'I want to do what I can to improve this' - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer vows to fight on despite Manchester derby defeat
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Updated 06/11/2021 at 20:48 GMT
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted he does feel in danger of being sacked as Manchester United boss despite watching his side lose meekly to Manchester City. Solskjaer admitted United are a long way off challenging City and Liverpool in the Premier League following a 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford that could have been a lot more.
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Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted he feels safe in his job despite watching his side slip to an insipid 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City.
City were comfortable winners of the Manchester derby at Old Trafford, going ahead early in the first half when Eric Bailly turned a Joao Cancelo cross into his own net and doubling their lead on the stroke of half-time when Bernardo Silva smuggled the ball home.
In truth, the visitors could have won by a much wider margin had David De Gea – at fault for Silva’s second – not pulled off a number of world-class saves.
Pressure began to mount on Solskjaer following the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool at Old Trafford a fortnight ago and is sure to resurface. United could finish the weekend as low as 10th in the Premier League.
Solskjaer admitted after the match that his team were not in the same class as City or Liverpool but ahead of the international break, he vowed to do all that he can to turn the team’s form around.
Asked if he felt he was borrowed time as United boss, Solskjaer told Sky Sports: "No, I don't. There is good communication all the time with the club, we are up front and honest with the situation.
"I work for Man United and want the best for Man United. I want to do what I can to improve this and that is to go back to what we were playing like."
The United boss added in response to a question about the gulf in class between the sides: "At the moment we are [a long way off] but we have to get back to how we started to look like.
"We started to look like a proper team towards the end of last season and the start of this season. We have to get back to that."
United started at Old Trafford with the same formation, 3-5-2, that had helped them win at Tottenham last Saturday.
However, they conceded inside seven minutes when Bailly diverted wildly past De Gea and despite the goalkeeper's best efforts it was 2-0 at half-time after Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw both dithered and Silva swept home.
"You want to get to them and you want to make it into a derby game and make some tackles', Solskjaer said.
"When they got the first goal, it was always going to be difficult anyway but being 1-0 down was hard. David kept us in the game with some good stops, then they scored a goal they always score.
"Cancelo cuts inside, crosses to the back stick - we know it's going to happen and it shouldn't happen.
"They played well, they don't give you opportunities to win the ball off them. We were not at our level or standards.
"We didn't trust ourselves with the all, we didn't pass as well as I know they can do and we didn't find the angles. Sometimes that's also the team you are playing against.
"They press well and made it hard for us but we sometimes made the wrong solution or found the right solution but with no execution."
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