The Manchester United job is not an easy one nowadays. Since Sir Alex Ferguson, there has been no title challenges. No quests for European supremacy. No sign that the swashbuckling side of the 1990s and 2000s is coming back.
David Moyes was dire, Louis van Gaal lacklustre and Jose Mourinho a big disappointment. Mourinho was, arguably, the best of the three.
A Europa League and EFL Cup double in 2017 suggested Manchester United were on the right track. Silverware is silverware after all, no matter its calibre.
But there has been nothing to get the juices flowing quite like Solskjaer. His Red Devils side is guaranteed to attack. To go for it.
It has been so far at least. A honeymoon period of the highest order. 14 wins from 19 games – including famous scalps of PSG, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea – is impressive.
But the hard work starts now. And the work will be hard. In the long run, it may even be too hard.
What United have asked Solskjaer to do is the biggest challenge of any managerial career.
It’s like Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. Fans want the Premier League. The Champions League is the only appropriate No 2 priority.
United are now demanding that Solskjaer steer them back onto the path Ferguson led them on.
Bigger bosses have failed. Moyes had more experience than Solskjaer after 11 years at Everton, but still found the jump to the highest level to be exactly that. Too high.
Van Gaal was the chosen one after the Moyes. But the Dutchman’s football was drab. Off onto the scrapheap he went – despite an FA Cup triumph.
Mourinho did well. The EFL Cup and Europa League titles are nothing to be scoffed at.
After winning silverware aplenty at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Chelsea agin, he was worth the punt.
Unfortunately, however, even the 56-year-old’s genius failed at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer is now being asked to do the biggest thing of any career. Steer the mighty Manchester United, England’s most-successful club, back to the promise land.
It took Ferguson the best part of 30 years to do so.
So, as the Scot’s former striker, Solskjaer will no doubt throw himself into emulating his mentor.
Will it be an easy ride? No. There will be defeats and heartache along the way.
But Solskjaer deserves credit for the job he has done so far and is worthy of the job of his dreams. And only time will tell whether the Norwegian can succeed where his predecessors failed.
