Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still has it all to prove despite win over a very poor Spurs

Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still have plenty to prove, despite responding to last weekend’s 5-0 defeat to Liverpool with a pretty comfortable 3-0 victory over Tottenham.

The humiliation at the hands of Liverpool had been coming, with repeat mistakes already seen against Leicester and Atalanta blown wide open by Mohamed Salah and co.

Solskjaer, who survived being sacked after an intense few days, had Raphael Varane back available to him and knew he needed to do something different in north London. There was a tactical shift to three centre-backs to eliminate the space that Liverpool had so wilfully exploited, while Edinson Cavani came in to start up front next to Cristiano Ronaldo – a combined age of 70.

United did cruise to a 3-0 win in the end. Both Ronaldo and Cavani scored, while Ronaldo had another disallowed for offside, and Marcus Rashford rounded it off.

What cannot be ignored is how poor the hosts were. Despite their deceiving start to the season, this is undoubtedly the worst Spurs in over a decade, maybe more. They were so lacklustre and the home crowd couldn’t help make their feelings known about Harry Kane’s efforts.

Frankly, it would have been unforgivable for Solskjaer had United not beaten them in that state.

But this result proves very little for the Norwegian, who remains under considerable pressure for at least the next few weeks. One victory won’t save him from the sack, especially as he relied upon age and experience for it on this occasion, and has to repeat that time and again.

United don’t deserve plaudits for this result. The players and staff had no choice but to stand up. What matters more is the ability to do it consistently and against far better teams than Tottenham.

Now go forward and replicate that improved performance against Atalanta in the Champions League in midweek. Do it against Manchester City in the derby next weekend.

After that, play convincingly against Watford after the international break, show your mettle against Chelsea and Arsenal, and brush aside Crystal Palace, Norwich, Brentford, Brighton, Newcastle and Burnley in December as the quality of players in the squad ought to be pretty much a given.

Until taking to the field against Spurs, United hadn’t been convincing in any win this season other than the opening day thrashing of a naïvely open Leeds side.

Survival alone isn’t the aim here and Solskjaer has to show he can do far more than simply survive each time the pressure ramps up. He has to plan, strategise and inspire big performances consistently and this is only the very first step on that path.

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