We have to trust ourselves on the ball: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Manchester United suffered a demoralising 2-0 defeat against Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday.

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in a file photo; Credit: Twitter/@FabrizioRomano
By Karthik Raman | Nov 7, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was understandably disappointed with the way the team played in the defeat against their local rivals on Saturday. United suffered a demoralising 2-0 defeat against Manchester City in the Premier League at Old Trafford. United fell behind to an early own goal by Eric Bailly and conceded a second to Bernardo Silva in the dying seconds of the first half. The hosts were unable to recover from the twin blow, as they lost their second straight home game in the league. 

Speaking to club media and Sky Sports after the game at Old Trafford, Ole said, “It’s very difficult to talk now, of course, because we started the game off badly, passive and when they get the first goal, it was always going to be a difficult game anyway, but being 1-0 down was hard. David [De Gea] kept us in the game, some good stops and then they scored a goal they always score. [Joao] Cancelo cuts inside, cross [to the] back-stick that we know that’s going to happen and it shouldn’t happen.”

“It’s disappointing, of course. It’s hard to talk at the moment. We play against a good team, don’t forget that, but we were nowhere near what our standards and levels can be and that’s something we have to get back to. We’ve got to go back to being on the front foot, be more aggressive, maybe circumstances have made us a little bit more cautious and passive.”

‘We have to get back to what we were’

Ole was disappointed with the manner in which they conceded those goals. “The result and the manner of the goals we conceded: of course, we’re disappointed with them but we have to get back to what we were. More aggressive, more [on the] front foot and trust ourselves more than what we’ve shown today. I understand that the last couple of weeks have been difficult, but now it’s hard to stand here and talk too much. We have to be more precise on the ball, trust ourselves on the ball, without the ball, be more aggressive, find the angles quicker and play the passes we should be doing,” he added.

“They played well, of course they don’t give you opportunities to win the ball off them. Some praise has got to go to them as well but, of course, we were not at our level and standard, they need to be raised.”

Solskjaer on the team’s response

The manager is confident there will be a response once the players return from the international break. “I’m sure when we come back, the players will be fresh in their minds after the internationals and, of course, the demands on me and the players are going to be high, expectations and we’ve just got to get back to what, as I said, we started to look like and what we were for a while and we’ve got the players to do that,” he added.

“We can’t, or I can’t, look at myself and say this is the way I want Man United to play. I’m in good communication all the time with the club and that’s very up front and honest about the situation. I work for Man United, I want the best for Man United and, of course, as long as I’m here, I want to do what I can do to improve this and that’s going back to what we started to look like, as I said.”





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