Manchester United: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hits back at Jamie Carragher over MNF comments
Solskjaer under increased pressure after four defeats in seven games
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Your support makes all the difference.Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted that he is not affected by the increasing pressure is under at Manchester United and brushed off Jamie Carragher’s suggestion that he will not win the biggest prizes while in the job.
The 4-2 defeat to Leicester City on Saturday was United’s fourth in their last seven games and has led to the United manager coming under intense scrutiny, with a challenging set of fixtures to follow over the coming weeks.
Carragher claimed that United will never win either the Premier League title or Champions League as long as Solskjaer is still manager while appearing on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football alongside Gary Neville.
Solskjaer said that he tends to avoid watching Carragher and Neville on Monday Night Football but linked the former Liverpool defender’s remarks to United’s upcoming meeting with their historic rivals on Sunday.
“No, it doesn't affect me, but of course you've seen some of the comments once in a while. I didn't know what he was saying now but of course we got Liverpool on Sunday as well, so Jamie's always looking at all these little things.
“I've got my values, I've got my way of managing, and I believe in myself. As long as the club believes in me, I'm pretty sure that Jamie Carragher’s opinion is not going to change that.”
While analysing Saturday’s defeat at the King Power Stadium, Carragher praised Solskjaer for his work at Old Trafford since replacing Jose Mourinho three years ago.
The former Liverpool defender insisted, however, that Solskjaer is not of the same calibre as Champions League-winning counterparts Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel and does not believe he is capable of reaching that level.
“Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will not win a league title or Champions League trophy as Manchester United manager. He is not at the level of the other managers — in terms of Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel or Pep Guardiola.
“They’ve got years of experience behind them in terms of winning big trophies. Ole hasn’t got that.”
Carragher added: “Manchester United will only win maybe the FA Cup or the Europa League. If he won one of them, for me, that would make no difference.
“I wouldn’t be thinking at all about changing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer right now but Manchester United, at the end of the season, whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has won a trophy or not, need to have a better manager.
“That’s not a criticism of Ole but they need a manager who can compete with the other managers in this league.
“And Solskjaer, unfortunately and he’ll know that himself, and every Man United fan will know that themselves — is not at the level of the other [top] managers in the Premier League.”
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