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Gary Neville explains ‘unusual’ thing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did before Man Utd vs Chelsea
MANCHESTER UNITED legend Gary Neville says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s pre-match preparation for the visit of Chelsea was “unusual”.
Man United: Solskjaer reacts to 1-1 draw against Chelsea
Staying at a hotel the night before a match is normal practice for a club the size of Manchester United.
However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made his whole first-team squad stay at the hotel, not just the players up for selection against Chelsea.
Neville believes it was a tactic from his former team-mate to try and build spirit amongst the players following a poor run of results.
“Unusual,” Neville said when asked about it on Sky Sports.
You try and do something that just alters the rut United are in at the moment
“It was either a farewell bash or maybe sort of spirit building.
“Probably the latter, I would say, keeping everybody together.
“I think when you’re a manager and you’ve been in and around a club and things aren’t going well, you just try and change something.
“You try and do something that just alters the rut United are in at the moment.
“They’ve lost seven out of the last nine games.
"So the idea of saying ‘look, we need to be together more than ever, this is the most important game of the season’.
“And by the way, there has been a lot of criticism flying their way this week and rightly so.
“The most important criticism this week for those players to listen to is from their own manager.
“Talking about them needing a reality check, talking about some of them not being with him when he’s successful.
“So maybe bringing them all together and saying ‘look, if we can win three matches, we’ll finish in the Champions League’.
“And I have to say, irrespective of this last couple of months and seven defeats in nine games, if Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were to finish in the Champions League this season, from where he was when he picked the job up, I think it would be an incredible achievement.
“And I think maybe that’s the reason behind him getting everybody together for the final push in the last few weeks of the season.”