City legend claims Man Utd should pull the trigger on Solskjaer exit
Former Manchester City defender Richard Dunne believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has run out of time to revive Manchester United’s fortunes.
Speaking to sundayworld.com, Ireland great Dunne stated United’s 2-1 Champions League defeat against Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday was the beginning of the end of Solskjaer as United boss, as he suggested he will be replaced after Saturday’s Premier League game at Everton.
“The midweek Champions League defeat in Turkey could be, or at least should be, the end for this particular group of Manchester United players,” declared Dunne.
“It may also have signalled the end for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager there. I just can’t see him changing things in a way that would lead to improvement.
“The awful state of United right now is not all down to the manager and I do have some sympathy for him. But it’s only a matter of time before he is sacked.
“They can do it now or do it in six months’ time, but then it’s just six months wasted. He will be sacked at some stage, so they should make the decision now, move on and try to sort it out. Because United, with this manager and this group of players, are going nowhere.
“I can’t pretend to like Manchester United, given my background in club football, but I do like the Premier League to be strong, and a strong Manchester United makes the league overall stronger.
“However, they are just stuck, as a club. When they look to have turned a corner, they fail again, they are too inconsistent as a club and as a team.”
Goodwill can only go so far
“There has been a lot of goodwill for the manager, much of it from former United players in the media. But the sad reality is that he hasn’t changed the team in any way, he hasn’t improved them in any way.
“I can’t see the benefit in keeping Solskjaer on as manager. He seems to have no authority over the team or his players, and that was summed up by the first goal in Turkey in midweek.
“If you have instructed the players what to do, and they respect you, they’ll be in the right positions and will stay there until the danger has passed. But that goal suggests to me that the United players now think they can do whatever they want. They don’t respect what they have been told.”
Former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has been linked with a move to replace Solskjaer, yet Old Trafford officials continue to insist they are backing the Norwegian manager for now.
