Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has taken full responsibility for Manchester United’s poor start to the season as he tries to instil a siege mentality in his players.
Solskjaer’s side have picked up just three points in their opening three league games and head into Saturday’s match against Newcastle off the back of a 6-1 hammering by Tottenham before the international break.
There has been plenty of criticism around the performances, individual players and also Solskjaer, with reports suggesting Mauricio Pochettino is already being sounded out as a replacement should things continue to go wrong at Old Trafford.
“The spotlight should be on me because I’m the manager and I’m responsible,” Solskjaer said. “I hold my hand up.”
Despite Man Utd’s poor start to the season, with their only league win coming at Brighton thanks to a late Bruno Fernandes penalty, Solskjaer insists his team and staff have the mentality to fight through the criticism.
“If you are part of Man Utd as player or staff you’re used to this and you have to be mentally strong and for me this period is another chance to prove and tell the players how much we believe in them,” Solskjaer said. “It’s about being focused for the next game because I know they’re capable of getting results and moving up the table.”
Solskjaer also hit back at reports that suggested there was a rift between himself and Bruno Fernandes after the Portuguese was brought off during the defeat to Spurs. The United manager blamed the rumours on people from outside the club wanting to create division.
“It’s always external pressure. For me we need to stick together, we are a group and we stick together. When you lose a game the first thing you need to do is bounce back in the next one and we’ve got a chance to do it versus Newcastle,” Solskjaer explained.
“I don’t know who ‘we’ are or ‘they’ are but false stories come out. I don’t know who started them, but you can see Bruno’s reaction as well. He’s clearly not happy with them but then welcome to Man Utd, you are everyone’s favourite target if something goes wrong.”
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