'Nothing went to plan last week' - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants Manchester United reaction against Spurs after humiliation

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted that 'nothing went to plan' during the club's 5-0 defeat to Liverpool, but called upon Manchester United to bounce back against Spurs on Saturday.

The Old Trafford outfit were humiliated at home by Liverpool on Sunday, with calls for Solskjaer to be sacked and rumours linking the club with Antonio Conte and Brendan Rodgers.

But Solskjaer will remain in charge for the match against Tottenham this weekend, and insisted his side had reflected and were ready to bounce back following their shambolic display.

“We need a reaction," he said. "It's my job as well to put the players in the right frame of mind. I'm responsible for the reaction, for the result, for the performance. We've worked on the pitch on everything that needs to be sorted for a footballer and that's not just one thing, that’s not just frame of mind, that’s approach going into the game, strategy going into the game, game-plan, tactics, technically. We’ve had a good week and I feel that the boys are ready to give their best, as they always do. Of course, nothing went to plan [last week] and that was nowhere near our best.

United have not won a title since 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson's last season in charge, and many believe the club have since lost their identity having struggled to find stretches of form over the past eight years.

And when the legendary Scot was spotted at Carrington this week, rumours circulated that he had been brought in to rally the players as they look to save their season and Solskjaer's job.

The Norwegian insisted that Sir Alex was merely attending to commercial duties, but admitted to having a chat with the former boss during this most difficult period.

"We had a commercial day and Sir Alex came to do some commercial stuff and I met him and spoke to him yeah," Solskjaer added. "Just for a brief moment. He was in there with Cristiano [Ronaldo]. You know, I've been some through some very bad moments here as a player and when I’ve been a coach and a manager as well, I’ve had to deal with setbacks, there's probably been two or three crises at least since I became the manager here but one thing I'll say is I'll always give it a good shot and fight back.”

“As I said, the environment in and around the place here, we have loads of respect for each other. Sometimes, when you come in for criticism like we do, you get into the trenches with your team-mates and that’s the reaction I’ve seen this week. This club, with whatever we’ve been through before, it’s always about getting through with courage, togetherness, teamwork, self-belief and sticking together. This group has done.”

Amid all the fallout from the loss to Liverpool, Solskjaer did have some good news with a fully fit and squad as summer-signing Raphael Varane returned from injury and is available for match on Saturday.

He said: "Of course Paul (Pogba) is suspended but apart from that it’s a fully fit squad. Which is a very strange position to be in, to have 25 outfield players and five keepers training. Thirty men training this week, all fit."