FORMER Manchester United first team coach Rene Meulensteen believes it is no coincidence Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has turned the club’s fortunes around.
Meulensteen worked under Sir Alex Ferguson for six years, winning six major trophies including three Premier League titles.
Bradley Ormesher – The Times
He was axed following the appointment of David Moyes and the Red Devils have since struggled to reach the same levels of success.
But United have gone from strength to strength following the arrival of interim boss Solskjaer in December.
And former Fulham manager Meulensteen thinks having a core group of former players and coaches back is putting the club right back on track.
Speaking of The Coaches’ Voice, he said: “I’d just been promoted to first-team coach at Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson called me into his office.
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“’Listen Ren, I want to have a quick chat about how I like to see United perform.’”
“He was standing by a flipchart where he’d scribbled notes down over three pages: one on defence, one talking about possession and one about attacking.
“’When I see United attack, I want to see them attack with four things: pace, power, penetration and unpredictability.’”
“Bang, bang, bang, bang.
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“He spoke in the same way he wanted his team to play.
“When he left, after 26 years in charge, that identity went with him. Those four things disappeared. It was laboured. It was slow. Too many touches. No runs.
“Now, you see those things coming back in. Because Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was part of that. He knows.
“Mike Phelan was part of that. Michael Carrick was part of that.
“They all know. So it’s not difficult to bring that back in, because they’ve lived it. They’ve experienced it. As have I.”
United will hope to end their six-year wait for major silverware when they take on Wolves in the FA Cup tonight.
A win would put them into the semi-finals of the competition but they may have to do it without Romelu Lukaku.
The forward is a doubt with a foot injury while Ashley Young is also suspended.
