To quote the title song from Beauty and the Beast, “tale as old as time.” That’s the perfect way to describe Premier League managers hitting out at the schedule makers. It’s an easy scapegoat, so pretty much everyone does it, and United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is no exception.
Amid reports that he could be sacked, and then replaced by the available Mauricio Pochettino, the Solskjaer seat scorches right now, but getting a 3-1 win at Everton yesterday means he’ll keep his gig for at least a little while longer.
They currently sit in 14th place, having taken only 10 points from their first seven Premier League matches. Although they have a game in hand on most other clubs in the league, they still have just a -2 in goal differential.
Solskjaer took specific issue with having to play in the earliest game of the weekend, after having to travel to Istanbul for Champions League play in midweek.
“We were set up to fail,” the Norwegian said.
“The kick-off time set us up to fail. We have been to Turkey, played loads of games this season already, we got back Thursday morning and we are playing Saturday lunchtime, it’s an absolute shambles.”
“These boys deserve better. Luke Shaw has got injured because of it. It’s a hamstring which might be a long one and Marcus Rashford might be struggling.”
While he certainly has a point or two, at the same time, every club competing in Europe has a quick turnaround, and essentially, fixture congestion to deal with.
“The authorities set us up to fail, who is responsible? We’ve had enough of that. Players this season, in these times, a pandemic, mentally and physically it’s draining,” OGS continued.
“Let us play on a Sunday, there’s an international break after this, it’s a joke.”
It’s clear he knows that time is running out for him to right the ship, otherwise he probably would not have made public his explanation of the very poor run of form.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, 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,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.