Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Manchester United cannot replicate the quality of football produced by champions and local rivals Manchester City .
Pep Guardiola's back-to-back title winners have been revered for their passing style, but Solskjaer claims United must rely on a different approach to be successful.
Solskjaer, who takes his side to Burnley today, wants United to play with pace and power, going into games at full throttle, just like the side he played in under Sir Alex Ferguson.
“I think it's been told to the players, in quite certain terms, what kind of team we are,” said Solskjaer.
“They know what we expect. They know when we're at our best.
“We have to make it hard to play against us. We can’t play tippy-tappy football.
“We can’t, at this moment in time, play like Manchester City. It's only City that can do that.
“We have to show more energy, drive, urgency and selflessness in every single game. That is the way we have to play at the moment.”
Despite defeats to Crystal Palace , West Ham , Newcastle , Bournemouth and Watford in the first half of the season, United are just four points off fourth spot.
Wins over Chelsea , Leicester , Tottenham and City, as well as being the only side in the Premier League this season to take points off runaway leaders Liverpool , have shown what United are capable of.
Solskjaer wants United, who are seventh, four points off fourth spot, to embark on a consistent winning run, to avoid the race for a Champions League place going down to the final day.
“If we get consistent, it's not going to go down to the wire,” said Solskjaer.
“We should get into the top four without waiting for the last game against Leicester.
“But it might go down to the last game, who knows?
“I still expect a lot from this team this year. I expect them to be ready for Burnley because they're next.”
Solskjaer reckons his side are best equipped to cope with the quick turnaround in the festive fixture list.
United are action today, just 48 hours after beating Newcastle 4-1 on Boxing Day, looking for back-to-back wins to push their top-four hopes.
“I don’t think it's fair on the boys at all,” said Solskjaer.
“I don’t think it's fair to be expected to perform at the best of your level, both mentally and physically, 48 hours after you've played.
“But I think we are in the best position to perform on Saturday because the game was over after 45 minutes and we're young.
“When you're 23, which was the average age of the outfield starting players today, that will make it easier for us to recover than Burnley.
“Burnley played until the end against Everton , but we were done after 45 minutes and used the second-half as recovery."
