Ole on the defensive after Roma own goal
UNITED BOSS UPSETS ULTRAS AHEAD OF SEMI
AS if he didn’t have enough problems with angry fans at his own training ground, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer yesterday had to defendhimself against ultras at Roma’s headquarters as well.
Hundreds of supporters gathered at the Fulvio Bernardini training base in Trigoria to wish their team well for tonight’s Europa League semi-final first leg against Manchester United, having plastered the walls with anti-Solskjaer posters earlier in the week.
Their anger was sparked by a comment the United manager made about Roma after beating Granada in the last round. He said: ‘I don’t know them and I haven’t seen them play.’
Roma fans printed the quote next to a picture of a smiling Solskjaer on the posters with the message: ‘ Make sure he remembers us!’
For Solskjaer, who last week had to placate 20 anti-Glazer protesters when they broke into Carrington and confronted him, it was another unwanted distraction.
The Norwegian arrived at his prematch press conference prepared, explaining that signed shirts from Roma legends Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi are among his most treasured items.
Solskjaer also pointed out that he saw plenty of Roma last season when former United defender Chris Smalling was on loan there, and has done his due diligence on them since the Granada game.
‘I’ve got two prized possessions back home, a Totti shirt and a De Rossi shirt that I’ve swapped with them and they’re actually signed, so I know about the history, I know about the quality,’ said Solskjaer who presumably acquired the jerseys when United thrashed Roma 8-3 on aggregate in a 2007 Champions League quarter-final.
‘That comment was straight after the game and I was just relieved we’d gone through. Of course I’d watched them but I hadn’t seen them in depth to give them enough respect, probably. It’s a fantastic club with a great history.
‘ With Chris being there last season we followed them, then they signed Chris and we’ve not watched them as much. But we have analysed them down to the ground since we drew them. We are ready for them. It was not meant as any disrespect, I think everyone knows that.’
Given the absence of fans at tonight’s first leg at Old Trafford and next week’s return at the Stadio Olimpico, the issue is unlikely to have an impact on a tie United are desperate to win.
It may only be the Europa League, a competition the club were quite happy to leave behind when they plotted to join the failed
European Super League, but after losing four semi-finals under Solskjaer — including last season in the Europa League to Sevilla — United know how important it is to go further and win this trophy in Gdansk next month.
‘It will be a dream come true the day I can lift a trophy for this club as manager,’ said Solskjaer. ‘We’ve done remarkably well to get to five semis in a little bit more than a season, but now we’d like to go all the way. That would mean so much at the end of the season if we have a final to look forward to.
‘We’ve looked at all the semis and the reasons why. Now with the motivation of having those disappointments, I feel very confident we will get a good performance. We’re in a better position.’
Meanwhile, two drunken United fans turned up at the Cheshire home of United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and shouted obscenities over the gate last Thursday. The club played down the minor incident and police were not called. No one was home at the time.
Woodward, whose house was targeted by angry fans in January 2020, announced last week that he is standing down in the wake of the Super League fiasco.