“Man of the Match by a mile” - Solskjaer lavishes praise on Manchester United star after 3-0 Tottenham victory
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has heaped praise on midfielder Scott McTominay following his team's 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
Speaking after the game, Solskjaer labelled McTominay the Man of the Match for his strong performance in midfield. The United manager was pleased to see the Scottish midfielder making tackles, driving forward and keeping hold of possession. Solskjaer said:
"Man of the match for me, by a mile. That's the Scott we've seen a few times before. He's had his injury, operation this season, but today, I thought, he was absolutely brilliant, won his tackles, drove forward, kept the ball simple, switched play, headed away set-plays. Absolute top."
United, in the process, recorded their first league win in five games. Solskjaer was under immense pressure to get a positive result against Tottenham. The United manager changed his system, and opted a back-three with Fred, Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay in midfield.
The system paid dividends, as goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford guided The Red Devils to a 3-0 morale-boosting win.
Scott McTominay was himself under scrutiny following a string of sub-par performances alongside Fred in United's midfield. However, words of encouragement from Solskjaer could go a long way for McTominay to replicate the same exploits in the rest of the season.
Scott McTominay won 11 duels today, the most any Manchester United midfielder has won in a league game all season.
An excellent fit for this system. 🙌 https://t.co/uVRhPuXuPi
The jury is still out on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's stint as Manchester United boss
Despite a comprehensive win over a struggling Tottenham Hotspur side, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is still under pressure to prove his worth as Manchester United manager.
Following the win, Solskjaer said that it has been a difficult week for him and the players, and needed a solid performance, which his team delivered. The United boss is pleased that his team got a four-day gap to change their tactics, which reaped rich dividends
Solskjaer added in this regard:
"It's been a difficult week for the players, the fans, the club, for me. I've stayed away from most of the noise, but you know what's happening out there. You have to put a performance in; it's the worst feeling if you lose a game; but we needed this week, this whole week, this performance."
"And it's probably the last time for a while we have a week to work on fitness, the mentality, and we changed the tactics, so it's nice to have four days to do that."
Ole Gunnar Solskjær to Sky Sports: “My 18 years at #mufc are not going to be defined by these few weeks — I'm not going to let a period like this define me”. 🔴 #MUFC
Manchester United are now fifth in the Premier League standings, having picked up 17 points from their first ten league games.