Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reviews Manchester City defeat
Manchester United’s board ‘appreciate’ three managers as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer battles to keep his job, it has been claimed. The Norwegian was given a new three-year contract back in the summer. But he’s overseen a difficult season at Old Trafford so far, with the Red Devils currently in freefall.
United backed Solskjaer hugely in the summer transfer window.
Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane were both signed from Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid respectively, with Cristiano Ronaldo then returning on deadline day from Juventus after 12 years away.
However, while United won three of their first four games, the Red Devils are now on a run of six defeats from their last 12.
As a result, the pressure is mounting on Solskjaer.
Joel Glazer hasn’t currently indicated he’s about to sack the Norwegian, despite the recent chastening home defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool.
And Fabrizio Romano has now claimed that United do admire three managers, but they won’t be easy to appoint.
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“And then, I have to mention also, Mauricio Pochettino. He’s one of the managers they appreciate, but he’s working at PSG.
“Zinedine Zidane is not desperate to be back at work as manager so let’s see if United will try and change his mind or work on a manager at another club.
“But this is why United, at the moment, have not opened talks over a different manager.”
Should United be forced into sacking Solskjaer, he’ll become the fourth managerial casualty of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
David Moyes got the big job in 2013 after winning Ferguson’s support for his stellar work at Everton.
But he was chopped after just 10 months in charge, having overseen the club’s fall down the table.
Man Utd board also admire Erik Ten Hag for his work at Ajax (Image: GETTY)
“I want to make that point; there were times a few years ago where I left Old Trafford thinking: ‘Are these players really with us?’
“But with these players, I don’t think it’s a lack of effort or willingness or want.
“I think those players want to do well, and want to be at Manchester United, every single one of them. But they look like they are suffering badly at this moment in time.
“I think the club will put Saturday down to Pep Guardiola, Manchester City, and believe that this could happen to any team in any season.
“They’ve got Watford away, Villarreal away and then Chelsea away. That’s a horrid, horrid week. This is not going to get any easier in the short term.
“The social media noise is different to the noise in the stadium.
Man Utd owners the Glazers are currently reluctant to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Image: GETTY)
“They were shouting against Nuno in the Spurs stadium last week; that won’t happen here with Ole at Old Trafford.
“We didn’t hear that with Jose, with Van Gaal, with Moyes, or even with Ron Atkinson 35 years ago.
“The fans here don’t do that, they are respectful of the situation, but this is a train off the track at the moment.
“Last season, people said second in the league is progression, it’s now not progression. That has to change very quickly.
“Against big teams, they look desperately short, and they shouldn’t. That’s where the manager comes under enormous pressure, and questions are asked, and on social media the pressure will be hot, but the contingent on social media are very different to the fans in the stadium itself.
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"The contingent on social media don’t have the sympathy, the empathy, the compassion that the fans in the stadium have.
“But the fans walked out towards the end of Saturday’s game, because they knew it wasn’t right.
“The club have not prepared for this, not prepared for a new manager, they didn’t expect it, they thought everything was sort of plain sailing along.
“They’ve planned around a structure of way of working in the last two or three years that they’re not going to veer away from, but in this moment in time they’re going to have to put their helmets on if they’re going to defend it.
“Because the reality of it is it’s nowhere near good enough and you can’t defend it.
“They’ve only played a couple decent sides in Tottenham, Liverpool and City. They should have already had plenty of points in the bank to deal with that. It’s unacceptable with this squad.”