5 reasons why Manchester United have improved since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over from Jose Mourinho

Manager bounce effect

First things first, when a new manager enters a football club there is always a lift. You only have to look at the consequent results of teams who have just sacked their manager to realise there is a pattern.

In any league in the world, fresh ideas, a fresh outlook and often just a fresh face can bring out something in a group of players that was lacking before. That is why it is always to difficult to evaluate whether or not the manager’s qualities are genuine or just as a consequence of manager bounce.

Often, when an ‘interim’ or ‘caretaker’ manager is rewarded with a full-time contract, the results of the team seem to return to what they were before the original manager was released.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer arriving at Manchester United was a fresh face, and perhaps more appropriately, a less grumpy face than that of Jose Mourinho’s.