OLE KNOWS THE SCORE
Says goals are not for personal glor y’
OLE GUNNAR Solskjaer has warned he will stamp on any sign that Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are harming the team by being selfish in their race to be top scorer.
The Manchester United strike duo ( (left) ) are in a personal battle to finish the seas season as the club’s leading scorer as they h head to the Europa League finals in Germa Germany.
It’s a do dogfight that’s gripped the United dressing room, with banter flying betwee between the young strikers, on the team team’s Whatsapp group – and with
man manager Solskjaer.
Joking
Rejuvenated French star Martial is narrowly leading the contest with 23 goals from 46 games, with 22- year- old Rashford one behind on 22 from 42 matches this season.
After scoring the winner in the 2-1 2Europa League victory over Au Austrian side LASK, cameras caught cau Martial and Solskjaer (left) joking about his latest goal which took him past pa Rashford.
The E England youngster, confined to the bench, bench wasn’t so smiley as he missed a chance to t add to his own tally. Solskjaer is keen to play down any personal war between the goal-hungry stars and insists the team must come first – or else.
“There’s no battle between them. You can see how Anthony and Marcus play together and they are always willing to give each other the gift an open goal,” said the Norwegian boss.
“They always look to assist each other. For me, there can never be a battle between players within a team. We all have one common cause – to win.
“If I ever sense players playing for themselves, their own accolades and personal awards, I won’t have them in the team.
“It’s as straight, simple and as plain as that. I don’t want egos. I don’t want players thinking about themselves before the team.
“It cannot be about one player thinking he is going to score more goals than someone else. No.
“If you win as a team it doesn’t matter if you have scored 30, 25 or 15 goals. It only matters that you have contributed.
“I know more than anyone how important that attitude is. You support your team-mates all of the time.
“Ruud van Nistelrooy was very focused on his goals, but he was a team player. He would come off after a 4- 0 win miserable if he hadn’t scored. You always want that in a team.
“But you never saw Ruud take on a shot when he should have passed.
“Finishers also have to think, ‘There is a better chance that we will score here if I pass it’. I was the same. Sometimes I look at old videos and wonder why you did not pass it.
“But the reason I didn’t pass was I genuinely thought we had a better chance of scoring if I took the shot.
“That’s what I want with Anthony, Marcus, Mason Greenwood and Bruno Fernandes.”
Solskjaer is delighted his strikers are showing a competitive edge as they look to win United’s own internal Golden Boot.
And while he is demanding that his forwards are ruthless in front of goal, he is insistent that making the right choices for the good of the team should be the only focus.
Targets
“Decision-making will be a big thing for those lads because we are always going to create overloads, two-againstones and big chances,” he added.
If United beat FC Copenhagen in the quarter-finals at the Rheinenergiestadion in Cologne tomorrow they face the winner of Wolves’ clash with Sevilla.
Solskjaer said: “There are eight good teams left, including Wolves, but I’m not looking past Copenhagen.
“Qualifying for the Champions League was a weight off the boys’ shoulders because that was one of our targets.
“It means we go into this tournament more freely.
“And to get our hands on that first trophy with this group would be a fantastic achievement.”