Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is in sackcloth after Manchester United’s humiliating defeat against Liverpool (0-5). The trainer speaks to the official club channels of ‘the blackest day’ he went through ‘as a player and trainer’. Solskjaer nevertheless hopes to be allowed to stay on as a trainer, he adds in conversation with Sky Sports. He says he has ‘come too far’ with his team to throw in the towel now.
“We were not good enough individually and as a team”, the excited trainer reacts to Sky Sports. “You can’t give a team like Liverpool such opportunities, but unfortunately we did. Our whole performance was not good enough. We created openings, but Liverpool got the opportunities and handled them carefully.” When asked whose responsibility is the defeat, Solskjaer responds without hesitation. “Mine. It’s that simple.”
Ole’s reaction to #MUNLIV.#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 24, 2021
“The coaching staff is doing a fantastic job. I’m the one who decides how we go into a race,” Solskjaer explains. “We were not clinical enough and gave away too much space. If you give good players space, they score.” Liverpool’s 0-4 score in injury time in the first half hurt Manchester United. “If you go into halftime 0-3, then you have to score once every 15 minutes. I know my players are capable of that. But the 0-4 was probably the final blow. We lost 1-6 last season against Tottenham Hotspur, but this defeat is much, much worse. This is much worse for me as a Manchester boy.”
Solskjaer is then asked whether he is still the right man to join the squad of the Red Devils to lead. “I’ve come too far, we’ve come too far as a group, we’re too close to give up now. It’s going to be tough. The players will be through it for a while, but there are enough players with character in between. This is the deepest dal. We’re not going to feel any worse than this. Let’s see where that takes us.” Solskjaer can in any case count on the sympathy of fellow coach Jürgen Klopp. “Of course. The last thing I would want to do right now is to be in his shoes,” Klopp said. “That’s how it feels when you lose a derby. It happened to me too. Then you don’t feel like answering all those questions.”
For the manager of Liverpool it is on the contrary ‘a very beautiful day’. Liverpool recorded their biggest win ever against the rival. “We have written our own chapter in the history of the club. People are going to talk about this for a long time because it will not happen again for a very long time, if it ever does.” Analyst Gary Neville of Sky Sports suspects that the Manchester United board will remain behind Solskjaer, although the pressure is becoming immense. “This was a terrible day for Manchester United. They have been completely destroyed. This is unacceptable. The pressure is going to be unbelievable.”
“The board has said it stands behind the coach and that he stays on, but such results undermine that. This is a sobering defeat. Manchester United need a change,” said the former defender. “I think Ole will be given the opportunity to make that happen, but the pressure is going to come from all sides. There will be calls for his head in ways you can’t imagine. But you also wonder what this defeat means for the players. How are they going to recover? The next 24 hours may be the most difficult in the club’s history.”