Ole Gunnar Solskjaer beating his chest at Old Trafford.

Solskjaer: It might be the start of a new United team

Saturday 11 May 2019 22:30

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is optimistic about the future of Manchester United, as the Reds bring down the curtain on another season.

It has been another roller coaster campaign for the club, with plenty of ups and downs across 2018/19.

Speaking ahead of Sunday's final Premier League fixture, against Cardiff City at Old Trafford, Solskjaer was optimistic about the challenges that lie ahead.

While competing for the league title looks like a tall order next season, Ole is confident about competing for domestic and European honours.

“Our supporters know football and they know that teams go in cycles at times,” the boss said in his pre-match press conference.

“Now it might be the start of a new team and an era.”

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“You go into a season wanting to win trophies," Ole continued.

"We've got the Europa League, which is a chance to probably give the non-regulars some playing time. We've also got the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. It’s realistic for us to challenge for all of these.

“In the league, yeah of course we want to challenge, but we're also realistic enough to say that we are challenging with the best teams in the world.”

As well as competing for trophies next season, one of the key targets that Ole has pinpointed is closing the gap on the the two teams who have competed for the Premier League title this season.

To achieve that goal, Solskjaer wants to start the new campaign in the best possible manner and build momentum that can be sustained.

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With Ole set to embark on his first full campaign as United manager, the Norwegian is drawing inspiration from the fantastic vein of form that his team built in his first three months at the helm.

“Of course we've got to look to close this gap as soon as we can, as quick as we can," the boss said.

"Jurgen [Klopp] spoke about it last week: when you win games you don't get tired and early on, in January and February for us, we kept winning and winning and winning. So it's about getting momentum as well. 

“I've said before, the start of the season is going to be massive for us. If we can get the momentum early on, I'm sure we can catch a few teams.”

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