Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: Big players relish these games

Manchester United are at the start of a very difficult run of games, having traveled to Leicester City in the Premier League last weekend and played Atalanta in the Champions League in the midweek. United lost the league match but impressively won the European game, staging a stirring comeback from 0-2 down to win it 3-2 in the second half. The tough run only gets difficult for the Red Devils. Next up is Liverpool on Sunday at Old Trafford in the league. The rivalry will also see in-form forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah come head-to-head. Speaking ahead of the match, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is convinced his players will be embracing the challenge of facing the Merseyside Reds. “Big players relish these games,” he told Sky Sports. “The mentality they show to be ready for Sunday after Wednesday night is fantastic.”

United’s stunning fightback against Atalanta in the Champions League has given life to the group. After the poor 4-2 defeat at Leicester last Saturday, the comeback victory against the Italians is just what the Red Devils needed. It was a timely boost, with Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City next up in a difficult run of Premier League fixtures.

On Wednesday night, Cristiano Ronaldo turned out to be the hero, rising high to head in the late winner against Atalanta. A former Manchester United striker himself, Solskjaer, thinks Ronaldo’s ability to consistently deliver during crunch moments is down to fitness, experience and desire.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Cristiano Ronaldo 

“First of all, he’s fit enough to do it still. But he’s played this game 500 times before. He’s been in that situation so many times, and it’s one of them: ‘I know what [team-mate Luke Shaw] is going to do, I know where I need to be and I’m still capable of doing it’. That’s key,” he added.

“He’s changed his position from being a wide forward into more of a box centre forward because he knows how to score a goal, he wants to score goals. When he first came, with all the tricks and the pace, he had the hunger – and he’s still got the hunger. He’s done what every player has to do throughout his career, you have to evolve.”

Showering praise on Ronaldo, Ole said, “When Cristiano came to us, he’d not had a proper pre-season at Juventus and you can see he’s gradually getting fitter and fitter. Now he feels: ‘I’m getting towards the level I know I can be’.

“Wednesday night, the focus, the physical effort, the run… he had the highest amount of sprints, the longest sprint distance, the longest high-intensity distance. We talk about players who run a lot, he does as much as them. If people want to criticise his work ethic, that’s completely wrong. You see him running down the channels, which he has to do as a centre forward.

“He does the work that we want him to do for the team. Of course, the team, when you have a player like him, you’ve got to get the best out of him, but he knows he’s part of the jigsaw of that team and he’s been brilliant.”