Solskjaer calls on spirit of ’99 to defy tough draw

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists his Manchester United players will have to do it the hard way, like the 1999 treble winners, if they want to land the FA Cup this season.

United face Liverpool for the second time in a week in their FA Cup fourth-round tie tomorrow in what is the latest tough draw Solskjaer has been handed since becoming manager in December 2018.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s treble winners also had to overcome Liverpool, in addition to Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Middlesbrough and Newcastle, en route to lifting the Cup 22 years ago. United were indebted to a late winner from Solskjaer to see off Liverpool, before he secured an unprecedented treble with a stoppage-time Champions League final goal against Bayern Munich.

But, like the 1999 team, Solskjaer has had little luck in draws across a host of cup competitions – and he is not expecting that will change if United overcome Liverpool.

“We’ll rotate, that’s for sure,” he said. “We’ll put a decent team together, of course, we know it’s a difficult tie. You want to get your hands on that first trophy, but it’s always the league position that’s the measure of how far you have come.

“We always seem to pick out the difficult opponents. We know this is a big one if you want to go all the way.”

Arsenal, Chelsea (twice) and Wolves twice are among United’s previous FA Cup opponents since Solskjaer took charge, while his side failed to get out of a tough Champions League group this season, which included Paris St-germain

United have a hard Europa League round-of-32 draw, against Real Sociedad, while Chelsea, Everton and Manchester City (twice) are among the teams they have recently faced in the Carabao Cup.

But Solskjaer is hoping his players can emulate the 1999 side by navigating a tough FA Cup run.

“We can transpose a few things from that season,” he said. “We know there’s tight moments, very fine margins. The FA Cup is a run we’ve got to enjoy as long as it lasts.”