Former Manchester City midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips believes Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must lead his side to derby day glory on Saturday lunchtime to prove that he can still be a success in the Old Trafford managerial hot-seat.
Solskjaer, who has won three of his five Premier League matches in charge of United against City, is under huge pressure to start delivering silverware again at Old Trafford, with United not having won a major trophy since lifting the UEFA Europa League in 2017.
In a bid to bring that drought to an end, Solskjaer was backed heavily by the club during the summer transfer window, being allowed to bring the likes of Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo to the club in big-money deals.
However, although United would move level on points with City with a win, Solskjaer remains under enormous pressure, with the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool almost a fortnight ago moving him closer to the edge of losing his job.
With United struggling for form, any hopes of winning the Premier League title this season are fading fast.
With that in mind, former City man Wright-Phillips has highlighted the importance of Solskjaer leading his side to a second consecutive Manchester derby victory.
"It’s definitely more important to him to win this one," Wright-Phillips told William Hill. "This is the year he'll be judged as he got all the players he wanted to in pre-season, and he has to start bringing trophies back to the club.
"Liverpool were the first club he'd faced in the top-four or five this season and they got absolutely steamrollered, so they can’t let that happen against City.
"Other games they should’ve lost they managed to draw, but now everybody is judging him on each game and saying that he needs to be winning them as Man United manager.
"It’s important for the derby, but he needs to show that the team he's built is capable of winning the Premier League or the Champions League, because they haven’t done that for years."
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