Solskjaer ignites club-v-country row

Southgate and FA under fire over handling of Greenwood United manager claims he requested striker was rested

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has sparked a club-versus-country row by taking a furious swipe at Gareth Southgate over the England manager’s handling of Mason Greenwood.

In an extraordinary attack that has bemused Football Association officials, the Manchester United manager accused Southgate of failing to protect Greenwood and ignoring the club’s request not to call up the teenage striker for the games against Iceland and Denmark earlier this month.

Greenwood was sent home by England and omitted from the Denmark match after breaching coronavirus protocols when he and Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden invited two women back to the team hotel the day after making their senior international debuts in a 1-0 win over Iceland in Reykjavik.

Greenwood issued an apology and United released a statement in which they said they were “disappointed” by the 18-year-old’s behaviour.

But Solskjaer says he did not want Greenwood to travel with England, in the belief the player needed a rest physically and mentally in the wake of a draining debut season and believes the controversy could have been avoided had United’s request not fallen on deaf ears. The Norwegian said his exasperation deepened when he saw Greenwood had been put up for interview by the FA in front of the world’s media ahead of the Iceland match.

“I tried my best to give him a rest over the summer,” Solskjaer said.

“At the club, we asked specifically and pointed out he should have had a rest. He needs it mentally and physically after that season and the first thing that happens is, one, he’s called up and, two, he’s right there in the press.

“We’ve done whatever we can to protect him and I will keep on helping him. I know when he comes back into the daily routine of the club and what we do to him he’ll be fine.

“I didn’t [talk to Southgate]. The club put a request into the FA, the secretary did. Maybe I should have got hold of Gareth’s number. He’s not called me after, either, so next time I speak to him we’ll discuss it.”

Asked if he felt the FA needed to look more carefully at the way they treat young players, Solskjaer replied: “One hundred per cent. That’s why I tried not to let him go this summer. But it’s their right to call him up. Then again, OK, you call him up, but you don’t have to put him in front of the world cameras first day, or second.

“When Mason says what he says – he did well in that interview – but still it’s drip feeding in, and I felt like he needed a rest more than being exposed to that environment. But I’m sure when he gets into this daily routine, club routine, he’ll be back to his normal self.”

Southgate and FA officials were understood to have been taken

aback yesterday by Solskjaer’s tirade. Although United are believed to have raised objections about Greenwood being called up during conversations, sources at the FA said they were unaware of any formal request to withdraw Greenwood. It is also thought the FA informed United that Greenwood and goalkeeper Dean Henderson were being put up for interview and the club raised no complaints.

Solskjaer said he had held talks with Greenwood, who is in contention to feature against Crystal Palace in the club’s opening league match at Old Trafford tonight, and, while he acknowledged the player had made a “mistake”, he remains deeply unimpressed with the FA. “No, I’m not saying that it’s their fault – that’s not the point,” he said. “I’m saying sometimes [you have] to take a step back and look at what’s best for the players and I thought Mason needed a break.

“That’s my honest opinion, that young boys who have had such a big turnaround in their life … I felt he’s been really good looking after himself, has built himself up but that’s part of being at Man United.

“I’m not saying you didn’t make a mistake. Of course he’s made mistakes, but it’s us, the grown-ups as well. We need to make decisions that benefit him. I know Gareth is really keen on looking after players as well, so I’m not worried about that. I speak to Mason and I’ve spoken to Mason, of course. What we speak about and discuss will be between the two of us.”

Pep Guardiola, the City manager, admitted Foden had made an error of judgment, but he was counting on the midfielder this season. “He knows he made a mistake and that’s all,” Guardiola said.