Tales Uncovered From Solskjær's Past Point to a Bright Future

 Ole Gunnar Solskjær had an unsuccessful spell as Cardiff manager in 2014 but ‘always had integrity’. Photograph: Rebecca Naden/Reuters
Ole Gunnar Solskjær had an unsuccessful spell as Cardiff manager in 2014 but ‘always had integrity’. Photograph: Rebecca Naden/Reuters
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Tales Uncovered From Solskjær's Past Point to a Bright Future

 Ole Gunnar Solskjær had an unsuccessful spell as Cardiff manager in 2014 but ‘always had integrity’. Photograph: Rebecca Naden/Reuters
Ole Gunnar Solskjær had an unsuccessful spell as Cardiff manager in 2014 but ‘always had integrity’. Photograph: Rebecca Naden/Reuters

As Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s biographer, this writer was recently asked whether the military service the Norwegian performed as a 20-year-old aided the formation of a man whose career arc has taken in scoring Manchester United’s 1999 European Cup-winning goal to now being manager of England’s record 20-time champions.

The answer in essence was Solskjær has a self-possession that means it was immaterial; that whether or not he did the mandatory year in Norway’s army his would still have been a life and sporting career that is a triumph of self-determination.

As a kid Solskjær was the starlet striker whose size impeded before he drove himself to catch, then overtake, peers. As part of a gang-of-five signed for United by Alex Ferguson in the summer of 1996 he was “Ole-who?” when photographed alongside Karel Poborsky, Ronny Johnsen, Jordi Cruyff and Raimond van der Gouw. He illustrated precisely who Ole Gunnar Solskjær was by ending his debut season as top scorer, the first of 14 years as player and coach at United.

When taking his first managerial position at Molde FK in 2011 the pressure was intense: here was Norway’s most famous person billed as the No 1 who would secure for the club a first league title in their 100th year. This he did, then retained it in 2012, followed up with the Norwegian Cup in 2013 and thus left for Cardiff City with his opening three years rating him as Molde’s most garlanded manager.

At Molde his blueprint was to make his players believe. Those spoken with for The Red Apprentice say his opening days were invested in working on confidence – confidence that they could overcome the club’s inferiority complex. As with his great mentor Ferguson, being second was of zero interest.

So it was that Solskjær turned a club from perennial also-rans into a champion team, one that strutted through the Eliteserien, winning it by five points. In the biography Magnus Stamnestro, then an 18-year-old midfielder, illuminates how driven Solskjær was. “One man went home early from the celebration,” he says. “He had already started thinking of next season, when we did win the league again.”

If this was all glittering success, in south Wales Solskjær’s will to shape events was most severely tested. He took over in January 2014 and Cardiff listed from the start of an ill-starred tenure. The opening three Premier League matches were defeats before Norwich were beaten on 1 February. Cardiff won only twice more and were relegated with 30 points and goal difference of minus 42.

This was dire and Solskjær has always accepted full responsibility. Yet what Ben Turner, a Cardiff defender, states in the book is intriguing. Turner says: “I know he wasn’t given the full trust to manage in his own way without any interference. There were boys who were called in and told we weren’t playing and it really wasn’t his decision – that it was coming from above.

“As an example, we were in a relegation dogfight, had Aston Villa [on 11 February, 2014] and drew 0-0. It’s probably the best I’ve ever played in my life. Then we played Hull and three of the back four that started against Villa and got the clean sheet were dropped.

“I was told I was dropped for Juan Cala because Ole was told he had to play. Ole said: ‘I know we got a clean sheet against Villa, but I’ve been told that I have to play Juan Cala.’

“I was told I wasn’t playing because we wanted to try and pass the ball out more from the back. They told him – Ole – that on that basis Juan had to play, that was one of the reasons he was brought in. Well, it was a disaster because Juan and Steven Caulker didn’t get on, and they were the center-backs. It was a concern – what player wants to hear they’re dropped because it’s coming from the owner [Vincent Tan]?

“The way I looked at it was this: the owner’s got all the money in the world. He’s running a football club essentially as a side hobby and he’s got new toys and the new toy that week was Juan Cala. I had no reason to doubt what the gaffer was saying to me, that it’d come from above. He was an honest, genuine guy as far as I was concerned. We got relegated but he always had integrity.”

On leaving Cardiff in September 2014, Solskjær’s departure statement disappointed Tan because it mentioned “a difference in philosophies”. As quoted in the biography the Malaysian’s response suggested Solskjær had hinted at team meddling. “It gives the impression that a different philosophy [is that] maybe I interfere with him, maybe I do this or do that,” Tan said.

