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On Tuesday, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer returns for the first time to Norway with his Manchester United team, for a friendly match in his hometown of Kristiansund.
Less than two weeks before the start of the Premier League season – and there are only two friendlies left – Solskjaer has yet to sign any major contracts, which is a significant departure from the approach of his predecessors.
Preventable headlines and controversies were also absent. Instead, the 46-year-old takes care of his work in a discreet and discreet manner, in complete contradiction with the mandates of Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal. The status of these two men in the game guaranteed that United was at the box office, even though the current team did not have it.
So, has United really changed its strategy – and if so, is Solskjaer at the heart of this strategy?
No big names for fun
When Zinedine Zidane sounded the death knell of Gareth Bale's career in Real Madrid, it was instructive to see how quickly United announced they would not be on the market for Welsh.
The stories of Bale to United have been an essential part of every summer transfer period since he'd left Tottenham for Real Madrid in 2013. It's not that Solskjaer is opposed to signing big names, but that they must match his favorite way of playing. Angel di Maria, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and, more recently, Alexis Sanchez were all bought despite a style apparently in contradiction with the manager's philosophy.
We've spent a lot of money on others – Memphis Depay, Radamel Falcao, Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and current team member Fred – who do not have the physical form, abilities, or skill application required for the task at hand.
Solskjaer wants a team of younger and more motivated players, which is exactly how Sir Alex Ferguson handled it. As was the case with Mourinho and Van Gaal, he will choose his targets in connection with the recruitment department. It will then be Executive Vice President Ed Woodward and Business Development Manager Matt Judge to conclude the agreements.
Mourinho and Woodward ended up arguing at the same time last year, while the first wanted to sell Anthony Martial and buy a central defender. The latter blocked the sale of the French and then determined that there was no better target than the central defenders already united.
Over the past week, Nicky Butt has also moved to the position of Development Officer for the first team. Former midfielder United, winner of Treble, will work closely with Solskjaer to determine which players are able to move from junior to senior ranks. The former English midfielder will be responsible for leading each of them during the transition.
Developing and recruiting good players is one thing, getting rid of those he considers surplus is another. It remains to be seen if "the baby-headed killer" can pick the stars in the same brutal manner as his former boss did with such regularity, but there is evidence that he can use the approach of carrot and stick to get a positive effect.
It is understood that Jesse Lingard was mistreated during a controversial summer social media release. Yet rather than react poorly, the English international has responded by achieving a series of outstanding performances at the training.
Solskjaer noted how 26-year-old Lingard ends up, or almost, in many individual tasks. He was ready to forgive, therefore, an indiscretion that he attributes to the exuberance of youth, confident that his harsh words will ensure that it does not repeat itself anymore.
What will Man Utd from Solskjaer look like?
In the last five years, the way in which United intended to play has not always been obvious.
Either the system changed or the staff arrived which did not seem to fit a particular model. It was not a cluster weapon, but sometimes, it seemed that signatures, sometimes very expensive, had been made without thinking enough about how they would fit into the silhouette of the team.
United was supposed to appoint a technical director to address these recruitment issues, but that remains to be done.
Even without a role in many European clubs, Solskjaer has a clear idea of how he wants his team to play. Four in the back, two in the middle of the field, three in attack and one center. Crucially, he wants them all to have the rhythm and the players who can exchange.
Daniel James can sign a new £ 15m contract, even at Old Trafford, as a risky gamble – but he fits the Solskjaer model. And on tour, the Wales winger was a major threat, although his last ball was not always up to par.
Eight times in four games, James was sent to the attack by opponents not fast enough to stop him, and three of those cases involved Tottenham's Moussa Sissoko.
"The pre-season is not about results," said Solskjaer. "It's about finding a style that's right for players, we've made great progress to become the team we want to be."
It was also instructive to see how Marcus Rashford and Martial traded their positions.
Both were used as main striker, as well as wide in the line of three behind, and Solskjaer strove to further transform them into goal threat.
The highest Rashford club record for a season is 13. Martial is 17, but it was during his first campaign in 2015-16. These numbers must increase. Romelu Lukaku, despite all his obvious mistakes, scored 27 and 15 in two seasons with the Old Trafford club.
Difficult training at Waca
When United started their four-game tour of Australia and Asia on July 7, there were more questions than answers about Solskjaer and his team.
Some of the questions remain. Will Lukaku leave? Will Harry Maguire arrive from Leicester City? What will happen with Paul Pogba? Will United sign a new midfielder?
