Trophies trump top-four finish for Solskjaer

MANCHESTER, England - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says trophies are more important for Manchester United than a top-four finish as he targets success in two cup competitions.

A run of eight successive victories to start his caretaker reign at Old Trafford has transformed a campaign that appeared to be heading nowhere under his predecessor Jose Mourinho.

United is still in the FA Cup - drawing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in Monday's fifth-round draw - and the Champions League - where it faces Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16.

And vastly improved league form now has sixth-place United looking at a potential best-case scenario of finishing third in the Premier League.

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, still in the frame to become United manager in the summer, has claimed a top-four finish and resulting Champions League qualification is his club's primary target.

Spurs are third in the Premier League but crashed out of both the FA Cup and League Cup last week. The Londoners next face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

Solskjaer has made it clear silverware is his priority.

"I am not here to discuss what Pochettino says and what other managers say but we are about winning trophies," said Solskjaer.

"And we can't win the league this year, we are still in the cup, we are going to try to win the FA Cup. I think every manager wants to win every game so I don't think that is the point he was making.

"If you win trophies that's a fantastic day for everyone in the club, it's just the best time of your life, that day when you win because you never know when the next one is going to come."

The financial implications of qualifying for the Champions League cannot be underestimated but Solskjaer added: "That's not the dream, though, to be top four. We're Man United, you should always aim to win the league. We can't do that this year but we've just got to look forward to that again because we have to get back to that.

"We've got the Champions League, we've got the FA Cup, we can't just say 'top four and that's it'. We've got to look at if we can win something this year, and I go into every single game as a Man United manager thinking we can win this game."

Solskjaer is still looking for Brazilian midfielder Fred, a $68 million summer signing from Shakhtar Donetsk, to start justifying his price tag.

Fred has started just two games under Solskjaer, and the Norwegian said: "I don't think it's my challenge to incorporate players, it's about the players being ready when they get the chance and Fred's been working really hard in training. He's a good lad, same with Andreas (Pereira), he's working really hard, you've got Scott (McTominay) too.

"When they get the chance, because they will, we want to see improvement. We know there's a very, very good player there with Fred so hopefully he'll adjust to the English game because there's no doubt there's talent."

Agence France - presse