Former Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley returns to Old Trafford with Watford tonight, and he’s delighted to see his former club turn a corner in the Premier League under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The 31-year-old came through the Manchester United academy and won the Premier League in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season, in 2013. When he was coming through the youth system, Cleverley experienced what it was like to play under Solskjaer, too.
United are back in the hunt this season and even if it’s only the beginning of January, it’s definitely an improvement on previous years because we will overtake Liverpool at the top of the league if we get a positive result against Burnley on Tuesday night.
But first we’ve got Championship outfit Watford in the FA Cup third-round — and midfielder Tom Cleverley is happy to see the Reds back on an upward trajectory.
“Obviously I spent three, three and a half years in the first-team but a lot of time in the academy and things like that, so, yeah, it’s great to see how well they’re doing in the league again,” Cleverley said, as per FourFourTwo.
“I think it’s good for English football that Manchester United are title contenders, so I’m looking forward to it.
“Obviously there’s not been a title challenge for seven, eight years now. It’s still early days, we’re not even halfway through.
“But, yeah, the way they’re playing and the players they’ve got and the attacking flair they’ve got, then the signs are looking good, even though they probably want to play it down right now.”
It will be good to see Cleverley in action tonight against United, but it’s a shame there won’t be any fans in attendance as he returns to Old Trafford.
Cleverley will offer good guidance to James Garner, who is currently on loan at Watford from United.
Speaking about playing under Solskjaer, Cleverley added: “Obviously he’s a nice guy and a real friendly character around the place.
“You could speak to him, you could ask him advice and, yeah, he just seemed a natural coach.
“I think I can remember him doing his badges and he even took my age group for that when I was really young.
“But at the time he was just brilliant, brilliant for our strikers as well because he was probably one of the best finishers Man U have ever seen.
“I’m just really pleased for him that it’s working out for him there.”
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