‘I’VE PROTECTED MASON... FA SHOULD HAVE DONE BETTER’

the world’s cameras. We’ve done what we can to protect him. We had a plan with him throughout the season and it worked really well. This is where he feels at home.’ Asked if the FA need to look more carefully at how they handle young players, Solskjaer added: ‘One hundred per cent. I’m not saying it (the hotel incident) is their fault. ‘I’m saying that sometimes you need to take a step back and look at what’s best for the players and I tried. ‘Of course, he’s made some mistakes but it’s us, the grown-ups — we need to make decisions that benefit him.’ Solskjaer’s comments were met with surprise and anger at the FA yesterday. Sources say the issue of leaving Greenwood out was discussed as part of the usual dialogue between club and country over a player’s welfare, but they saw no problem with having him in the squad. They also claimed United were informed out of courtesy of the intention to put Greenwood up for interview and no objections were raised at the time — while there is amazement at the FA that Solskjaer does not have Southgate’s number. The England manager is also unhappy over the accusations, particularly after he went out of his way to defend United captain Harry Maguire following his arrest in Mykonos last month. Southgate picked Maguire in his squad for the games against Iceland and Denmark on the day of his trial in Greece because he wanted to show support, before being forced to drop the player when he was found guilty. Maguire’s conviction was later nullified pending a retrial.