Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge of Manchester United one week before Christmas 2018 right after the Red-Devils had been totally outclassed by a slick and efficient Liverpool side losing 3-1 at Anfield.
Liverpool did benefit from 2 deflected goals by Shaqiri but other than a brief period of play after Anthony Martial had scored, the game was dominated by Jurgen Klopp’s side. For many Man United fans it was not only a horrific result but what United offered going forward was not close to what the United faithful demand from their team.
After such a nightmare it was not such a shock to see Jose Mourinho relieved of his duties especially after that had followed a boring 2-1 away loss to Valencia in the Champions League when United had the licence to go out and play with freedom but they played out a game which they never looked like winning.
Having said that the previous Champions League game was the stunning last minute away win vs Juventus which did seal their passage through to the knockout rounds where as we know United drew PSG. Of course pundits are saying that if Ole beats PSG over 2 legs then he becomes the permanent manager at United.
Surely there will be much more taken into consideration before the next full-time United manager is appointed but OGS continues to do his case no harm and he has experience in the Champions League having scored the winner for United in the 1999 treble winning season.
As all 4 Premier League teams qualified for the knockout round and given the tasty draws of the British clubs there will be no shortage of champions league betting as United are 11th favourites to win it outright available at 33-1, while Tottenham Hotspur are 10th favourites at 30-1 with Liverpool 5th favourites at 10-1 and favourites Manchester City have the best odds of 7-2 with UniBet.
Spurs (who face Dortmund) have shown they can beat anyone in Europe after their group game heroics vs Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and Inter Milan while Liverpool (who face Bayern Munich) after their run to the final last year can also beat any team in the competition and are clearly a threat again this year with a deeper and stronger squad.
Manchester City (who play Schalke) are favourites for a reason as they are still on course for 4 trophies and have shown they can get up for the biggest games like their win over Liverpool in early January.
United if you like are a Champions League wild-card – little is expected of them after a poor group phase but if Ole can produce another game plan like he did for the Spurs game then anything could happen especially if David De Gea has one of his unbeatable nights in goal. If United get past PSG then they could go on and win the whole thing and 33-1 is a great price. For the record PSG are 3rd favourites at 15-2 to win the competition so you can see how the bookies regard Ole’s chances in the competition.
As long as the Red-Devils do not totally capitulate vs PSG and as long as they continue to play the Manchester United way with genuine attacking intent and threat in the upcoming 2 games with Chelsea (FA Cup and PL) and in the Liverpool match then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has earned the right to be appointed permanent manager of Manchester United. OGS has been a breath of fresh air at Old Trafford and he has stabilised the team defensively without buying players as well as getting the attack firing and the goals flowing more freely.