After leading Man United to their worst-ever defeat in the Premier League, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer described losing 5-0 to Liverpool as his “darkest day” in management.
United have never lost by more than five goals in the Premier League, and though they have suffered 6-1 losses to both Man City and Tottenham at Old Trafford, Sunday was their worst.
A Mohamed Salah hat-trick and earlier goals from Naby Keita and Diogo Jota sealed a ridiculous win for the Reds, and piled misery on Solskjaer and his players.
It was the perfect afternoon for Liverpool, and could prove to be a decisive one in the reign of United’s manager, who told Sky Sports after the game that it had been his “darkest day.”
“It’s not easy to say something apart from it’s the darkest day I’ve had leading these players,” he said.
“We weren’t good enough: individually, as a team. You can’t give a team like Liverpool those chances, and unfortunately we did.”
Solskjaer took responsibility for the result, saying “I choose the way we approach the game,” but insisted that his game plan wasn’t wrong, adding: “United should always try, at home, to go and stamp our authority on the game.”
Despite this, the United manager revealed that he had steeled his players for damage limitations from half-time, saying that “on the fourth [goal], that’s probably game over.”
“You can look back at last season, we lost the big one against Spurs, 6-1. This is worse, miles worse,” he continued.
“The opposition as well, of course, that makes it miles worse for me as a Manchester lad.”
Odds have dropped significantly on Solskjaer being relieved of his duties at Old Trafford following the defeat, with Jamie Carragher among those to point out that United “need a better manager.”
But the Norwegian, unsurprisingly, disagrees, telling Sky Sports: “No. I’ve come too far, we’ve come too far as a group, and we’re too close, to give up now.”
We think we can speak for Liverpool fans everywhere when we back Solskjaer to stay in the job!
