Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spoke with the media on Friday ahead of Manchester United’s clash with Manchester City at Old Trafford.
Last time Manchester United played at Old Trafford they were annihilated by another rival Liverpool by the score of 5-0, a day that Ole has called his ‘darkest day’ in the United organization.
“We’ve moved on from that one, of course it’s going to be in the history books, but we’ve had a good week with good results away from home in difficult games and the mindset is positive. Of course, we have to go into this game believing we can do good things. It’s a local derby and everyone knows what’s at stake,” said Solskjaer.
“It’s a special one of course, the last time we had a Manchester derby with fans in the stadium the atmosphere was electric. I think everyone will still remember that one probably more so than any dark moments we’ve had. When Scott [McTominay] scored that winning goal in extra time, it was a special moment. We know it’s a one-off game, it’s one of those you have to start on the front foot, start ready, because a lot of it depends who gets on the front foot.”
Solskjaer and Manchester United have been banged up in defense recently, Raphael Varane is injured and Victor Lindelof picked up a knock recently as well. Lindelof could be ready to go, but Solskjaer still has Eric Bailly as cover if Lindelof is not fit.
“Of course, it’s a blow for us. Raphael has come in and been really, really influential, but Eric [Bailly] came in last time and was excellent, so that’s why you have big squads: so you can cope with absentees sometimes,” said Solskjaer.
Solskjaer is still not bother about being on the hot seat, a good thing, in the press conference he spoke about always being on the hot seat at United and United’s success lately against City.
“When I stepped in the doors here in December 2018, three years ago, there’s been speculation ever since so that’s no problem. We’ve moved on from the Liverpool game. Of course, it’s always going to be there as a dark moment in our careers, but we’ve had a good week, we’ve had two good results away from home and we’re ready for this game. You don’t expect an easy ride when you become manager of Man United, so that’s how it is.”
“I’m not one to talk about what I’ve done. I’ve got a great respect and admiration for Pep and what he’s done. We’ve had a few good results against them, we’ve had some good games, tight games, and we need another performance like this. Sometimes you need luck, and we know this is a game where we’ll have to work hard and suffer a lot, but we have to believe in ourselves, we have to trust ourselves. We’re at home, as you say, we’ve had a few good results and let’s hope that continues, but we don’t take that for granted. We need to earn it.”
