Rio Ferdinand has admitted he was not initially taken with the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United – but has been impressed with how he has gone about his business.
Goals from Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford gave him a seventh consecutive win as United beat Brighton 2-1 at Old Trafford.
It comes on the back of his most impressive performance to date, when they won 1-0 at Tottenham, with the interim boss giving his players a new lease of life since taking over from Jose Mourinho last month.
When asked if anyone could have come in and done the job that the Norwegian has, Ferdinand launched a staunch defence of his former team-mate.
“If it was that easy, they would have gone in there and done it already,” Ferdinand told BT Sport.
“We’ve had three managers since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, all failed really and now Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has come in and I’ll admit it, before, I wasn’t totally sold on it when he first got it.
“Everyone was talking about (Mauricio) Pochettino, temporary basis, but he ain’t come here to be temporary.”
While many of the teams United have beaten in recent weeks are not in the top half of the table, Ferdinand said that did not mean the result was guaranteed.
He added: “You can say he should have won those games, but (Jose) Mourinho did not consistently win these games.
“Teams don’t automatically roll over because of the badge on the shirt, just because you’re meant to beat them, you still have to go and do it.
“It’s not just the results, it’s the manner in which he’s done it.
“He’s changed the mentality and psyche of the players.
“He wants players to play to their strengths. Pogba, the talisman, was brought in to be that man. He has told him you’re not a defensive midfielder, I don’t want you to defend, get in the box and affect the ball.
It wasn’t working out consistently for him but now he’s scoring goals.
“Rashford, [playing] as a number nine. People are saying ‘Rashford or Kane’ – that was never the conversation before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came in.”