Premier League games when he takes his Manchester United side to Everton on Saturday.
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the Baby-faced Assassin, with some doubting whether he would make it to this milestone, but there have been plenty of highs along the way which have helped him get there.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane to look at some of the highs and lows from Solskjaer’s first 100 games.
Solskjaer’s first Premier League game ended in a crushing 2-0 defeat against a West Ham side who were also locked in a relegation battle in the 2013/14 season.
The visitors lost Guy Demel to injury and ended the game with ten men following James Tomkins’ dismissal, but even with the odds in their favour, Solskjaer’s Cardiff were woeful.
The Bluebirds replaced West Ham in the drop zone that day, and they never made it out.
Solskjaer had to wait four matches for his first victory in the league, bagging a 2-1 win over fellow drop-fearers Norwich City.
Cardiff fell behind early on, but after some words of wisdom from Solskjaer, they roared back with two goals straight after half-time to keep their slim survival hopes alive.
Not only was this memorable for Solskjaer, but this match meant something to the debuting Wilfried Zaha, who bagged the assist for the equaliser on his first appearance for Cardiff.
Brought in to try and save Cardiff, Solskjaer could do nothing but watch as a 3-0 loss to Newcastle sent his team crashing back down to the Championship after a single season in the top flight.
The result was made worse as it came against a Newcastle side who were in such poor form – six consecutive losses – that a large number of fans walked out of St James’ Park in protest.
He would only manage eight more games for Cardiff, being relieved of his duties in September 2014 after a poor start to life in the second tier.
Fate can be funny sometimes. Solskjaer was brought to United in December 2018, and his first game just so happened to be against his previous employers.
He needed a big win to shake off the misery left behind from Jose Mourinho, and he got exactly that as goals from Marcus Rashford, Ander Herrera, Anthony Martial and a Jesse Lingard double (back when he scored goals for United) fired the Red Devils to a 5-1 win.
Part of the reason for the victory was Solskjaer’s decision to recall Paul Pogba, who had been left on the fringes towards the end of Mourinho’s tumultuous tenure.
Life at United started off great, but a 2-0 loss to Arsenal in March seemed to knock the team’s confidence as results started to fade away soon after.
The worst result of them all came on the final day of the season as already-relegated Cardiff (hello again) stormed to a comfortable 2-0 win at Old Trafford – a result which had Solskjaer seething.
It was around this time that Solskjaer stopped pulling punches in the media, bluntly warning his underperformers that there would be no free rides at United anymore. I guess this was both a good and bad result?
To add to any positivity which might be there, this was also Mason Greenwood’s first league start, making him the youngest starter in the club’s history in the competition.
United came back after the summer and were immediately drawn against Frank Lampard’s Chelsea. It was the battle of the club legends, and Solskjaer came away laughing.
While it wasn’t exactly a perfect performance, United managed to pick up a 4-0 win. Marcus Rashford stole the show with two goals, and Anthony Martial and Daniel James also got in on the fun.
Not only did this have United fans celebrating, but it ruined Lampard’s return to the club he loves. A double whammy of positives for the Red Devils.
The 4-0 win over Chelsea wasn’t the turning point it was supposed to be, and by the time January 2020 arrived, it looked certain that Solskjaer was going to be out of a job.
A 2-0 loss to Burnley – the Clarets’ first league win at Old Trafford – was enough for fans to boo United off the pitch, and there was widespread speculation that Solskjaer’s head was going to roll any second.
However, in another of those moments which might end up being positive, it was this lacklustre performance which convinced United to shell out on Bruno Fernandes, who has done pretty alright since joining.
Fernandes’ arrival turned United into monsters. Champions League football was a distant dream before, but the Red Devils had the chance to qualify for the competition on the final day of the season.
With Chelsea beating Wolves, it came down to either United or Leicester to join them in the top four. Whoever won this game would get the glory, and Solskjaer made sure it was United. Unsurprisingly, it was Fernandes who opened the scoring as well.
Would Solskjaer have still been in a job if United had lost this game? It’s hard to know for sure.
Kept behind the wheel for at least one more season, United’s 2020/21 campaign could have hardly gotten off to a worse start.
A 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace in their first game was bad enough, but the 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Mourinho’s Tottenham a few weeks later was the lowest of the low.
United were four goals and a man down by the break, and most fans felt as though the season was already a write-off. The sack rumours were back.
Slowly but surely, Solskjaer managed to win fans back over again. A run of impressive results saw United roar towards the top of the Premier League, and their attacking brilliance was on full show as they matched the record for the biggest victory in league history.
The 9-0 win matched the record which was first set by United against Ipswich in 1995 and equalled by Leicester against Southampton in 2019, and it was a sign of just how devastatingly brilliant United’s attack can be.
Five goals in the last 21 minutes had United dreaming about matching their all-time club record – a 10-0 win over Anderlecht back in 1956.
For more from Tom Gott, follow him on Twitter!
[ad_2]
Source link
