Solskjaer rejected offers for more backroom support

According to sources, he snubbed the opportunity for outside help, believing his coaching set-up was already 'world-class'

Ole Gunnar Solskjær is thought to have rejected the opportunity to bring in more backroom support at Manchester United, insisting that his coaches and players were already "world-class". As reported by ESPN's Mark Ogden, despite concerns that the tactical approach at the club was not up to scratch, Ole was apparently more than happy with his first-team staff of Michael Carrick, Mike Phelan and Kieran McKenna. Sources claim that the club hierarchy had become very aware of these concerns and "offered Solskjaer every level of support and told him he could have whatever he needed to put it right." Moreover, several players had reportedly expressed the feeling that there was a lack of "imagination and new ideas", even labelling Norweigan's training and overall football philosophy as "too British" - presumably intimating that it was outdated and didn't meet the requirements of the modern game at the elite level. Paying further credence to the claim, long-time servant David de Gea admitted that the team "don't know what to do with the ball' following Saturday's embarrassing defeat to Watford, who despite being 16th in the table played the £1.04bn squad off the park. On the other hand, the United number one also suggested that the players were just as much to blame, as both he and Bruno Fernandes made a clear statement that the team haven't been good enough. While the first-team coaching set-up is expected to stay on for the time being, the search for the next manager begins, though the list of names is looking fairly scarce. Carrick is set to take charge of the team on an interim basis until the end of the season but regardless of the results he gets in the next few games, it's hard to imagine the club would make the same rash decision as last time and abandon a long-term strategy — that's presuming they have one, of course. https://twitter.com/FootballJOE/status/1462377542107774979?s=20

Related links

• Gary Neville pays tribute to Ole Gunnar Solskjær
• Life in Qatar as a migrant worker: What it costs to build a World Cup
• Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta clash on touchline after Sadio Mane challenge