The Norwegian has made the perfect start to life in charge at Old Trafford and feels his side are hitting form at just the right time
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Manchester United have momentum as they look to close the gap on the Premier League top four.
Solskjaer became the first Man Utd manager to win his first five matches in charge with victory over Reading in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Four successive victories in the Premier League have helped the Red Devils narrow the gap on the top four to six points having been 11 points off the pace when Solskjaer succeeded Jose Mourinho last month.
Yet, when asked about what the team could achieve this season Solskjaer was wary of setting targets, though the Norwegian does feel his players are hitting top form just at the right time.
“I think the players are getting confidence and the feeling is that we have momentum,” he told reporters. “It’s about keeping it up and let’s see where it takes. We’re always good towards the end of the season anyway.
“I’m not going to say top-four is our target because my target is the next game, but my target is also a certain way of playing. That certain way of playing will get us to where we belong in the end. I can’t say ‘if we get top-four it’s a success, if we don’t it’s not a success’. It depends on the performances. You can never ever control the result as a footballer.”
Solskjaer has taken his players to a warm weather training camp in Dubai ahead of their next Premier League game against third-placed Tottenham at Wembley next Sunday.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side convincingly beat United 3-0 at Old Trafford in August but Solskjaer has played down talk of revenge.
“You never like to lose games but I don’t think you look at it as revenge,” Solskjaer added. “You never do. You’re playing against one of the top teams. Tottenham have performed fantastically this season, they’ve got a great way of playing.
“But we’re at Wembley, we’re playing against one of the top teams, it doesn’t need motivation. It’s not about what’s happened before. It’s this game and these 90 minutes.
“They’ve performed really well over a few years now and they’ve been towards the top of the league. There will be loads of things we need to look at both as individuals – you’ve got [Harry] Kane, one of the best strikers in the world, [Christian] Eriksen one of the best playmakers, you’ve got [Heung-Min] Son, [Dele] Alli – and we have to look at the team unit and how we play against them.
“But, as I said, we don’t go to Dubai and just prepare for Tottenham. We have to prepare for the rest of the season and it’s how we fare against Paris Saint-Germain, how we fare against Liverpool, because they are the top teams of Europe now.”
Solskjaer was also keen to play down his personal achievement of making the best start by any Manchester United manager in the club’s history.
The Norwegian can also emulate the achievement of Sir Matt Busby by winning his first five league matches in charge next weekend, but the former Cardiff boss isn’t concerned.
“I don’t care,” he said. “Not now. I might sit down in 20 years’ time and look at whatever records I have. I never look back. Never ever. When I’m in a position, never look back on what I’m doing that way.
“Yeah, you reflect and you try to improve but you never get complacent and think ‘I’ve done this or that, I’ve done well’.