Ole Gunnar Solskjaer met the press ahead of Sunday’s derby against Liverpool. There he said that many important players are skeptical about the big game.
Manchester United are currently locked in a tough match programme, and arch-rival Liverpool on Sunday await Solskjaer’s men.
Solskjaer may have to dispense with key player Bruno Fernandes.
Matches like Wednesday night are always going to bring some blasts and bruises and we have two or three blasts from that match. I give time to everyone, and hopefully I can choose from an injury-free crew, but I may have to lay off two or three. Solskjaer says at Friday’s press conference that Bruno is among those who might be skeptical, but we hope he is ready.
The Portuguese was said to have suffered a heavy blow towards the end of the Champions League match against Atalanta on Wednesday. The problems are said to have worsened on Thursday.
Midfielder Fred is also unsure of the Liverpool game.
“At the moment I can’t say for sure if he will be ready or not, but he will do everything he can to prepare for the match and help us,” Solskjaer says.
– Can’t talk about titles
Sunday’s match against Liverpool is a very important match for Manchester United. Liverpool is second in the table, four points behind United. If Manchester United lose, Liverpool will be seven points ahead of Solskjaer’s team.
Solskjaer still thinks it’s too early in the season to start pressing too much.
Seven points behind would be a big difference, one point in between is close, but we’re so early in the season, all matches mean the same thing. We saw last season that all the teams had bad periods. So early on, we can’t talk about the titles or anything else, Solskjaer says.
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Liverpool is one of the teams we are trying to catch up with. Although we were ahead of them last season, it was probably due to bad luck with injuries. We still know we have to improve to get to their level in the past four years, he says.
– You can’t let it affect you
In Wednesday’s Champions League match against Atlanta, United won after a strong turnaround as Cristiano Ronaldo won the match at the end of the match.
But Solskjaer and Manchester United have received a lot of criticism lately after several disappointing matches. In the league, they haven’t won since the middle of last month and they desperately need to win. There have been two losses and one draw in the last three matches.
However, Solskjær tries not to let criticism get to him.
We all have our own ways of dealing with criticism, but we’re in a high position, and you’ll always get good feedback, and bad feedback. You can’t allow yourself to be affected too much, it may affect others around you more than yourself, which is up to you, he says.
Sunday’s big match between Manchester United and Liverpool starts at 17:30. You can follow the match live on Nettavisen.
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