The temporary boss has propelled the Red Devils into top-four contention and progressed to the Champions League last eight but will it be enough?
When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer became Manchester United’s caretaker-manager on December 19, he was given six months to make a case for the right to be Jose Mourinho’s permanent successor.
A little over halfway into the temporary job, Solskjaer has worked wonders to this point but has yet to be confirmed as the long-term United boss, with executive vice-chair Ed Woodward and the United board yet to make a final decision on who will take charge in 2019-20.
With a number of criteria to fulfil, the Norwegian has excelled in some but how has he performed across the board so far?
Goal takes a look at how he has managed to impact Manchester United to date.
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Fourteen wins in 19 ensures an immediate pass mark in this category, even if that comes with the qualifier that things were looking even more impressive until defeats to Arsenal and Wolves in their last two fixtures.
The FA Cup exit will have hurt Solskjaer more than it might have stung some of his predecessors, so intent has he been on hunting down silverware above and beyond any other targets.
However, his excellent return across the three months he has been in charge has put United in far better shape than they were in in December.
Back in with a shout of a top-four finish in the Premier League and looking ahead to a Champions League clash with Barcelona, United are a world away from the train wreck Jose Mourinho left behind.
Indeed, the Portuguese claimed shortly before his dismissal that it would be “almost a miracle” for them to get back into the top four yet here they are, in fifth place, just two points behind Arsenal and with eight games still to play.
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The Norwegian has brought a real Manchester United edge back to his team’s play, with the greater urgency injected into their football resulting in greater rewards.
He has not changed their shape too dramatically, alternating primarily between the 4-3-3 employed by Mourinho in the second half of his reign and a diamond midfield which has similarly promoted a more dynamic style of play.
His greatest success has been in getting better performances out of Paul Pogba, with the Frenchman revelling in the opportunity to play with greater freedom thanks to the deployment of Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera in clearer roles than was once the case.
It has also been to Pogba’s – and United’s – advantage that the forward players have been encouraged to ask more questions of opposition defenders, with bigger spaces opening up for the World Cup winner to exploit as a result of a more energetic attack and a higher pressing game off the ball.
Also, the victory at Tottenham early in Solskjaer’s reign was achieved thanks in large part to the decision to pick Marcus Rashford on the right of attack rather than through the middle, with Jesse Lingard being asked to act as a conduit between the midfield and the forward line in the centre of the pitch.
That success was just one of a number of examples of Solskjaer making slight alterations, and he has often made in-game changes which have addressed issues when things haven’t quite gone to plan, such as switching to a back three away to Arsenal in order to regain a foothold in the game after some early struggles.Getty ImagesPlayers' Form
Not only has Pogba become an entirely different player under Solskjaer, but the likes of Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial have also excelled since the change of management.
Rashford was actually starting to find his stride towards the end of Mourinho’s time in charge, but he has reached a new level under Ole.
A run of 10 goals in 21 games, including eight in 18 since Solskjaer came in, marks his greatest streak of scoring form at first-team level, and his composure in front of goal has reached heights that he barely seemed capable of troubling during some of his more profligate moments of seasons gone by.
Shaw has clearly benefitted from the new levels of attacking freedom allowed by the caretaker-manager, and the departure of a man who publicly undermined him so relentlessly can surely only have helped his development too.
Martial may not have delivered the goals return of some of the other forwards, but he has looked a much greater threat when given licence to attack space.
Victor Lindelof has also gone from strength to strength, while even Romelu Lukaku has rediscovered his scoring touch despite going through a period during which he was basically asked to play the role of super-sub.
The main concern in this area right now is Alexis Sanchez, with the Chilean still dropping way short of the performances he delivered in the colours of Arsenal, Barcelona and Udinese.
His latest injury setback has hardly helped his cause and it is he who provides Solskjaer with his biggest question mark at this point, even if the boss has left it on the player’s shoulders to find a long-term solution.
“I can’t do anything about Alexis Sanchez. When he plays he needs to find himself, because we know there is a quality player there,” said Solskjaer in February.
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It took Lukaku only two minutes to score after coming on against Bournemouth in Solskjaer’s third game in charge, and when he netted within a minute of entering the following match at Newcastle to break the deadlock, it looked as though the caretaker had a golden touch.
But it hasn’t been plain sailing in this regard since then, even if some of his decisions of late have been conditioned by a mounting injury list which has left him dipping into the academy ranks.
In the home leg against Paris Saint-Germain it took him until six minutes from time to release Lukaku into the game, leaving the Belgian with little chance to affect the 0-2 scoreline, while in the recent FA Cup reverse to Wolves, Solskjaer failed to make a move until after an opening Wolves goal which had been coming for some time.
He also left it until the last five minutes to throw in Juan Mata and Scott McTominay rather than looking to change his side’s fortunes immediately after falling two goals behind.
For the most part he has proved adaptable, though, and his great relationship with his coaching staff has helped to bring about considered changes at crucial times in other games.
He encourages input from Mike Phelan, Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna at all times, ensuring that while he makes the final call, there is always group input into any switch made during matches.