Football news - Robin Van Persie questions Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's reaction to Newcastle defeat

Published 07/10/2019 at 15:18 GMT

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did not look as though he had the answers to Manchester United's problems after they lost to Newcastle.

Robin van Persie of Manchester United (PA Sport)

Image credit: PA Sport

That's the opinion of former Manchester United striker Robin van Persie, who took exception to Solskjaer's choice of words in his post-match interview yesterday.

United were once again abject in defeat, going down 1-0 courtesy of a 20-yard strike from Premier League debutant Matty Longstaff.

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Solskjaer afterwards admitted his young squad were struggled and vowed to "sort their heads out", which left Van Persie wondering if he knew how to rectify United's slump.

"You can see he’s struggling there, if I’m really honest, during that interview," Van Persie told Optus Sport.

"And I get it if you’re manager of Manchester United during this period of time.

"So he’s searching for words, maybe he chose a few wrong ones there.

"Because as a player, what does that mean? ‘Sorting the players’ heads out’, what does that mean?

"If you’re a player you’re a little bit like, ‘my head is fine’.

"Even though you can see the players are low in confidence, he needs to find a way to reconnect again and to get their confidence high.

"As a manager, when your team is low in confidence, get them up. When your team is too high in confidence, when they are becoming a little bit too much, you have to get them back to the middle again.

"At the moment, based on this interview, and based on what I’ve seen in the game, I’m not sure if he really knows how to find the buttons there."

Solskjaer also referred to "a journey" which would take time in an apparent plea to avoid the sack after seeing United fall to 12th in the Premier League table two months into the season.

"We've given ourselves a big, big uphill challenge to get among the top four but it's tight and we need to get a run together," Solskjaer said.

"We've come together and discussed the direction we're going.

"If you only work on sunny days you'll never get to your destination.

"We'll have these days but we know where we want to get to.

“It’s my responsibility. I need to sort their heads out. Young boys lacking confidence, they need some help from experienced players and staff."

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