Louis Van Gaal has accused Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of playing ‘park-the-bus tactics’ at Manchester United.
Solskjaer was appointed as permanent manager at Old Trafford on Friday after an impressive spell as caretaker manager, the Norwegian has lost just three times in 19 games in all competitions and has guided United into the Champions League quarter-finals.
Despite the club’s upturn in form since Solskjaer’s arrival, former Manchester United manager Van Gaal, who was sacked by the club in 2016, says the only difference between Solskjaer and predecessor Jose Mourinho is the club’s results.
“People think we have only had fake news since Donald Trump became president. In football we have had it for 50 years,” Van Gaal told the BBC.
“The coach after me [Mourinho] changed to park-the-bus tactics and played on the counter. Now there is another coach who parks the bus and plays on the counter. The main difference between Mourinho and Solskjaer is that Solskjaer is winning.
“I am not there but there does look to be a change and the atmosphere seems to be better. It is also true that Solskjaer has changed Paul Pogba’s position and put him into an area where he is much more important.
“But the way Manchester United are playing now is not the way Ferguson played. It is defensive, counter-attacking football. If you like it, you like it. If you think it is more exciting than my boring attacking, OK. But it is not my truth.”
