Analysing the similarities between Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Sir Alex Ferguson's managerial style

#4 Mentality

The comeback against PSG

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s approach to the games epitomizes Sir Alex’s approach. Sir Alex was a master at shaping the psychology of his players developing a strong mentality and an attacking approach towards games. His teams had a never die attitude that enabled them to stage extraordinary comebacks and win games and titles from improbable positions.

Some of these famous comebacks include the 5-3 win against Tottenham Hotspurs when they were trailing 3-0 at half time and the win in the Champions League final when they scored two stoppage-time goals to stun the world.

Solskjaer goes into games planning how he could attack the opposition and exploit their weaknesses and not the other way round. He is predominantly a proactive manager who has shown that he can reshuffle and react to situations based on how the game is progressing. Solkjaer has brought a fear factor back to United that has eluded them in recent years. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer makes his team believe that every game is winnable.

The game against PSG perfectly encapsulates United’s siege mentality under Ole. After that 2-0 loss at Old Trafford, it would have been easy to give up on the second leg with the injury crisis leaving them to barebones but Ole set his team up perfectly to get a monumental result in Paris. Such a strong mentality will help the Red Devils against the mighty Barcelona in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.