This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Speaking after Manchester United’s 2-2 draw at home to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has insisted that the league table is “not the biggest concern” at this moment in time.
What did he say?
The Red Devils arrived on Sunday on the back of a defeat to FC Astana in the Europa League, with Solskjaer making several changes to his starting line-up. Despite going 2-1 up in the second-half, United conceded an equaliser just a couple of minutes later, with the draw leaving them in ninth place in the Premier League.
And even though his side remain eight points behind fourth-placed Chelsea who occupy that final Champions League qualifying spot, Solskjaer brushed off any concerns that they may be falling too far back.
He said (as quoted by Sky Sports): “We are a young team. I don’t want to use that as an excuse because we are Man United and we want to get a run together. As soon as we get a run of three or four games together here now, that’s what we need.
“The league table at this point is not the biggest concern because it’s so tight. What I can say is that so far we’ve had the lead in so many games and we haven’t been able to win those games – six or seven times, I’m sure – and we should be better at turning those games into wins. I think there’s loads of evidence that these boys are closer to winning games than losing games and tipping those margins in our favour.”
Blind to reality
Whilst United may have actually gained a point on Chelsea following the Blues’ surprise defeat to West Ham on Saturday, things are beginning to get more bleaker in their pursuit for the top four. Both Arsenal and Tottenham have sacked their under-performing managers this season, with the latter in particular seeing a real upturn in form since appointing Jose Mourinho. The Lilywhites have moved ahead of Solskjaer’s side and into fifth.
The north London clubs have hit the reset button in a bid to rescue their season and faltering Champions League qualifying hopes, whereas United appear content to ride out this long-term project with Solskjaer at the helm. The Norwegian’s declaration that the league table isn’t that important at the moment speaks to someone who is oblivious to the major pitfalls they may encounter in the short-term. If they can’t pull out a couple of wins in the immediate future, then the Red Devils may well be staring at Europa League football once more even at this stage of the campaign.
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