Ole demands ‘unbeaten run’ is norm again
Solskjaer also believes side has learnt lessons after City ran riot in the first half at Old Trafford in Carabao Cup earlier this year
OLE Gunnar Solskjaer has told his United squad that a nine-game unbeaten run is nothing to celebrate ahead of today’s Premier League derby with City.
The Reds are on their longest unbeaten run since the 11-game streak without defeat when Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho in December 2018 – and it’s propelled them into the FA Cup quarter-finals, the Europa League last-16 and back into the race for a top-four finish in the Premier League. That improved form will be put to the test today when Pep Guardiola’s City visit Old Trafford, and while Solskjaer has seen his improvements, he insists long unbeaten runs should be the norm for United, rather than anything to get carried away with.
The unbeaten run has followed a wretched Old Trafford defeat to Burnley, which was considered the nadir of a season that was threatening to fall apart. Now United are still hunting for two trophies and are on Chelsea’s coat tails for fourth.
Solskjaer is aware that some performances this season simply haven’t been good enough and while he’s pleased with the improvement, he still accepts that being fifth in the table isn’t an end goal for United.
“We are nine games unbeaten, it is easier for me to stand here and say that but I have seen improvement all the time. But now with the signings we’ve made as well gives us that little edge,” said Solskjaer.
“We know at times we let ourselves down early in the season, some performances didn’t get the deserved results. We are getting better but we’re not going to get carried away from being fifth.
“We are not getting carried away being unbeaten in nine because that used to be the norm and should be the norm here, that you go through these patches.”
United haven’t done the Premier League double over City in a decade, but could claim a third win against their rivals on this afternoon, having won at the Etihad in the league and the Carabao Cup. Solskjaer’s side remain 15 points behind City, however, and he’s aware shutting down that gap is the long-term goal.
“Of course every game against City is massive. That stat is not nice to hear. It is one of our challenges to close this gap. Definitely win our individual battles and win more and more games against them,” he said. United were comfortably beaten by the Blues in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at Old Trafford, when City raced into a 3-0 lead in the first half, but Solskjaer believes his team have learnt lessons from that day. “You see things and work on things. And you hope there and then the players grasp it straight away,” he said. “But those 15 minutes that City outplayed us, our heads had gone. We didn’t control our emotions and when it got to half-time we sorted that out.”
We’re not getting carried away being unbeaten in nine because that should be the norm