WIN THE TITLE NEXT YEAR? NO WAY WARNS OLE

‘We want to overtake City & Liverpool but we must be realistic’

OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER outlined the size of the rebuilding job facing him at Manchester United by admitting he has already written off next season. United go into tonight’s derby against Manchester City 24 points adrift of leaders Liverpool and 22 behind Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions.

The Red Devils have lost six of their last eight games in all competitions. They face a battle to secure a top-four place and with it Champions League football next season. Against that backdrop, and with his position already under scrutiny after just a month as permanent boss, Solskjaer admitted United have no chance of challenging for the title next season.

“I don’t think we’ve got the consistency to do that,” admitted the Norwegian, still reeling from Sunday’s abject 4-0 defeat at Everton.

“Over the last 18 games, we’re not far away from them, but it’s doing it over the course of a season.

“We’ve done it for half a season now. Let’s see. You can never say never. But you cannot expect things to happen overnight and we know that. It will happen gradually and we have to be realistic enough as a club that we have to take it step by step.

“That’s not changing 10 players now and bringing 10 players in. It’s slowly, slowly, but surely.

“It has to be the right quality and the right personality – and the right standards to get us back to where we want to be.”

When he arrived at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson famously stated his remit was to “knock Liverpool off their f ***** g perch”, with the Merseyside club the country’s then dominant force.

Solskjaer faces the unenviable task of trying to knock two sides off their perch, with title contenders City and Liverpool so far ahead of them and the rest of the pack.

Former United striker Solskjaer, steeped in the history of the club following his glittering spell as a player, admitted it was tough to see their two biggest rivals slug it out for the title.

“We have to want to overtake them, not because it’s City and

Liverpool,” said Solskjaer. “But of course because it’s City and Liverpool, for a supporter as I am, and as a manager now, because they’re so close in the vicinity as well, we want to be the best.

“We have been the best, and it’s not nice seeing those two at the top.”

United are likely to have to win their remaining four games to have any chance of securing a Champions League place, with Solskjaer admitting there is no time to feel sorry for themselves.

“It’s possible (to win all four), but we’ve got to change our mindset,” he said. “We’ve got to be ready for it. We can’t sulk.

“We can’t be dwelling on what’s happened the last few weeks. We’ve got

to be ready and we know football changes like this (clicks fingers).

“In the long run, it’s standards, your professionalism and your value as a footballer that will take over and make you successful in the end.

“Short term, definitely we can win these four games. Now is not the time to make drastic changes, but of course we do plan ahead.

“We know who we want to bring with us.”

You cannot expect things to happen overnight and we know that