However, during their 20 days of absence, some aspects of Solskjaer's management became evident; In addition to the training he preferred, there was his own work ethic and the demands placed on his players, as well as his confidence in youth.
At the end of last season, when United's encouraging reaction to a change of director gave way to a series of disappointing performances that resulted in a draw away to Huddersfield – which had taken four points in 23 Premier League games – and a home defeat. by Cardiff already relegated, Solskjaer knew that his team was just not fit enough for the forefoot style that he wanted to implement.
United is attacking this problem on the historic Waca Cricket Ground in Perth, which used it as a training base during an eleven-day stay in Western Australia.
Solskjaer has programmed 14 training sessions over 10 days. All but three were closed to the media, but it was not unusual to see the famous spotlights shine in the east of the city as United players were put to the test.
Virtually all players participated in each session. The only notable exception is Lukaku, who has not played a single minute in all four matches of United's round because of an injury.
The sessions themselves could change and the match days would be lighter, as would be the case in virtually every club.
Interestingly, high intensity work has increased by 50% over the previous summer. In the two games played in Australia, against Perth Glory and Leeds United, the total distance traveled increased by 10%, although, under the heat and humidity of Singapore and Shanghai, they decreased slightly during matches against Inter Milan and Tottenham.
Solskjaer certainly places great importance on running and hopes that it will be the same in most aspects of training, even during tactical exercises.
There have been more gym sessions and more preventive work on the hamstring and groin areas, in addition to a larger amount of basic strengthening work.
This could be considered a routine trick. But Solskjaer felt it was urgent to tackle the health of his team. In his opinion, Mourinho built it to counter attacks, not to dominate and lobby as teams such as Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham, and that he considers United's tradition .
By its nature, this requires a better aptitude, allied in theory with better technical skills. It is not surprising that the city is one of the most hard-working teams in the Premier League, in addition to the most skilled.
"We worked on the intensity and the pressure," said Solskjaer. "We have players who like to be in the vanguard and we want that to continue."
The peace project
One of the other aspects of this Manchester United pre-season that has fundamentally changed from the last is that club officials no longer need to worry about what the manager will say to the media.
This may not be very useful for journalists who have traveled to cover their trip, but Solskjaer does not make a public confrontation. The Norwegian is actually a follower of his Tottenham counterpart, Mauricio Pochettino, who, after the two teams clashed in Shanghai last week, told the press that it was useless to ask him questions about the possible signatures, even on those that he could sell, because it was a club. question and any information would be published on the official website.
Solskjaer will not publicly criticize either Woodward's decision, or even that of United to organize a long tour abroad – in fact, no official likes them – because he considers it counterproductive.
None of this guarantees United a chance to win games, which ultimately means judging Solskjaer.
And, just over a week from the closing of the English window, his team is still not the one he wishes.
Lukaku seems certain to leave. A new central defender – especially Maguire – is the main target, but there are alternatives, and another one will surely come.
The confidence was often expressed that Pogba will stay at the club but if he was leaving for Real Madrid or Juventus, the Frenchman would need to be replaced. In any case, additional reinforcement in the midfield is possible.
Some senior players on the team can join Solskjaer's willingness to use younger players, such as striker Mason Greenwood, in the Europa League rather than packing his team with experienced players who can not get a match in Premier League.
Whatever the composition of the team, the Norwegian will have the last word: "There will be no players here that I do not want".
Of course, United and Solskjaer are still very uncertain considering the end of last season.
Given the recovery that United seems to have undergone, it will also be interesting to know which targets Woodward – and by extension the Glazer family – will judge of Solskjaer. In each season, the club failed to qualify for the Champions League the following season, the manager who launched him lost his job at one point. If they miss this period again, the penalty clauses will cost them sponsorship money with Adidas.
Yet, unlike Solskjaer's three predecessors, Woodward is well aware that if things go wrong again, it will not affect the Norwegian's status among club fans. If anything, it will shed even more light on how he manages the Old Trafford outfit.
There is no clear road in front of us. A private conversation in Australia suggested that if United started the season without additional reinforcements, he would need luck at the start of the campaign to avoid major difficulties. For the moment, and it is not for lack of trying, additions remain to be done.
However, 12 months after addressing a new campaign with the manager in conflict with the club, Old Trafford officials can at least be badured that there is this time a goal unit between the manager of the team and the manager. ropes of the purse.
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