I’m not one for the English summer holidays just yet, but when we face Manchester United on Sunday I will have nothing but positive things to say about this Manchester United side. Not since Roy Keane, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer packed the Old Trafford box have United put on a better display.
Where do we stand now? It’s hard to get a grip of them, but I feel we can take them on, see them at their best and win this important match. That’s something United should do really, in my opinion. And something they will keep doing if they get good results in the future. I was as gutted as anybody when Jose Mourinho was sacked but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can take them up to fourth if he scores one more goal. He’s terrific for the future and United will be able to hold on to him in that manner. How has Ole done in six matches? All four defeats have been against the so-called lesser teams, apart from the title-winners (Burnley, Chelsea and, most impressively, Bournemouth).
Certainly, it seems very obvious to me that United will play as a more attacking, expansive team now. José has been a winner his whole career, which says it all, but I don’t think his parting words last week will have done his mind any good at all.
There was no mention of what went wrong with United at the end of the game and he could have said that he was indebted to the players who worked for him. He could have said the losses against Chelsea and Bournemouth were hugely disappointing but he chose to make the point that United did what they set out to do – were they worthy champions. I suspect the players understood all that, so it will have been frustrating for Jose to hear.
What is unfortunate is that it will also have been upsetting for the players to know that Jose’s bitterness towards them is so real and very well-thought-out that you can see that it’s something that will take time for them to move on from.