Tuesday, October 26, 2021 at 11:10• Last update: 11:42

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may remain on as manager of Manchester United for the time being and will be ‘just’ on the training field on Tuesday, reports include The Athletic, the BBC and Sky Sports. The Norwegian manager was under intense pressure after last Sunday’s embarrassing 0-5 home defeat to Liverpool and with Antonio Conte a possible successor was already explicitly put forward, but the club management has nevertheless expressed confidence. That, according to The Athletic incidentally, for surprise and confusion within some of the Manchester United squad.

Solskjaer already asked his squad after the 4-2 defeat at Leicester City why Manchester United were missing opportunities week after week. Several players concluded that the man who asked the question was responsible for this, writes The Athletic. When performance is disappointing, an accusing manager is quickly pointed at the trainer. The feeling that Solskjaer is not the right manager to lead Manchester United has permeated part of his roster since last month. The ear washing against Liverpool has only confirmed this feeling.

The players admire his commitment and the fact that he never loses his team publicly, but they doubt his suitability to tactically outclass Josep Guardiola, Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp. Some of the squad would be open to a manager change at United as they believe Solskjaer is unable to turn the tide. “You want a manager who has had this experience before and knows how to deal with it,” said a source close to the dressing room. The hard defeat to Liverpool was seen as the perfect time to say goodbye to Solskjaer.

It was initially reported that Solskjaer himself also feared he would get his conge on Tuesday. However, it now sounds that the club management has decided to keep confidence for the time being, a decision that causes confusion and surprise among part of the player group. Manchester United await an away game against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, October 30, after which Solskjaer’s team travels to Bergamo for the Champions League match with Atalanta. Manchester United are already eight points behind leaders Chelsea after nine games.

Gary Neville said after the game against Liverpool on Sunday that he expects the club to maintain confidence in his former team-mate at least until the end of the season. “Had this happened right in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, Ole would be under tremendous pressure,” Neville said. “But I think the club will keep faith in him. I don’t think they will put a new manager for the group this season. There will be a massive outcry from fans and media for Ole to be fired and I can do that.” understand after that game. It was a monstrously bad day and you have to recover from that.”