Solskjær and Cardiff were never an ideal fit and still Solskjær remained principled. It is why Turner and fellow Cardiff teammates recall him with fondness despite relegation. It is a fundamental reason why Solskjær’s impact on becoming United’s caretaker in December 2018 impressed Ed Woodward, the executive vice-chairman, enough to award him the full-time job.

It is also a prime factor why Solskjær has a genuine prospect of leading United to another title. Like Ferguson – and unlike David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and José Mourinho – Solskjær is able to alchemize the ideal relationship with players. One which, as the response to United’s 6-1 hammering by Tottenham illustrates (beating Newcastle, Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig and drawing with Chelsea), motivates them to perform for their manager.

For a man who has lived the fairytale of being United’s 1999 Champions League hero, claiming the club’s first Premier League since Ferguson stepped away would be another.

Yet if Solskjær had signed for Tottenham – which he came close to doing in the mid-1990s – his place in United folklore and what could yet be achieved would not be possible.

For that story, though, you will have to read the book.

The Guardian Sport



Swiatek Reaches her 1st Wimbledon Semifinal, Will Face Bencic Next

09 July 2025, United Kingdom, London: Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek celebrates victory over Russia's Liudmila Samsonova during their women's singles quarter-final match on day ten of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire/dpa
09 July 2025, United Kingdom, London: Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek celebrates victory over Russia's Liudmila Samsonova during their women's singles quarter-final match on day ten of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire/dpa
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Swiatek Reaches her 1st Wimbledon Semifinal, Will Face Bencic Next

09 July 2025, United Kingdom, London: Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek celebrates victory over Russia's Liudmila Samsonova during their women's singles quarter-final match on day ten of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire/dpa
09 July 2025, United Kingdom, London: Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek celebrates victory over Russia's Liudmila Samsonova during their women's singles quarter-final match on day ten of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire/dpa

Iga Swiatek reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over 19th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova that went from a stroll to a bit of a struggle in the late stages Wednesday.

"Even though I’m in the middle of the tournament, I already got goosebumps after this win," said Swiatek, who will face unseeded Belinda Bencic on Thursday for a spot in the final. “I’m super happy and super proud of myself.”

Bencic beat No. 7 Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2019 U.S. Open. The other semifinal is No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka against No. 13 Amanda Anisimova; they advanced with wins Tuesday.

Swiatek is a five-time major champion, with four of those titles on the red clay of the French Open, and the other on the hard courts of the US Open. She's also twice been a semifinalist at the hard-court Australian Open.

The grass courts of the All England Club always had given her the most trouble as a pro, even though she did claim a junior championship there in 2018. In her five appearances in the Wimbledon women's bracket before this year, she had made it as far as the quarterfinals just once, exiting in that round in 2023.

But the 24-year-old from Poland is enjoying a career-best run on the slick surface, thanks in part to being more comfortable with the footing required.
“I, for sure, feel like I really worked hard to progress here on this surface,” The Associated Press quoted Swiatek as saying. “So this year, I feel like I can just work with it and work with myself. I’ll just keep doing that.”

Before the start of Wimbledon, Swiatek was the runner-up in Bad Homburg, Germany, her first final at a tournament played on grass — and her first final at any event in more than a year, a drought that resulted in her falling from the No. 1 ranking and being seeded No. 8 at the All England Club.

Her rough stretch included a one-month ban last season in a doping case after an investigation determined a failed out-of-competition drug test was caused by an unintentional contamination of non-prescription medication for issues with jet lag and sleeping. On the court, a semifinal loss to Sabalenka at Roland-Garros last month ended Swiatek's 26-match French Open winning streak.

Swiatek led by a set and 3-0 in the second against Samsonova, who was appearing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Soon, though, it was 4-all, then 5-all. But Swiatek held for a 6-5 lead, then broke to end it, and a smile spread across her face.

“I’ll just recover today, try not to celebrate too much, but already focus on the next one,” Swiatek said. “Prepare in the evening, and I’ll be ready tomorrow.”

Bencic, who at 28 is a decade older than Andreeva, is competing in her second major tournament since returning to the tour after giving birth to a daughter, Bella, in April 2024.

“I’m very proud, actually. All my career, I didn’t say it a lot to myself, but after having Bella, I really say it to myself every day,” Bencic said. “We are just enjoying life on tour with Bella, traveling. It’s been beautiful to create these memories together. And obviously, to play great is so amazing, but for me, it’s a bonus. I’m generally just really happy to be able to play again.”