Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stopped short of invoking the words of Sir Alex Ferguson as he set his sights on catching Liverpool on Friday but the return to action over the past week has filled the Manchester United manager with optimism.
United visit Norwich in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday although focus yesterday was, for a few moments at least, on Liverpool’s title coronation.
And while Solskjaer was in no mood to echo his mentor’s famous reference to knocking Liverpool “off their perch,” the United manager was very much talking up a potential title charge in the near future.
He said: “For us we have to focus on ourselves and start moving up that table and win a title. That’s a definite.
“I don’t know when you can call people ‘on the perch,’ but for me our job is to win titles and make sure that we get close and win the Premier League again.
“I feel that we have shown at our best that we can match the best teams. That is the challenge for me and the players certainly that we can have that consistency now.
“We cannot afford to have the bad periods that we had earlier on in the season.
“We are still one of the youngest teams in the league and we need to learn how to win games that this season we have drawn or lost.
“But yes I do see a team building and developing into a team how we see Man United and hopefully that can mean we will move up the table and challenge, yes, definitely.”
The visit to Norwich offers United the chance to extend their current unbeaten run to 14 games, a sequence dating back to a home loss against Burnley in January.
Solskjaer’s team has returned from the lay-off in strong form, following a draw at Spurs with an emphatic home win over Sheffield United in a game which saw Paul Pogba return for his first start since Christmas.
The French World Cup winner’s form, and pairing with new boy Bruno Fernandes, has been particularly eye-catching in the brief glimpses they have enjoyed together and Solskjaer was once more put in the position of talking about the part he sees Pogba playing in his long-term vision for United.
Solskjaer laughed: “Here we go again! I don’t think you can ever question Paul’s professionalism.
Martial: 9
Pogba: 8
Fernandes: 8
De Gea: 6
Rashford: 7
@MichaelHincks assesses five key #MUFC performances in their win over Sheffield United#MUNSHU https://t.co/NBeRSyn4F3 pic.twitter.com/KRWGroMDdx
— i sport (@iPaperSport) June 24, 2020
“He is a very very professional boy and he lives his life the right way. He wants to be the best he can be. He knows he’s a special talent and he doesn’t want to in five or ten years time look back and think I didn’t make the most of it.
“He is already a World Cup winner, he has won things with Juventus and us so I’m not surprised by his enthusiasm and dedication to us. Yes we are looking to keep Paul here and we are looking to keep the best players here anyway.
“I am certain that he and Bruno can play well together, yes, because they have proven both in training and in the games when they play together that it’s exciting.
“You want to give Paul the chance to get 100 percent fit and back to his best. He has been out for so long but I think it says everything about the quality of the boy in his performances.”
Solskjaer will include Jesse Lingard in his squad for the trip to Carrow Road with the forward, who scored the winner the last time United won the FA Cup in 2016, struggling for fitness and form this season.
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Solskjaer said: “Jesse has always been a very fit boy and he’s working hard. He is an athletic boy.
“So now it is time to give him a chance again. We know how he has worked. He has had his challenges.
“Jesse knows what it takes to be a Man United player and he has scored important goals for us. FA Cup Final, obviously we remember that.
“Hopefully Jesse can take his chance and we see the best of him again. We know there is a top player there.”
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/31liPoP
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