Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has brought the swagger back to Manchester United

The swagger is back at Old Trafford and for that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer deserves untold credit.

I’ve no great knowledge of what the Manchester United dressing room was like in the final, toxic days of Jose Mourinho, but the fact is good players who had virtually gone on strike are finally doing what they were paid handsomely to do.

Does that mean Solskjaer is lucky?

That anyone with a smile on his face and some nice comments about the club’s history couldn’t possibly have failed given the squad at his disposal? Mark Hughes, for example?

Maybe we over-complicate the game. I glaze over when anyone mentions Sarri-ball, this supposedly mythical tactic that got Chelsea off to a flyer.

Solskjaer probably also has lots of clever ideas about how he wants to play the game but basically he likes to attack; he’s made that abundantly clear. It’s not a crime; Fergie liked to do likewise and it didn’t do him any harm.

What Sir Alex had for much of his tenure, of course, was a reliable defence which Solskjaer doesn’t, and only one of the world’s best keepers ensured the Norwegian’s winning streak was extended to six rather than end on a 9-2 defeat.

But United are a massive club who players want to play for. Solskjaer has already delivered enough of a transformation to merit a summer transfer window to see if he can corral the defenders his predecessor couldn’t.

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