Jamie Carragher thinks Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has removed the “fear” factor surrounding big matches at Manchester United under Jose Mourinho.
The Red Devils’ 1-0 victory over Tottenham at Wembley meant that Solskjaer has now won his first six matches in charge since being appointed caretaker manager at Old Trafford in December.
And Carragher has revealed how Gary Neville thought that United’s cautious performances would improve as United got better players in under Mourinho.
“For three or four years, watching Mourinho’s sides, in the big games, Manchester United were terrified going into them thinking they couldn’t compete with these other top teams,” Carragher told Monday Night Football.
“They were terrified of what the opposition would do. Wingers were tracking the runs of opposing full-backs – how often did we say Manchester United were in a back six?
“This went on for years, I spoke to Gary Neville about it during Mourinho’s first season and he was convinced it would change when Mourinho got better players, it didn’t.
“The brilliant thing I loved from Manchester United at Wembley was that their fear had gone.”