Former Liverpool star Craig Bellamy has said that caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given more freedom to the Manchester United players which have brought the best out of their abilities. The Red Devils had dropped 11 points behind the top-four positions under Jose Mourinho at one stage before they took the decision to sack the Portuguese tactician.

Since then, Ole has been put charge on a temporary basis for the season and the move has certainly paid dividends with a team going through a seven-match winning run across all competitions. Owing to this, there has been widespread praise over the impact made by Ole and Bellamy has joined the bandwagon to praise the former Cardiff City head coach.

He said: “The challenge will come later on at a club like Manchester United. If you think about the Champions League, they’ve got PSG coming in that so there’s going to be a couple of really big tests. But I think the timing of the decision was good by the club. I would have expected them to win them games with Jose Mourinho. But now it’s given a new lease of life to the football club, it’s one of their favourites as well. The supporters are always going to back it, it’s lifted the club massively.”

“Ole has certainly passed the initial test with the Mancunian giants with a seven-match winning run which has included a hard-fought league triumph over Tottenham Hotspur“. Nonetheless, there remains work to be done with United still three points behind the top-four positions and the next few months could define whether they can secure Champions League “status for next season“.

Meanwhile, United could still qualify for the elite competition by securing the European crown this term but their challenge remains stiff as they must first overcome Paris Saint-Germain at the round of 16 stage.