Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: We have to work better defensively

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was understandably delighted with the team’s 2-1 win against West Ham United in the Premier League on Sunday. The Red Devils produced a stunning come-from-behind victory against West Ham, thanks to goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Jesse Lingard. However, the manager felt that there was still room for improvement in the defensive third. He was particularly not happy with the way the players defended in the first half. He told MUTV and Sky Sports after the full-time whistle: “We deserved to win. I think we created some big chances, we had pressure on them, should have had a few penalties, great response when they scored, good attitude, very good away performance in a difficult cauldron; the stadium is hard here!”

“Very happy with the performances – 11 corners, a few big chances that we missed. First 10-15 minutes of the second half I thought we pressed them really well, made them give the ball away five or six times in their own box more or less, and it’s one of them, we can’t get a counter-attack every time we have a corner. There was a few having to sprint back a couple of times. We have to work better defensively, no doubt. In the first half, we were too easy to play through.”

He added: “We will work on it because there is no respite when you play football. I’ve spoken about how you can’t take rests when you defend. We dropped into a back six [for the goal] and there were too many spaces. We were too late to charge the ball. We’ve already sorted that and spoke about that at half-time. It was better in the second half and a great response, that was a big thing for me – how do you react when you go 1-0 down? It was a very, very good five minutes for us.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Jesse Lingard: I’m so happy for him

Lingard, who spent second half of last season at West Ham United on loan, scored the spectacular late winner on his return to the club. “I’m so happy for him because you know it’s ups and downs in football. He was low on Tuesday, now high again, he scored against Newcastle, you’re up, you’re down, you’re up – but that’s football. You have to live with it and Jesse has learned how to deal with ups and downs in football. You know, if you play for Man United you have to live with it, be able to handle that scrutiny,” he elaborated.

“Don’t worry about it because what we have to worry about is ourselves, what we do, what we say. We’re a group, we’re together, we work together, stick together through thick and thin. That’s never going to be any different. This is a family. It was a great goal. Of course, he had a tough evening on Tuesday but he’s knuckled down and worked hard again. He’s been the same bright, positive lad and what a goal. A great pass by Nemanja, a good turn by Jesse and a great goal.”

‘It’s two clear penalties’

There were also some controversial moments in the match, with West Ham getting a late penalty and Manchester United being denied on a few occasions when Ronaldo went down in the box. “I’m going to be careful with what I’m saying, but you’ve got to be wondering what’s he’s got to do to get a penalty. The first [obstruction by Coufal] and the third [tackle by Ogbonna] is 100 per cent nailed on,” Ole claimed.

“The one where he gets pulled back backstick [by Cresswell] is probably [not obvious], but it’s still a foul, he gets pulled down in the box. It’s frustrating but they’ve got to look at it. It’s two clear penalties. I think they’re stonewall. You can’t even argue against them. The first one, he puts his foot out and Ronaldo runs straight and is fouled. The last one, Paul had a foul against him on Zouma when he didn’t touch him but he went over him. Why is Cristiano’s not? Hopefully it won’t be that he’s never going to get a penalty.”