Marcus Rashford is backing Manchester United to improve under “positive” interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following their 5-1 win over Cardiff City.
The Red Devils were in rare form and managed to register five goals in a single Premier League game for the first time since legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson’s last match in charge.
How did Solskjaer get on in his first game as Manchester United manager? Five key things to know…
- Manchester United parted company with Jose Mourinho a few days after suffering a 3-1 loss away to Liverpool.
- It left United having won just one of their last six Premier League matches.
- The club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward opted to install a caretaker manager instead of hiring a full-time appointment.
- Solskjaer, who represented the Red Devils as a player between 1996 and 2007, arrived on loan from Molde FK where he is manager.
- Marcus Rashford scored three minutes into his tenure before Ander Herrera doubled their lead, Victor Camarasa pulled one back from the spot for Cardiff, but further goals from Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard (brace) gave United an emphatic 5-1 victory.
Rashford, who became the first United player to score under Solskjaer, was no doubt pleased with his side’s performance. United have endured a difficult period – one win in six Premier League matches going into this weekend’s game – which ultimately cost former manager Jose Mourinho’s his job.
United’s play was a stark contrast to what was served up under Mourinho and Rashford is confident under Solskjaer better days lie ahead. A sentiment echoed by Gary Lineker and Jermaine Jenas on social media.
If the Premier League had started on the day that Ole Gunnar Solskjær took over at Old Trafford, @ManUtd would be top. 🥴
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) December 22, 2018
First time Man Utd have scored 5 goals in one game, since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson! Brilliant from solskjaer! Man Utd sign him up on that long term contract right now!!!!
— Jermaine Jenas (@jjenas8) December 22, 2018
“He wants us to be positive on the ball and always look for the gaps. That was just the start. We’re going to improve and get better at it,” Rashford told BT Sport.
“The Christmas period is very busy so it is about recovering and making sure we’re ready for the next games. We have to keep improving and go up another level.”
Rooney’s hand in the win?
A club legend Solskjaer is still fondly remembered at Old Trafford with his name occasionally sung. A key member of United’s team in the late 90s and into early 2000s the Norwegian marksman, renowned for his finishing, would reister 126 goals across 366 games in all competitions.
His most famous strike was undoubtedly the winning goal, deep into stoppage time, against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final. Throughout his time he’d forge successful attacking partnerships with Wayne Rooney being one of his last.
United’s caretaker manager explained how the club’s all-time top-scorer, Rooney, advised him ahead of the Cardiff win.
“Football is easy if you’ve got good players! They are a great bunch of players and their quality is unbelievable,” Solskjaer told BT Sport.
“I arrived on Wednesday night and only had Thursday and Friday with the players. Wayne Rooney text me and gave me some advice – so it must be down to him! He told me to make them play football, enjoy themselves and be Manchester United.”
Although Solskjaer has promoted an expressive playing style at United, he says the foundation is built on hard work and defending.
He added: “We had a session yesterday about patterns of play and we wanted Ashley Young and Luke Shaw to push on more, it worked out well today.
“Your work-rate is the easiest thing to work on. It is free. It is the attitude and application of the boys.
“If we approach all the games like this – and we want them to approach them all like this – with combination play and playing the ball forward then I’ll be happy.
“The foundation was in the defending today. I thought the two centre-backs and two full-backs were brilliant today.”
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