Sky Sports News reporter James Cooper reflects on his exclusive chat with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. See Man Utd vs. West Ham live in the Sky Sports Premier League on Wednesday. Kickoff 6 p.m.
By James Cooper, Sky Sports News Reporter
Last update: 07/22/20 00:17
You’d think it would be easy to motivate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his players. Win the last two games to guarantee Champions League football next season.
But in talking to the Manchester United boss, he obviously hasn’t forgotten those who predicted he had no chance of getting the club back in the top 4.
“We know we have two games. We have a great chance of achieving something that no one thought we could do.”
“As a team, we have come so far that we are very close to the end of the season. So there is no point in leaving energy in the changing room. Now it will stay on the pitch.”
United’s form before the FA Cup semi-final loss to Chelsea on Sunday would have suggested that they would comfortably secure enough points to return to the European elite competition, but this 1-3 defeat, the first in exactly six months, has the alarm bells rang again.
Solskjaer: ‘Ours Fate is in our own hands.
United was beaten 3-1 by Chelsea in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final
Solskjaer has spent enough time in Old Trafford as a player and manager to predict the upcoming test. The shape of goalkeeper David de Gea is almost the subject of national debate.
I asked him if the Spaniard apologized to his teammates for an achievement that would give them an impossible mountain to climb, but like his mentor Sir Alex Ferguson, he wanted to keep everything in Wembley’s dressing room private.
“I think what we went through after the game remains between our walls,” Solskjaer replies.
“What it is now is we are getting together, the team is coming together. A bundle of sticks is unbreakable if you leave one on your own who can break so we can stick together. This is Manchester United, we have always been a team , we were always united and everyone knows me well enough to know that.
“We are now just focusing on the next two games and we are not discussing team selection or anything like that. We stick together, we have made it fantastic to get this far and to go into the last two games with our fate in our own hands and our fate is in our hands. ” our own hands or legs if you like. “
Solskjaer will ultimately have to decide whether removing De Gea from the line of fire will improve or hinder the team’s chances of successfully reaching the finish line.
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21 fouls and no bookings? United boss thought about Chelsea defeat
One thing he’s less ambiguous about in the fallout of the semifinals is the lack of action referee Mike Dean and the team at Stockley Park have taken against Chelsea. His young son Noah provided him with the crucial statistics.
“What did my Noah say the other day? There were 21 fouls and no bookings in the other direction.
“I don’t want to go into that again, but while you’re at it, Anthony (Martial) is on the ball and he kicks his foot, that’s a red card and a send. But the edges in football are so small.
“But it seemed like it had some influence on the officials. I don’t want to start criticizing because it sounds like sour grapes, but not.”
The only silver lining in this FA Cup exit is the 10-day break Manchester United will take between their last game in the Premier League and the resumption of a tie in the Europa League, giving LASK of Austria a five-goal lead to lead.
Solskjaer doesn’t want to hear anything about it at the moment and reacts to my point of view with a pause and a smile and simply says: “I would make a final in Wembley every day of the week.”
Solskjaer shrugs and misses Bellingham
Manchester United missed Jude Bellingham’s signing
In recent days, Solskjaer has missed teenage boy Jude Bellingham, a blow after Angel Gomes’ departure from Old Trafford, two young players he wanted to have in his first squad next season.
“Now is not the time to talk about transfers, but I think everyone can see what we do with young players. We bring our own players through, we give them a chance and we try to recruit players who do . ” Add to our current squad either as an X-Factor directly in the team or as an X-Factor child so that the recruitment process is ongoing.
“We will always look at our academy and give the children a chance because the academy is fantastic. We train players but also people. If we lose one, we will produce a better one.”
On Wednesday evening, Solskjaer meets David Moyes, the man who previously got his hands on the job at Manchester United.
The Norwegian was mentioned as a potential successor to Sir Alex back in 2013 when he was still in Molde, but only he was serious.
“I don’t think anyone else thought of me for this job in 2013.”
When I ask him if he always thought of himself for the role, he smiles and says “yes”.
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