Ole warns players about social media
OLE Gunnar Solskjaer has advised United players to use common sense in their representation of the club following Paul Pogba’s deleted social media posts.
Within minutes of United’s announcement they had sacked Jose Mourinho on Tuesday, Pogba’s Twitter and Instagram accounts posted an ambiguous picture of the Frenchman with the caption ‘Caption this!’, which tagged United’s and Adidas’s accounts. Former United captain Gary Neville replied: ‘You do one as well!’ and later accused Pogba of ‘dancing on his manager’s grave’.
Earlier in the season, United club captain Antonio Valencia ‘liked’ an Instagram post that called for Mourinho’s dismissal and the Ecuadorian also clarified he was not in the squad on the morning of the Newcastle match. Mourinho had attempted to ban players from social media on match days yet squad members flagrantly ignored the Portuguese.
Solskjaer coached Pogba briefly during his time at United Reserves coach and outlined his demands to the France international and the rest of the squad in a team meeting this week.
“We’ve spoken about what we expect,” Solskjaer said. “What standards we have on and off the pitch. Of course we prefer for every game. I trust the lads to know what they’re doing, to help the team. Everything we do is to help the team.
“The world has changed now. I’m not into this social media. My kids are, yeah. I’m that old that I’m not on Twitter or Facebook - maybe Facebook is old now - but that’s just common sense for me, that I’ve spoken to them about, that we move this forward. We have one target - that we succeed. And we do that as a team.
“Paul is a World Cup winner. Paul is a terrific lad and when I had him as a kid. He was always there, the happy-golucky lad. He hasn’t changed personality-wise.
“He’s a better player, of course, and he’s one that I want to get the best out of. You have so many quality players that I want to get the best out of. He’s no different to anyone else in that respect.” United executive vicechairman Ed Woodward’s decision to dismiss Mourinho before the halfway point in the Premier League campaign appears to have empowered United’s under-performing players as they prepare to be managed by the caretaker Solskjaer for five months.
The Norwegian observed Sir Alex Ferguson’s running of the club as a player and a coach for 14-and-a-half years and, although Solskjaer concedes football has ‘evolved’, he is adamant the manager still retains the power.
“I’m not sure about you saying the power has gone to the dressing room,” Solskjaer opined. “Football has evolved, of course, and the gaffer was in charge of more or less the whole club. Football is developing. The structure of the club has developed. The power is with the manager. He picks the team, the tactics, the strategy. The philosophy is in these walls. That legacy is more important than any player power. I have to say being a United player is a privilege and I think all of them want to succeed.”
Solskjaer’s interview on Thursday night emphasised the difference between his and Mourinho’s man-management techniques, while 45-year-old also reminded the interviewer his Molde side won a European tie against Sevilla; something that was beyond Mourinho last season. In his first press conference as United manager, Solskjaer touched upon Mourinho and his other predecessors as United attempt to regain the aura of the Ferguson epoch.