Just because the idea of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer returning to Manchester United is probably a bad idea, doesn’t mean the Red Devils supporters cannot wonder ‘what if?’
What if one of Old Trafford’s favourite sons was to make another tear-jerking return to his former stomping ground and finish what he started?
What if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could bring back the kind of free-flowing, goals-by-the-bucketload football that has gone by the wayside under his Manchester United successor Erik ten Hag?
Those are questions that have been swirling around the heads of even the most cynical and unemotional Red Devils supporters over the last 24 hours.
This week, Solskjaer admitted that ‘of course’ he’d take the Manchester United job if he was to be offered it a second time in the wake of Ten Hag’s potential departure.
And Fredrik Filtvedt, as both a Man United fan and a Norway-based football writer, is better placed than most to speak about the connection between Solskjaer and his adoring public back home in England’s north west.
Ole is, after all, the man who makes Man United fans happy even when the skies are grey, as the old saying goes.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer opens door to Manchester United return
“There is no doubt that the period Solskjaer had at Manchester United is very special for many people,” Filtvedt tells Dagbladet.
“When people experience the adversity they are experiencing now, it is very easy to dream back to the good feelings that were there, when Solskjaer delivered attacking football and goals on a conveyor belt.
“It ended as it did, but there is no doubt [Solskjaer’s comments] has awakened some old romantic feelings in many people.”
Solskjaer’s three year spell as Man United manager between 2018 and 2021 is a classic case of ‘what might have been?’.
Would United have won a Premier League title if Solskjaer was supported by Sir Jim Ratcliffe rather than the Glazers, with his dreams of Declan Rice and a young Erling Haaland going unanswered?
Man United missed out on Jude Bellingham on Solskjaer’s watch too.
Would he still be in the dugout now had United not let their heart rule their head when tearing up a youthful, dynamic team to bring back Cristiano Ronaldo?
What about if David de Gea had saved a single penalty against Villarreal in that painful Europa League final, or kept out that daisy-cutting Mason Mount strike in the FA Cup semis?
“Now that there is a good structure at the club and a professionalism, could Solskjaer succeed under those conditions? It is easy to think that he could have done even better,” adds Filtvedt, insisting that the man who scored that famous winner in the 1999 Champions League final has stayed quiet on United of late largely due to his respect for an under-fire Ten Hag.
“He doesn’t want to make things difficult for ten Hag. He hasn’t tried to do anything that isn’t right.”
The reaction that has followed Solskjaer’s admission that he would be keen on a second attempt at the United job perhaps goes some way to explaining why he was so wary of speaking out publicly.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is a big Solskjaer fan
Man United’s new part-owner – the Failsworth-born Red Devils fanatic Ratcliffe – is a very big fan of the 51-year-old. Ratcliffe allegedly even offered Solskjaer the manager’s job at United’s French-based sister club OGC Nice.
“We know that Sir Jim is excited about Solskjaer. Among other things, he had offered him the job as Nice coach at an earlier time,” adds Filtvedt, albeit while insisting that another homecoming is very unlikely as things stand.
“If United are to replace Ten Hag, they must find the candidate they believe is the best. It would surprise me if Solskjær topped such a list.
“If you look at the CV of many others, I would assume that Solskjaer would not have been on a top five list once. I don’t see it as very likely.”
According to reports, there are concerns amongst the United bosses about Ten Hag.
The likes of Thomas Tuchel – still out of work following his departure from Bayern Munich – may be part of any contingency plan alongside Kieran McKenna, Ruben Amorim and potentially Julian Nagelsmann too.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United spell
- Appointed in 2018 as interim boss
Solskjaer was hired until the end of the 2018/19 season in a surprise move as a stop-gap after Jose Mourinho was sacked.
- Hired full-time in March 2019
After a superb Premier League run, Solskjaer defeated Paris Saint-Germain in a Champions League upset win after a 2-0 first leg defeat. The momentum saw United give Solskjaer the job full-time.
- An up and down 2019/20
After a terrible end to the 2018/19 season, Solskjaer began the following season poorly and the decision to hand him the job looked like a possible error. Solskjaer then rallied his team and managed to finish in third place. Along the way United lost three semi-finals.
- Second place in 2020/21
United built on third the previous year and managed to finish in second. The team even topped the table in January before sliding off. United reached another semi-final, and then reached the Europa League final, losing to Villarreal on penalties.
- Unable to take the next step
Solskjaer was backed in the summer and got the players he wanted. After a terrific first game against Leeds, United’s performances stuttered, gradually getting worse. The defence leaked goals and the whole team seemed to take a backwards step. A 4-1 loss to Watford was the final humiliation.
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