Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits he’s been impressed with Everton and, in particular, Dominic Calvert-Lewin so far this season, speaking to the Manchester Evening News.
This was the season where, for the first time in seven years, United were supposed to challenge for the title.
Instead, two months into the 2020/21 campaign, Solskjaer’s stuttering side sit 15th – 11 places and six points behind the team they face at Goodison Park on Saturday.
The Man United boss will head to Merseyside under huge pressure amid mounting speculation Mauricio Pochettino could take his job at Old Trafford.
So it goes without saying Solskjaer could do with Calvert-Lewin suffering a rare off-day.
With 11 goals in just nine games in all competitions, however, the Norwegian knows the Everton number nine could cause his leaky defence a myriad of problems.
“When Carlo (Ancelotti) came in, that’s a manager everyone admires – players, coaches, other managers. He’s had a fantastic career,” Solskjaer says.
“They didn’t have a very good period after the restart but now you can see what he’s been working on pre-season. He used restart to look at his team and I’ve been impressed.
“Calvert-Lewin has been part of that and is integral to their play.”
Solskjaer was at pains to point out ‘DCL’ isn’t the only Everton star to catch his eye, with the entire team flourishing in Ancelotti’s 4-3-3 formation. At least they were flourishing until successive defeats against Southampton and Newcastle took the shine off their sublime start.
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