Man United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made several criticisms in an interview with the British fanzine ‘United We Stand’. Thus, he disapproved of some attitudes that former players had during the last season.
According to him, these ‘bad apples’ influenced the whole squad and it would be one of the reasons why the English club did not do so well between 2018 and 2019, staying in 6th place in the Premier League.
Ole had a brilliant career as a Man United player and became a club legend. Then, he was given the permanent Man United job after a very positive sequence of games commanding the Red Devils, right after Jose Mourinho’s departure.
However, the Norwegian coach got a team at a delicate moment. He had the challenge of advancing in the Champions League and skyrocket Man United in the Premier League.
He did a decent job at first but ended up with the 6th place in the Premier League and eliminated by Catalans Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.
Since then, some players have left Old Trafford, including Romelu Lukaku, Chris Smalling, and Alexis Sanchez. And these are probably the ones Ole refers to in his controversial interview.
“I prefer to see a hole in the squad than an a–hole. I want players with a little ego, but they have to adapt. In March last year we were physically and mentally exhausted, with some injuries. And some players started to have negative thoughts, which is not happening now. There were players with personal agendas and it was only in the summer that we were able to get rid of that.”
As of this new season, United has maintained a balance in the games. Before the stoppage due to COVID-19, the team accumulated 11 games without losing. In addition to it, the Red Devils kept the 5th place in the Premier League with a three-point gap to 4th-placed Chelsea.
The coach continued to talk about the importance of changing players at the club to improve results.
“Now I feel like we don’t have any bad apples. When you win, everything is easy, but when the hardest times come, we can see who, in fact, has the right mentality.”
Some strong words from the Norwegian manager, but let’s be honest…It was clear that Lukaku, Smalling, and mainly Alexis Sanchez didn’t give a damn about Man United. Lukaku is class, and he’s showing his worth at Internazionale, but Smalling and Sanchez… These are true bad apples to any squad.