Solskjaer Proved His Relevance and Growth Following Sunday's Victory Over Tottenham
Upon the final whistle of Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester United, Jose Mourinho greeted his opposing manager for the customary handshakes by moving to grab Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s head. Mourinho did so to avoid the humiliation of a patronising head pat that the Norwegian had given to Mourinho the last time Man United beat Tottenham Hotspur.
Because, despite the poor result and performance, Mourinho displayed on Sunday that he still remembers everything.
Sunday’s edition of this fixture will likely be remembered for strange VAR controversy and even stranger post-match comments from both managers regarding Solskjaer’s parenting skills, but it was the managers’ comments in the build-up to the game that were most telling.
Mourinho, of course, was Solskjaer’s predecessor as United manager. From 2016-2018, the Portuguese won two trophies, the EFL Cup and the Europa League, as well as sixth and second place league finishes. But, as detailed in last week’s newsletter, all was not well during Mourinho’s tenure.
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Solskjaer was asked about his side’s progress under his management a few weeks ago. He has yet to lead the Red Devils to any trophy success, but he claimed that it was league performance that was the true indicator of whether he was on the right track or not.
“The cups are sometimes an ego thing for managers and clubs. It’s not like a trophy will say ‘we are back’, no. It's a gradual progression at the top of the league. Sometimes the cup competitions can hide your progress a bit,” said the 48-year old.
“When you see the culture here, I see progress every day. It’s for others how much to assess there’s been an improvement. We’re all aiming to win trophies at this club, but sometimes the trophy can hide other things that are happening at the club.
“It’s in the league positions that you see whether you’re progressing, really. The cups you can be lucky or unlucky. Of course we’re aiming to win, that’s why you play football.”
In many ways, Solskjaer is right. While Mourinho brought home two trophies to United’s cabinet, the club was left in a messy state upon his swift exit in December of 2018. The team was left in sixth place in the league, having earned only 26 points from 17 games (1.53 points per game). Chelsea were 11 points clear in fourth place.
Solskjaer arrived and immediately the mood inside the club was lifted. He joined only as an interim manager, but his early results received him the permanent position as Man United manager. They failed to keep up their early form into the latter stages of the season and finished in sixth on 66 points (1.90 ppg).
However, a third place finish in the 2019/20 season and a second place now looking secured with seven games to go in 2020/21, the league progress has been clear. The league is a much greater barometer of a team’s strength. The marathon of 38 games says much more about a side’s quality, or lack thereof, than five or six knockout games.
Mourinho, a manager with 25 trophies to his name, predictably disagrees. When asked before Sunday’s game about Solskjaer’s comments, he referred to Sir Alex Ferguson as someone else who might disagree with the United boss.
“It’s his opinion. I’m pretty sure his big boss Sir Alex had a different opinion about it,” said Mourinho.
“But I respect what Solskjaer thinks. I think different. Freedom of thinking, freedom of ideas, and if that is what he thinks that is fine by me. It’s not a problem for me, he’s not being disrespectful to anyone.
“But I repeat I believe his big boss, and the biggest in Premier League history, has a different view in relation to that.”
The reference to Ferguson, who managed Solskjaer between 1996-2007 at United, takes a patronising tone. Mourinho is presenting Solskjaer in his answer like the rebel son who is acting out against his strict father’s wishes. Would Mourinho respond the same way if it was Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp who made these comments?
Or, perhaps, what if it was Mauricio Pochettino who said trophies were an “ego thing”?
In fact, Pochettino did say that exact thing back in 2019 following a 2-0 FA Cup exit to Crystal Palace.
“Again we're going to have the debate whether a trophy will take the club to the next level. I don't agree with it. It only builds your ego. The most important thing for Tottenham right now is to always be in the top four,” said the Argentine.
“People wish we could win some trophies. But being realistic, we are doing so well. To win a title here in England like the FA Cup or Carabao Cup is about being lucky, not only about quality in your squad,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mourinho’s Tottenham sit in seventh in the Premier League standings and are six points off the top four following Sunday’s defeat.
Pochettino suffered the same criticisms that Solskjaer is now being leveled with at United. The now PSG boss never won a trophy with Tottenham but the progress under his management was clear. He left the side in a much healthier place than where he found it.
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Mourinho does have a Carabao Cup final to prepare for, and a victory over Manchester City on April 25 will seal Spurs’ first trophy since 2008, but a failure to achieve top four will see the club fall behind its rivals even further.
The last manager to win a trophy at White Hart Lane was Juande Ramos. His Tottenham side were triumphant in the League Cup final over Chelsea, but the Spaniard’s reign at the club was over within eight months of victory after poor league results led to his sacking.
There is no doubt that Solskjaer absolutely wants to win trophies with the club that he also played for - after all it would add to his already significant cult hero status at the club - but he is being realistic about how United must improve.
Solskjaer’s goals are still focused on success, but he is aiming for the kind of victories that come from long-term growth and long-term health, even if it requires some short-term pain, instead of short-term growth that potentially hides long-term pain.
Mourinho famously declared that coming in second place as Man United manager, which last week’s newsletter debunked as an undeserved league finish, was the greatest accomplishment of his storied career.
“If I tell you, for example, that I consider one of the best jobs of my career was to finish second with Man United in the Premier League, you will say, ‘this guy is crazy,’” said Mourinho. “‘He won 25 titles and he is saying that a second position was one of his best achievements?’ I keep saying this because people don't know what is going on behind the scenes.”
Yet Solskjaer looks set to match that achievement and he might still even win a European trophy along the way. For all of Mourinho’s patronising tone and remarks, the Norwegian is set to match, or even surpass, the greatest achievement in his career.
Meanwhile, Mourinho’s Spurs continue to go backwards. Sunday’s match was one manager proving he is relevant and one manager showing he no longer is.