Pranav Nair
Solskjaer reveals the watershed moment in Manchester United Champions League exit
Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer set an unwanted record in the club’s 3-2 loss away to RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League.
It was the Norwegian’s sixth loss in his first 10 Champions League games in charge. A new low for a manager in charge of an English outfit.
While the scoreline would indicate a hard-fought match, it was far from the truth. RB Leipzig were comfortably the better team as United found themselves on the back foot almost immediately.
The Bundesliga side looked to have consumed Red Bull before the kickoff as they started off as if on wings. United, meanwhile, found themselves behind even before they realised what was happening.
According to The Guardian, Solskjaer did not attempt to hide the fact that his team did not wake up until they were two goals down. United were not good enough and the Norwegian admitted to just that.
“We never got going – we didn’t turn up until they got the second goal. You can’t say that we were good enough. We weren’t good enough.”
More Excuses?
Solskjaer believes United were placed in a tough group to begin with and that the roots to our exit can be traced all the way back to Turkey when we lost to Istanbul Basaksehir on gameweek three.
“We were in a difficult group and obviously the big turning point was the loss away in Istanbul. That’s where we lost points we should have got.”
Personally, we have had enough of Solskjaer’s excuses. While the points against Istanbul can be considered as an opportunity lost, United needed just one point from their final two games.
We lost both with Solskjaer making a number of questionable tactical decisions. Solskjaer had plenty of time after the trip to Istanbul to change things around, however, his failure to do so has seen us throw away a promising opportunity to make it to the last 16.
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Solskjaer and United have no one to blame but themselves for their Champions League exit. While expecting them to win the competition would have been a stretch, the very least fans could have hoped for was a spirited performance.
The fact that the players did not appear fired up for such a key game is puzzling and something that the manager will have been expected to address.
With Manchester City up next, Solskjaer has no time to dwell on the rasons for yesterday’s loss. The only way is forward and whether Ole is the man to take us there remains to be seen.
