Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has carried out his Manchester United promise to fans - Manchester Evening News





As Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did the round of TV and press interviews he was finding it harder and harder to keep his anger hidden away. As Manchester United’s embarrassed players walked out of the ground, shoulders slumped, heads bowed, none of them stopped to offer their own thoughts on what had just happened, other than a solemn shake of the head and a “no, I just can’t”.


It was certainly hard to find the words to described what had just happened over 90 minutes on Merseyside. A sunny Easter Sunday at Goodison Park turned into an aberration for United. It was a disgrace of a performance, a 4-0 thrashing administered by an inconsistent Everton.


While academy graduate Scott McTominay looked crestfallen at being part of that performance, Solskjaer clearly felt not enough did. A year ago today he walked into the low-ceilinged press room at Goodison Park and admittedly the theory that was he too nice, too soft for this job disappeared.


Solskjaer looked devastated about being the manager in charge of such an abject United performance. Asked if the players cared enough, he admitted: “I don’t know. You’ve gotta ask them.


“I’ve asked them, you’re not gonna get the answer from me. But of course if you wanna play at this club it has to mean more. I’ve said this as well, I want them to be the hardest-working team in the league, that’s what we were under Sir Alex, that’s what we were, what we’ve always been. Giggsy, Becks, Gary Neville, Denis Irwin, whoever you were. The talent you’ve got, you ran more than everyone every single week a shift up and down that pitch for your teammates and we have to stick together as a team.


“We can’t change the whole squad but it’s got to be one step at a time and I’ve said all along I’m gonna be successful here and there are players there that won’t be part of that successful team but there are players there who do have it.


“That performance is difficult to describe because it’s so bad. We were beaten at all the ingredients you need added to your talent today.”


This was Solskjaer attempting to draw a line under the slump that had so dramatically ended his United honeymoon. It didn’t make much difference immediately, there were to be defeats at home to Manchester City and Cardiff and a draw at Huddersfield. United’s end to the season had been wretched.


Yet a year on Solskjaer has been true to his promise. With a run of 11 undefeated games and a string of impressive performances, there are signs he might just be successful after all at Old Trafford, and already there are players who’ve been told they won’t be part of it.


There were high-profile casualties in the summer in Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez, whose departure looks like being only temporary, although it’s clear he has no long-term role to play at United under Solskjaer. Since then Solskjaer has also been brave enough to wield the axe on players who just aren’t good enough. Phil Jones, Jesse Lingard and Andreas Pereira were all in that squad and while they remain at the club, they’ve been moved to the fringes.


Chris Smalling started but was jettisoned on loan and looks like being a permanent departure, while Ashley Young came off the bench but has also been allowed to leave when he made it clear he wanted to join Inter Milan in January.


United are not the hardest working team in the league yet. That mantle probably remains with Liverpool, but they’ve shown how far a ferocious work rate can take you. Solskjaer wants United to better that and he wants only players who buy into it, which is why he’s been so pleased with the commitment of January arrivals Bruno Fernandes and Odion Ighalo.


But Solskjaer has also committed to giving players an opportunity. When he questioned the commitment and work rate at the end of last season, it looked pretty obvious it was a message intended for Anthony Martial. When he went through a warm-up before the Chelsea game at Old Trafford that could be described as lethargic at best, a lot of supporters had seen enough.


Solskjaer gave him another chance, however, and Martial took it. While the United boss is more than ready to cast aside those who don’t have the required ingredients to be part of his squad, he is also willing to work with those who will make the effort, as Martial’s resurrection as a No. 9 this season has proved.


There is still more work to do for Solskjaer and it would be dangerous to draw too many conclusions from one unbeaten run, no matter how impressive it’s been. But a year on from a debacle that ended some United careers, he has been true to the promise he made in the aftermath of that sorry shambles.



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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has carried out his Manchester United promise to fans - Manchester Evening News

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