OLE UNSURE IF UNITED PLAYERS EVEN CARE
It has to mean more, says deflated Old Trafford boss
OLE GUNNAR SOLSkJAER spent a full six seconds deliberating how best to answer whether these Manchester United players care enough.
‘I don’t know,’ he replied with a resigned puff of the cheeks and shake of the head. ‘I don’t know.
‘You’ve got to ask them, I’ve asked them. You’re not going to get the answer from me but if you want to play for this club, it has to mean more.’
Solskjaer shrank in his chair after one of United’s worst days of their continued malaise since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. Even one of the Premier League’s brightest, openly optimistic managers refused to offer positivity.
The Norwegian, who has now lost six of his last eight matches, said sorry to the club’s travelling fans at full time, and followed that up with a formal apology.
‘We have got to apologise to the fans because they were absolutely fantastic,’ he said. ‘That performance is not good enough for a Manchester United team, from me down to the players. We let the fans down, we let the club down. That performance is difficult to describe because it was so bad.’
The 48 league goals United have now conceded this campaign is the most for 40 years and, more gallingly for Solskjaer, his players are being out-run and out-fought. Everton ran five miles further than their visitors at Goodison Park yesterday and United have covered less ground than 15 of their 17 league opponents under Solskjaer. ‘They beat us with the basics,’ he said. ‘ Long throw- ins, sticking your head in. Their corner, they are first to the ball. There is no place you can hide on the pitch. It was 85 minutes before we had a shot on target. It’s not good enough.
‘The basic ingredient in a team performance is desire. We know our fitness is nowhere near good enough. I can’t wait to get a pre-season done.
‘It is not a surprise to hear that Everton have run more than us. Fitness is nothing to do with talent.
‘But it is not just about running, it is about decisions, put your head in where it hurts. It hurts to win football matches. We were far off Everton. They deserve all the credit.’
United are still without a director of football and the futures of many at the club are up in the air. They are not preparing for mass signings this summer, although that seems to be the only real way of forcing definitive change.
‘I want my team to be the hardestworking team in the league,’ Solskjaer added. ‘ That’s what we were under Sir Alex.
‘Whatever talent you had, you ran more than everyone. Put that shift in for your team-mates.
‘I’m going to be successful here and there are players there who will not be part of that successful team. Many of them do have it. We have to stick together as a team. We can’t change the whole squad — it’s got to be one step at a time.’
Midfielder Nemanja Matic took responsibility for the loss.
‘Nothing worked for us,’ he said. ‘I, the most experienced player in the team today, did not play well. We can’t blame the young lads. I was the biggest problem.’
Solskjaer called for a short-term response and United face a rampant Manchester City at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
Ashley Young believes they have enough to quickly bounce back.
‘We just weren’t right,’ he said. ‘That told all over the pitch. From the first whistle we just weren’t good enough. It’s a rarity. It hasn’t been like that for the whole season.
‘We’ve got to dust ourselves down, we’ve got a big one coming up. I know we’ve got great talent in there, we’ve got great performances we can put out. Wednesday is a big one for us now.’