Ole Gunnar Solskjaer used Jose Mourinho’s name after the FA Cup defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Manchester United tasted their third defeat under the management of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup Quarterfinals. Goals from Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota were enough to seal a place in the final four for Nuno Santo’s side despite Marcus Rashford’s late strike at Molineux on Saturday.
Their first loss did not affect them much as they were able to make a remarkable comeback against Paris Saint Germain in the second leg away from home, but the back-to-back defeats have made the Norwegian to bring a solution imminently. The Red Devils have won 14, drawn 2, and lost three from the 19 games he has managed this campaign.
During the game against PSG at Old Trafford, Solskjaer was tactically outclassed which gave room for the French outfit to produce an easy victory despite bowing out of the competition after a disaster display in the second leg. When the English outfit were on the cusp of reaching the top four, they lost to Arsenal in the Premier League.
Granit Xhaka and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang beat David De Gea, but the visitors hit the post thrice through Romelu Lukaku and Fred in the first half at the Emirates Stadium. It was not a bad display as the Red Devils had some moments to hurt them on the counters.
But, the defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup was reminiscent of their tame performances under their old manager Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese International, who took over the club in 2016 did not enjoy his time at the club despite lifting the Europa League and League cup.
During his last season with the club, the Red Devils were miserable at times which forced the club to make a change. The performance against Wolves in the FA Cup was the poorest since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has taken over the club.
Solskjaer was livid with his team’s display in the dressing room afterwards, unleashing the ‘hairdryer treatment’ made famous by Sir Alex Ferguson, according to Metro.
The Norwegian felt his team had a real shot at winning silverware this season and laid into his squad for their slow, laboured style of play. Solskjaer brought up their former manager in his tirade, accusing the team of going back to the Mourinho days with their lifeless performance.
It was the angriest any of the players have ever seen Solskjaer, and he ended by telling them to use the international break to analyse their own individual performances.
The Norwegian International was frustrated with the performance of the Red Devils and congratulated Wolverhampton for their victory.
“It was very disappointing. All in all, they deserved to win because they had the better of the chances. Yes, we dominated possession but we never really felt in control and I never really felt that we put them under pressure.”
“It seemed like they were happy with how the game went in the first half and then, of course, it’s disappointing giving easy goals away. What was missing? Quite a lot actually. Today was the poorest performance we’ve had.”
“Last week [at Arsenal], we were happy with the performance but, today, we didn’t have the urgency or the quality on the ball. I felt, without the ball, we did okay in the first half but the tempo on the ball wasn’t high enough. So we played into their hands really.” said Solskjaer in the post-match press conference.
Manchester United took six shots lesser than Nuno Santo’s side and had only two on target throughout the target which infuriated the manager on the touchline.
“That’s football for you. It’s just a slight off on the quality and the tempo of the passing. I thought that was maybe the biggest letdown and the urgency, because we are better when we play quickly, we play forward, we run forward.”
“A couple of times when Paul [Pogba] broke free in the first half and drove at them, [there were] two yellow cards [for Wolves]. A couple of times we played Rashy [Marcus Rashford] through the middle, in behind the centre-backs. Then if we had the possession, [it was] too comfortable – I think we played it too comfortable.”
Manchester United will have to overcome Barcelona in the Champions League Quarterfinals to reach the final four of the competition.
