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Match of the Day presenters caught in HEATED debate over Manchester United player problems
MANCHESTER UNITED beat Cardiff 5-1 on Saturday in their first match since Jose Mourinho’s sacking.
Man Utd: Solskjaer taking it 'one game at a time' after Cardiff win
And the Match of the Day pundits were involved in a heated debate over how the players have reacted to the axe.
Mourinho was sacked on Tuesday after a disastrous start to United’s season.
They are already all-but out of the Premier League title race and fans were getting restless with dour performances home and away.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took up an interim role until the end of the season on Wednesday.
They weren’t running for him though
And Manchester United spanked Cardiff 5-1 in Wales on Saturday to get Solskjaer’s reign off to the perfect start.
The difference in perforce from recent outings under Mourinho was stark.
And for the first time this season United’s players covered a greater distance than their opponents.
And Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Ian Wright in the MOTD studio tried to get to the bottom of the situation.
Here is the full transcript…
Match of the Day debate
AS: There’s no doubt about it. Those players had stopped running for the previous manager.
GL: But players always try. They always try but it affects your confidence.
IW: Yeah, you try because you don’t want the fans to sit there and be able to point the finger.
GL: No-one goes on the pitch and thinks ‘I’m not going to try today because I don’t like the manager’.
IW: But that’s the most they’ve run in a season.
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AS: They weren’t running for him though. For the first time in a Premier League game this season, United out-ran their opponents. You’re talking about Manchester United here.
GL: The firing of Mourinho was the right decision?
AS: It was the right decision. I said last weekend something had to change. The players had stopped running for the manager. They weren’t giving as much as they should had. They can’t get rid of all their players, so it was the right decision.
Next up for United is a home clash against Huddersfield on Boxing Day.
They then host Bournemouth before a trip to Newcastle on January 2.
Saturday’s win kept United sixth in the Premier League - two points ahead of Watford.
Yet they remain eight points adrift of fourth place and that lucrative final Champions League spot.