Manchester United managers have got it right and wrong with trophy talk

It has got so bad at Manchester United some of their online followers are pining for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Erik ten Hag's repeated references to winning two trophies prompted a clip of Solskjaer to go viral. "Sometimes a trophy can hide the other fact of what's happening at the club. It's in the league position you see if you're progressing, really."

Solskjaer uttered those words in March 2021, on the eve of a Europa League knockout tie against AC Milan. United progressed to the final and lost to Villarreal on penalties.

A week earlier, Solskjaer addressed the first 10,000 fans back inside Old Trafford for 14 months: "I know we are not where we want to be in the league but hopefully we can bring a trophy home in about 10 days’ time."

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Go back further to January 2019 and when Solskjaer was still the caretaker manager: "We’ve got the Champions League, we’ve got the FA Cup, we can’t just say top four and that’s it. We’ve got to look at, 'Can we win something this year?’"

Under Solskjaer, United got to four semi-finals and a final. His tenure ended trophyless and he admitted after the Europa League final in Gdansk that coming second with no silverware did not constitute a successful season.

Solskjaer was right about league form providing the most reliable gauge of progression. Alas, United's second-place finish in 2020-21 was misleading and meaningless in a campaign played almost entirely in empty stadia.

As soon as the playing field was levelled the following season, United wobbled and lost five of their first 12 league games. Solskjaer was sacked before Father