How FA Cup Has Boosted Solskjaer’s United Reign

Anybody decreeing the magic of the FA Cup being lost or the competition becoming an irrelevance to the top teams should have spent 90 minutes in the Manchester United end at the Emirates Stadium or Stamford Bridge this season.

The FA Cup may no longer be the top priority for the top six, but it can still set hearts aflutter amongst fans. Nothing beats winning at Wembley in the May sunshine.

When United were stumbling to an unconvincing third round win against Reading at Old Trafford early in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s spell in charge there was little magic in the air. Sergio Romero was man of the match that day and few of the fringe players given a chance took it.

But since then United have shone in the cup and they’ve done so in front of fervent away ends in the capital. The night-time wins at Arsenal and Chelsea were played out to the backdrop of a din from the away end, with “Ole’s at the wheel” on loop and Solskjaer sending out a message: He’s here to stay.

When United travelled to the Emirates on the last Friday in January he had begun to turn the tide of opinion in his favour. It was two weeks after the win at Tottenham in the Premier League and Solskjaer was still unbeaten. But the Wembley success had partly been achieved thanks to some David De Gea heroics, with United under intense pressure in the second half.

Success in the FA Cup fourth round at Arsenal was a statement though. This was exactly how Solskjaer wanted to play, with pace on the break. In a dizzying three minute spell in the first half Alexis Sanchez and Jesse Lingard scored before Anthony Martial rounded off a 3-1 win late on.

It was Solskjaer‘s eighth straight win and although that streak would end against Burnley in the Premier League in the next game, it now felt as though the job was his to lose.

The process of losing it could have begun with defeat against Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the last-16 Champions League tie. The 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford was the beginning of United’s injury crisis and looked to have exposed flaws in the squad.

It was Solskjaer‘s first defeat and also his first major test. How would he respond to the setback and how would his players react? On a Monday night at the Bridge United answered those questions emphatically.

It was perhaps the most complete performance of the Solskjaer reign. United bossed Chelsea throughout and the away end didn’t miss a beat from first whistle to last, and beyond. After the victory players took to social media to praise the support, and rightly so.

The questions raised in defeat to PSG had been answered in the FA Cup fifth round thanks to goals from Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba .

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Now we’ve reached the quarter-final stage of the cup and it feels like Solskjaer‘s journey is complete. From the early days and that uncertain win over Reading, when still nobody was quite sure how this was going to play out, to a quarter-final tie at Molineux against Wolves on Saturday night.

Again United will be roared on by an increased travelling support – something that makes the FA Cup so special to fans – but now the questions have gone. Solskjaer has none left to answer, only United do. When will he be announced as the club’s 22nd permanent manager?

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