Former Manchester United midfielder David Beckham shares thoughts about his former teammate’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who is currently coaching the first-team squad.
David Beckham has hailed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for the job he has done as manager of his former club. The Englishman claims to have seen the criticism around Solskjaer but says that his former teammate can tolerate it.
I’ve seen some of the criticism but I suppose when you are a manager of Man United when they’ve had success over the years that they’ve had, there was always going to be a point where people get criticised, whether it’s the players, whether it’s the owners, whether it’s the manager,
Beckham told ESPN.
Ole’s been in the game long enough to be able to take any kind of criticism. He’s very quiet, he gets on with his job, and I think he’s done an incredible job down at United.
The results are starting to show that. Hopefully, it continues because the fans love Ole, we all love Ole and we all want him to do well. So when the criticism comes, he’s one person that can take it.
Solskjaer came under criticism recently when his side failed in their quest to lift their first FA Cup title since 2016. Manchester United were knocked out of the quarterfinals by Leicester City, courtesy of a brace scored by Kelechi Iheanacho. The Norwegian blamed his side’s cup exit on fatigue, claiming that the games caught up with the team.
You are always disappointed, especially when it’s the end of the line of a cup run. We couldn’t find the normal spark, brightness and energy,
Solskjaer said after the match.
Maybe all the games caught up with us. Thursday was a big night and today we didn’t have the zip.
The Manchester United boss also defended the decision to rest talisman Bruno Fernandes and go with a midfielder of Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Fred, and Donny Van De Beek.
On Thursday Bruno broke all his records physically and the boy is not inhuman,
he said.
He has played a game every three or four days. It was a chance to start both Donny (Van de Beek) and Paul (Pogba) but the accumulation of games maybe caught up with us.
United’s exit meant that the Red Devils have failed to enter the final of every single cup competition they have been a part of since Solskjaer took over. They will look to break that unfortunate streak in this season’s UEFA Europa League, where they are set to face Granada in the quarters.
Despite their cup failures, Manchester United are on course to achieve a second successive top-four finish in the Premier League. They have not been able to do so since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, despite employing three different managers since. United are currently second in the table with 57 points, one more than Leicester City in third. An eight-point gap between them and West Ham United in fifth provides them with room to breath in the race for the UEFA Champions League, with just nine more games left to play this season.
Solskjaer’s men are due to play Brighton on their return from the international break, before heading Granada for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final tie. The Red Devils are yet to face Tottenham, Liverpool, and Leicester City in the league. Meanwhile, progression deeper into the European competition will see them go up against Ajax or Roma.
