Is rehiring Solskjaer a mistake?

Karan Ahgun

— 2 min read
Is rehiring Solskjaer a mistake?

After Ruben Amorim was sacked by Manchester United on Monday morning, the club announced that Darren Fletcher would take charge of the team in the immediate future, whilst the hierarchy looked for an interim manager for the rest of the season. Almost immediately, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's name was thrown into the mix and at the moment, he is the frontrunner for the role alongside Michael Carrick. But is a return for the United legend the right move right now?

Back in 2018, Solskjaer was given the opportunity to take interim charge of United after Mourinho got sacked. He's interim stint was ultra successful, winning 14 out of 19 games and beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League RO16. As a result of this success, Solskjaer was hired permanently and was in the manager post until 2021. Overall, the Norwegian's time in charge of United in seen as mostly good but there were obvious flaws too. He immediately brought back a feel-good factor for most of his time in charge, and was able to unlock the attack to a point where they were scoring at the best rate since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement. But for these good things, there were also some bad things. The criticisms laid at Solskjaer's door include not being able to win a trophy in his time and not setting his team up to sustainably dominate games. These pros and cons are still relevant today and will be taken into consideration by United in this decision.

There is absolutely no guarantee that Solskjaer will be able to recreate the run that got him the permanent job the first time around. The club will also have take into consideration that they have not only just got rid of Amorim but also his coaching staff, and therefore they will need to bring in some first-team coaches too. Solskjaer openly stated that during his time in charge at United, he did not take the training sessions but deferred the responsibilities to Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna. So maybe this could edge Michael Carrick ahead in the race, given his coaching ability and his recent managerial stint at Middlesbrough. Carrick also took charge of 3 games as United's interim manager when Solskjaer was sacked, winning 2 and drawing 1, so he can also boast experience of being in the Manchester United hot seat. Whatever decision the club's hierarchy take, there is still a lot to play for in the league and the objective for the rest of the season should be to qualify for the Champions League.

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