Midfielders not to blame for defeat, insists Ole
OLE Gunnar Solskjaer accepts United were not solid enough at Leicester, but refused to level the blame at his midfielders.
Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic lined-up in a midfield axis in the 4-2 defeat, but the duo were dominated by Leicester talisman Youri Tielemans, who scored against the Reds again as he did so in Leicester’s 3-1 FA Cup quarter-final victory in March.
Solskjaer has selected seven different midfield combinations this season and was unable to retain his favoured pairing of Scott McTominay and Fred, as the latter played for Brazil in the early hours of Friday morning.
Leicester coach Brendan Rodgers said in his summary, ‘their central players weren’t pressing so we could be patient and work the ball through the pitch’.
United were in the market for a new midfield recruit in the summer but the lack of a serious offer for Paul Pogba and the number of options available to Solskjaer has delayed a move for one until next year.
“We were too easy to play through,” said the Reds boss. “I wouldn’t say that’s all on Nemanja and Paul, that’s the team as a whole.
“We need to be compact, we need to be more aggressive, we dealt with the runs in behind well enough but maybe dropping off them a bit gave them too much space.
“But that’s the whole team, not just Paul and Nemanja. I’ve not heard what Brendan’s said but if he felt that...
“We weren’t good enough on the second balls, didn’t win the 50-50s, didn’t nick the ball, or win the ball in good enough areas because we’re so good at winning it and going forward and didn’t see enough of that.
“I agree we didn’t defend well enough.”