Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over for Jose Mourinho on an interim basis, striker Romelu Lukaku and midfielder Paul Pogba seem to be themselves again. The Norwegian has said that he’ll do the same for Alexis Sanchez as well. He’s done a great job in getting the stars right again thus far, and if he continues to do so, the wins will keep on coming.
If this scenario does indeed play out that way, it would be pretty hard for United to not give the 45-year-old the job on a permanent basis. In the case of Lukaku, he’s scored three times now since Solskjaer took over. He’s already halfway to the total number of goals (6) he scored under Mourinho this season; but in 22 appearances!
Lukaku has said that the key to getting his scoring groove back came via a one-on-one talk with Solskjaer, who in his playing days with United was known as the “baby-faced assassin.”
Who better for a young striker to learn from?
“He knows the type of striker that I am and I think from the first day when I came back in, he did a total analysis of my game and I was really surprised. He helped me a lot and I am looking forward to keeping on working with him,” Lukaku said.
“I just want to work and help the team in every way that I can and right now everything is going well, not only for me but for the rest of the team as well and I am delighted.”
The Belgian got into the specifics of the discussion with the man who scored 126 goals (good for 16th all time) in a United shirt. It appears the two men talked about the fundamentals.
“He really wants me to face the goal because he knows that when I’m facing goal that is when I am at my most dangerous,” said Lukaku.
“I’m at my best moving off the shoulder of the defenders and stuff like that but also to try to stay on the move all the time and the work that we have been doing over the last couple of weeks is good.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.