Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has Restored the Feel-Good Factor at Man Utd

Manchester United will be hoping to start next season better than they ended last but Solskjaer has changed plenty behind-the-scenes

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has brought the feel-good factor back to Manchester United in his first pre-season since taking charge.

This time last year, a toxic tour under Jose Mourinho set the tone for a calamitous season, one which ended with United finishing sixth and sacking the self-proclaimed Special One midway through the campaign.

The contrast between last summer's tour and this year could not be greater, with United's players having bought into Solskjaer's methods, ensuring they are ready to hit the ground running when they host Chelsea at Old Trafford on August 11 for their Premier League opener.

One senior United source described this pre-season and Mourinho's gripe-fest last summer as being “like chalk and cheese”, with players united behind Solskjaer in a way they never were under his controversial predecessor.

While Mourinho snarled and moaned last summer, about the tour, the lack of players available to him and United's failure to land the transfer targets he wanted, Solskajer has ensured no negativity has been allowed to cloud preparations for the new campaign.

Even though Paul Pogba's future remains uncertain, with the midfielder open to a move and Real Madrid trying to land him, Solskjaer has managed to keep United's record £89million singing focused and committed on the club's tour of Australia and the Far East. And although Romelu Lukaku was a passenger on the tour, while negotiations continue between United and Inter Milan over his proposed switch, his enforced absence and the ongoing saga of his future did not cast a shadow over a hugely encouraging tour.

United, who take on Solskajer's home club Kristiansund in Oslo tonight, have won all four of their pre-season games so far, conceding just once, with young players including striker Mason Greenwood and new signings Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James looking particularly sharp.

Academy graduates Angel Gomes, James Garner, Axel Tuanzebe and Tahith Chong have also impressed, with their energy and enterprise, while established forwards Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have looked hungry and dangerous on tour.

The other plus from the tour has been United's syle of play, a high-pressing, high-intensity approach, using pace and width to attack opponents. After the prosaic approaches of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Mourinho, Solskjaer's United have established an attacking identity, one harking back to the glory days under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Although there is concern among United fans that only two signings have so far been made and transfer deadline day is looming on August 8, the club are confident of adding two more arrivals in time for the new campaign.

There is an acceptance at United that the gap between 

themselves, Manchester City and Liverpool , who broke away from the rest last season to contest their own title race, is going to take time to bridge and that goal is unlikely to be achieved next season.

Instead, a goal of re-establishing United as a top-four side and getting back into the Champions League is Solskjaer's remit, with the hope he can also land a trophy in his first full season in charge, as part of the club's route back to challenging for the bigger prizes.

So far, the signs are good, but the true test begins against Chelsea in just under a fortnight, when Solskjaer and his United players must deliver.