MANCHESTER, England -- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Manchester United should be aiming higher than a top-four finish this season.
Mauricio Pochettino argued after Tottenham's FA Cup exit on Sunday that a place in the top four took priority over trophies but Solskjaer, who refused to directly criticise the Argentine, took a different view at his news conference on Monday.
United were 11 points adrift of the Champions League places when the Norwegian took over in December but have narrowed the gap to just three points ahead of Burnley's visit to Old Trafford on Tuesday.
Finishing in the top four would represent a remarkable achievement for Solskjaer after a miserable start to the season under Jose Mourinho, but the caretaker boss insists he will not throw away the chance to lift a trophy with the Champions League and FA Cup still up for grabs.
"That's not the dream, to be top four," said Solskjaer.
"We're Man United, you should always aim to win the league. We can't do that this year but we've just got to look forward to that again because we have to get back to that.
"We've got the Champions League, we've got the FA Cup, we can't just say top four and that's it. We've got to look at 'Can we win something this year?'"
Pochettino watched his team exit both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup in the space of four days after defeats to Chelsea and Crystal Palace but insisted trophies only serve to "build your ego" and that "the most important thing for Tottenham right now is to always be in the top four."
Solskjaer, competing with Pochettino to be United's next permanent manager, took a different view but he was still keen to defend his Spurs counterpart.
"I am not here to discuss what Pochettino says and what other managers say," he said.
"We are about winning trophies, of course we are, and we can't win the league this year, we are still in the cup, we are going to try to win the FA Cup of course. I think every manager wants to win every game so I don't think that is the point he was making.
"If you win trophies that's a fantastic day for everyone in the club, it's just the best time of your life because you never know when the next one is going to come.
"It's not up to me to discuss whatever anyone else says. I am just saying that we here at this club, we are looking to win trophies."
Solskjaer won the league title six times during his 11 years as a player at Old Trafford.
United haven't mounted a serious challenge since Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge, but Solskjaer is targeting next season -- whether he is in charge or not.
"We need to use these months now to be ready for the challenge next year," said Solskjaer.
"Of course we came second last season, we wanted to be challenging for the top place. It didn't happen, now it's about re-organising and just starting next season ready to challenge."