STAND BY YOUR MAN
Rising star McTominay says United now need stability after years of upheaval
SCOTT McTOMINAY knows the knives are out for Manchester United after one of their worst starts to a Premier League campaign.
United go into tonight’s clash against Arsenal in 11th spot, already 13 points behind leaders Liverpool and with their top-four credentials lacking credibility.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the bookies’ second favourite Premier League boss to get the sack, with the former United striker having already been written off just weeks into his first full season in charge.
But midfielder McTominay, one of the few United players to have emerged with credit from the team’s unconvincing start, said Solskjaer, right, must be given time to turn the club’s fortunes around.
“It takes time for a new manager coming in,” said McTominay. “It’s not all of a sudden just going to click straight into place.
“Once Sir Alex left, it was going to take time for the club to find the right manager, and I do believe that we have the right manager now in Ole.
“You see different eras in football teams – everybody goes through transitional stages and we’re going through one right now.”
Solskjaer is United’s fourth manager of the post-Ferguson era, following short-lived spells from David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho. For McTominay, that recent policy of short-term fixes must be abandoned, with Solskjaer backed by United – particularly through the tough times. “You have to have that continuity at any club,” he said. “In this day and age, clubs are just willing to sack a manager, without really thinking about the consequences for how that team is going to go forward in the next five or six years. “Ole definitely has a plan for the short term and long term, and when you’ve got a guy like that, it’s important you stick by him. “There’s no better place to play your football than Manchester United, when everything’s going well. “But when it’s not going well, it’s something we have to learn from and look to the future, because you can’t dwell on past seasons and the different managers we’ve had. “I’m not worried at all. It’s going to take time for this club to get back to where it was, but we’ve certainly got a manager who’s willing to do everything to do that.
“It hurts seeing everything going on sometimes, and you just try to blank everything out. But it’s the results that hurt the most. “After West Ham, losing 2-0, it was a difficult feeling, one you can’t really put into words.
“It’s not a case of getting in your car, then you get home and everything’s fine, because it’s not.” United’s decline has been compounded by the success of their local rivals Manchester City and arch-enemies Liverpool, who have set themselves apart from the rest, domestically and in Europe. “They’re doing well and that’s life,” said McTominay. But he believes their rivals’ success can ultimately serve strengthen United’s resolve. “Getting that success back to Manchester United – there’s nothing more that I want than to see us right back at the top, where we belong,” he said.