The festive period is long over, but we still have fixture congestion and wherever and whenever you have that, managers grumbling about it is sure to follow. This time it’s Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hitting out at it, and in doing so, referencing the complaints made by his predecessor.
“We have got a game on Thursday, so thanks for the help in recovery we get in Europe,” Solskjaer said after winning at Chelsea last night and ahead of Thursday’s night visit to Club Brugge for a Europa League round of 32 clash. The Belgian league leaders played their domestic fixture on Saturday and thus have two more days than United have to prepare for the first leg of the knockout round tie.
“I saw Jose [Mourinho] say something about that as well. We don’t really get too much help to prepare for Europe,” Solskjaer continued.
“For me, how we didn’t play [Chelsea] on Friday, Saturday or at least Sunday is beyond me. I don’t like to complain, you know that, and we have just got to get on with it and do as well as we can.”
There isn’t much time to rest for Solskjaer and company after that either, as they have another league fixture against Watford on Sunday. Nevertheless, United are still considered by many to be the favorite in the UEL tournament.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link