Solskjaer: Pace and power is my philosophy

The Norwegian will take charge of his fifth game as United caretaker manager on Saturday, against Reading in the Emirates FA Cup, having picked up four consecutive wins to bring a positive atmosphere to the Aon Training Complex.

Speaking in the embargoed section of his pre-match press conference, Solskjaer expressed how he wants his team to continue to play going forward and likened it to the way the Reds were coached under Sir Alex Ferguson's era.

"Pace and power, Man United, that's what we are," he said. "When you have players, like we have, with pace - Paul [Pogba], Anthony [Martial], Alexis [Sanchez], Romelu [Lukaku], [Marcus] Rashford - that's how we played with Andy [Cole] and Yorkie [Dwight Yorke] with Giggsy [Ryan Giggs] and Becks [David Beckham] down the sides. We attacked quickly and that's my philosophy as well."

"That's always been the way I like to play football. Get the ball up in the opposition's half as soon as you can, as quickly as you can. If you score, fantastic. If not then you've got to have patient build-up play. But attack quickly."

Following our FA Cup third-round fixture, the Reds will travel to the Middle East for some hot weather training in Dubai before returning to face Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley next weekend. Solskjaer explained that the week away will be a good opportunity for players not getting regular game time to improve their fitness and reminisced about how Sir Alex used to rally the troops in January ahead of the second half of the season.

"We can get fitter and we have to do that through the training sessions here, but Dubai is a good chance," he said. "Because now is the first time we get a week of work together. The ones who have not been in the squad, they've obviously worked on their fitness while they've not been in the squad.

"I still have pictures in my mind every January of the gaffer with a stopwatch," he added, "He timed us all them because that stood us in good stead towards the end of the season, so it is a time to really work hard, even though we've got plenty of games. We need to work."

The arrival of a new year also means the advent of the January transfer window. United brought in Alexis Sanchez during this period last season, and Ole was inevitably asked about any incoming moves during his briefing with the press.

"I'm happy with the squad I've got," he replied. "I don't expect anyone to come in, but obviously if the club have targeted and identified a few and I think they might fit here, I'll give my thumbs up, but it's not just my decision."

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