The Manchester United manager has often relied upon this midfield duo in big matches despite some fans and pundits questioning Solskjaer’s decision.
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Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has expressed his confidence in midfield duo Fred and Scott McTominay. The Manchester United manager has often relied upon this midfield duo in big matches despite some fans and pundits questioning Solskjaer’s decision. McTominay missed three weeks of this campaign with injury. But since his return, Solskjaer has turned to his preferred midfield pivot in half of United’s league games so far. It also includes the disappointing home defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday.
When asked why the pair are his favoured option in the middle of the park, Solskjaer told reporters: “First of all, the stats for them two together, we’ve had many, many good results. The energy they give us, the way we broke up play against Villa. I think they’re very, very instrumental together in that respect. Energy and desire.
“I really like to have the two of them. There’s two I can trust that will always, always give you what they’ve got. Fans will always have an opinion on any team selection when you’ve got good players like me. It’s easy to say who should be playing, but it’s harder to leave players out.”
Solskjaer also addressed some of the criticisms levelled at Saturday’s performance by pundits. “The Aston Villa game, we broke up play really well defensively, maybe attacked too fast. We want fast attacking play. Gary [Neville] knows that and everyone that has been associated with Man United know we want to keep the tempo up and attack quickly when we can,” he added.
“Maybe we did it too fast because if you look at the stats, I don’t think I’ve seen any games with less efficient playing time. Forty-five minutes effective playing time the ref gave us, probably one of the lowest I’ve seen. Normally you’re at 55 or 60 but that’s maybe because we finished the attacks too quickly. Same with Villa, they did.
“[We need] More control. If you slow it down too much, it might be against a low block again defending. We know Villarreal will definitely defend well. We need to play quickly. Gary knows the DNA here at the club and what we are trying to do.”
Meanwhile, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has updated on the injury situation regarding Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire. The two English defenders had to abruptly leave the pitch during Saturday’s Premier League clash against Aston Villa. The duo are also big doubts for the visit of Villarreal in Wednesday’s Champions League tie. Right-back Aaron Wan-Bisska will definitely be suspended following his red card against Young Boys in the group opener.
“That’s football for you and why we have a big and strong squad,” said the manager to the club’s media. “It looks like Harry is definitely out. Luke, we might give a chance to but he didn’t train this morning. So maybe the best case scenario is he will join us on the bench. There has to be a reshuffle but that’s why we have a big squad of good players and I’m sure we’ll get a good performance with whoever is selected.”
“Luke has been in today so I’ll give him a chance to be involved. He didn’t train with the team. Harry is, more or less, definitely out and it doesn’t look good. It’s Harry’s calf and it might take a few weeks. Let’s see how quickly he recovers. Of course, he was hoping to play against Villarreal before but he missed the last game we played against them. That’s football for you. With Aaron suspended, we will have to make a few changes,” Ole told in his press conference.
