Chelsea assistant manager Gianfranco Zola has claimed that he is happy to see Ole Gunnar Solskjaer leading a “remarkable” turnaround as caretaker boss at Manchester United.
Although the Red Devils’ upturn in form has seen the Blues drop down to sixth in the Premier League table, Zola has piled praise on the man he earned his coaching badges with back in 2006.
Speaking ahead of Monday’s FA Cup fifth-round clash at Stamford Bridge, as quoted by the Evening Standard, Maurizio Sarri’s number two was comfortable admitting his pleasure seeing Solskjaer succeeding so far. He said:
I am pleased, first of all. That is my first feeling. Ole and I did the course together, so I’m pleased to see him doing so well. He was always interested and focused on what he was doing, and I’m pleased he’s showing his quality.
The Red Devils were 11 points off the top four when Solskjaer was surprisingly appointed interim boss after Jose Mourinho’s sacking in December, but now sit in fourth, one point ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea.
Zola has branded the revival as “remarkable,” but even suggested that he knew the club would come back to form after the Norwegian’s arrival.
I knew United were going through not a very good moment before, but I knew the value of the team and that they’d come back. What Ole has done in a short period of time has been quite remarkable.
Chelsea will be desperate to bounce back from last weekend’s 6-0 thumping at the hands of Manchester City on Monday night.
