Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: Manchester United Not About 'Stupid' Back Passes

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says the club is built on attacking football, rather than "stupid" passes that do not move the team forward.

The Norwegian took over as interim boss after Jose Mourinho was sacked in December, and he appeared to hit out at the Portuguese coach's defensive management of the team.

Per the Mirror's Jacob Murtagh, when asked by former Red Devils team-mate Teddy Sheringham what he had to change at Old Trafford when he took charge, Solskjaer said:

"The first thing is to smile when you're at Manchester United because when it's over you do miss it.

"It's about attacking, about pace, about power. I know we [nodding to Sheringham] didn't have the best of pace but we still attacked.

"That's what Manchester United are built around—attacking football and going forward. Not stupid square and back passes."

Solskjaer has won all five of his Premier League games in charge of United, with his team scoring 15 goals in the process.

By contrast, in the first 17 matches of the season under Mourinho, the Red Devils scored just 29 for an average of 1.7 per game. Even last season, when United finished second with 81 points, only Chelsea scored fewer than their 68 goals in the league's top six.

As football writer Liam Canning noted in United's 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, their forwards have been revitalised by Solskjaer:

Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News singled out Marcus Rashford's improvement and feels Solskjaer's experience as a striker is helping him:

While United aren't the force they once were—or should be, given their resources—in Rashford, Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez, they have a collection of forwards who can contribute goals when they're given confidence and playing in a team looking to get the most out of them.

Mourinho's failure to deliver on the expectation of attacking football was a significant factor in his downfall at Old Trafford, but Solskjaer's understanding of the club has helped him succeed where his predecessor failed to this point.

United have a long way to go before they're back at the pinnacle of English football, but getting the most out of their attacking players gives them a strong platform to build on.