While pontificating on Sky Sports Monday Night football, former Liverpool defender and current pundit Jamie Carragher opined that Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer simply wasn’t good enough to ever win a big, major trophies at Old Trafford.
That’s not exactly a hot take, as many people in the global football community, from all walks of life and corners of the Earth, seem to also feel that Solskjaer is out of his depth in his current gig. The 48-year-old Norwegian responded to Carragher’s remarks today, at his pre-UCL group stage match presser.
Manchester United vs Atalanta (UCL) FYIs
Kick: Wed Oct 20, 8pm BST, Old Trafford
United Starting XI Prediction: go here
United Team News: go here
TV: BT Sport 3
UCL Standings, Form Guide: United 3rd, 3pts, WL Atalanta 1st, 4pts, WD
“It doesn’t affect me but you see some of the comments once in a while,” Solskjaer said in response to the talking head’s opining.
“I didn’t know what they are saying now. We’ve got Liverpool on Sunday so Jamie is always looking at all these little things.
“I’ve got my values, I’ve got my way of managing and I believe in myself and as long as the club believes in me I’m pretty sure that Jamie Carragher’s opinion is not going to change that.”
While Solskjaer does have a point, about Carragher intentionally firing this shot during a week leading up to a Liverpool-United match, one has to wonder how much rope OGS has left at the club. There are no indications from the board that they will sack him any time soon, but the manager admits he’s under pressure.
“We’ve progressed over the years since I was here — third then second — you can see the progress, development and improvement, he said.
“This season we still want to improve.”
“There is pressure all the time. There is pressure on me of course but we’ve been through this before and come through it stronger as a team and as individuals. I’m just looking forward to the response. I’m in dialogue with the club all the time so there is an open and honest discussion all the time.”
Prediction: United 2, Atalanta 1
OGS always seems to somehow get result, even if it’s ugly, whenever he’s cornered like this.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “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 and the Chicago Tribune.
He co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.