Former Manchester United defender Ritchie De Laet believes that he saw the signs of a solid manager in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when he played under the Norwegian in the reserve side at Old Trafford.
De Laet made just six senior appearances for Manchester United, but went on to feature regularly for their reserve side.
Solskjaer was manager of the reserve side during the Belgian’s time at Old Trafford and De Laet has fond memories of working and playing under the current Manchester United boss.
The Belgian admits that he enjoyed the training sessions under Solskjaer and thinks that there were signs of a good manager as he had great man-management skills even then.
De Laet is happy to see Solskjaer at Manchester United as the senior team manager and feels he deserved the opportunity at Old Trafford.
“Ole was a great guy”, the Belgian told The Athletic.
“They were great training sessions. Everyone knew what was expected of them. Everyone listened to him because of his experience and history with the club. I am so happy for him it has worked out in his senior managerial career.
“The good thing about Ole was he would come to you before you went to him because he could sense if there was a problem. He would put his arm around you and ask what was wrong.
“At that age, I didn’t realise, but those were the signs of a good manager.
“There was always going to be a big job for him in the UK. Obviously, United is the biggest.
“He deserves this opportunity.”
De Laet went on to win a Premier League winners’ medal at Leicester City and is currently plying his trade at Royal Antwerp.
