Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has accepted the blame for Manchester United’s disappointing 4-2 defeat to Leicester City on Saturday afternoon, admitting that he got his team selection wrong, while confessing that ‘something has got to give.’
The Red Devils recovered from a setback to pull level with eight minutes to play, but Jamie Vardy and Patson Daka struck soon after to sink the visitors to a disappointing loss, piling the pressure on their Norwegian coach.
Defeat at Leicester.#MUFC | #LEIMUN
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 16, 2021
And speaking to the BBC after the match, Solskjaer admitted that Man Utd ‘deserved’ to lose against the Foxes, who ended the Premier League giants’ record-breaking 29 match unbeaten run away from home.
The coach also took the blame for the visitors’ shambolic defensive display, suggesting that he shouldn’t have rushed captain Harry Maguire back into the starting lineup, as he recovered from his own injury issues.
“When you look at the game after, the four goals we conceded were poor,” Solskjaer said. “The way we played we don’t deserve to continue that (away unbeaten) run.
“I pick the team, Harry Maguire showed no reaction and I hold my hand up if that does not work out. If we concede four, I probably made a bad decision.
“Lately we have not been in great form, lost too many points and that is something we have to look at. We might have to change, do we need more legs in there? What do we need?
“Over the international break we have had a good look to see what has gone wrong lately but we need to look at the whole set up and balance of the team and maybe something has to give.
“We were not good enough with and without the ball. You have to run, block and tackle and we didn’t do that enough.”
Solskjaer also pointed to the absence of South American stars Fred and Edinson Cavani as a factor for their loss, but insisted that he wasn’t ‘making excuses’ after such a terrible performance.
“I have got many good players. Fred, Edinson Cavani, you miss them. I am not making excuses for the team I put out there, they are top footballers and we have not produced.”
Man Utd sit fifth in the Premier League table after that abysmal display and defeat, and there will be serious concerns over whether Solskjaer is the right man for the job. The Red Devils were extremely disjointed and lacked any real cohesion, leading to the second half collapse.
Marcus Rashford’s return from injury and onto the scoresheet will act as a crumb of consolation for supporters, who will also be fearing the worst ahead of Man Utd’s next Premier League tie – a home clash with Liverpool.