by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has questioned the “lack of ambition” of “Minor, Gen Z” Manchester United players who were too scared to do pre-match interviews or accept the captain during his time as manager.
The former United manager also admitted that the decision to sign Cristiano Ronaldo was a mistake and that it undermined the team’s ability to press their style of play.
Solskjaer initially took charge on an interim basis following Jose Mourinho’s sacking in December 2018 before taking the job permanently.
He guided United to third and second place finishes in his two full seasons in charge before being sacked in November 2021 after a terrible run of results.
Speaking to the Stick to Football podcast co-hosted by former United captain Gary Neville, Solskjaer revealed some of the character weaknesses in his Old Trafford dressing room.
“Nobody said ‘No’ to being club captain, it was just certain games – ‘I don’t want to be captain for this game’,” said Solskjaer.
‘It is small and shows a lack of ambition’
Solskjaer said those players were “disappointed” that others would break the news to the manager. “They didn’t want to say it themselves, other people came up to me and said it,” he said. “It was disappointing. It’s a different generation, it’s Gen Z. It is small and shows a lack of ambition.”
Solskjaer also explained that some players were too anxious to do even basic pre-match interviews with broadcasters and revealed how they find it difficult to deal with criticism from coaches.
“A lot of players said they weren’t doing the pre-match interviews, the three questions,” he said. “You had your chance, Brian [Fernandes] he always did, Harry [Maguire] he always did, Victor [Lindelof] did, David [De Gea] did, Luke Shaw did it. The others were worried about the questions, so they preferred not to do it.
“You might be scared of the whole reaction, but you also understand the mental health of some of the players.”
On whether the criticism from the natives and the media had an effect on his players, Solskjaer said: “Absolutely, 100 per cent. You criticize the tactics of players or teams, but when it goes beyond that because so many people are watching and listening and going on social media [it does have an impact]. If they don’t read it, friends, agents, managers will.
“When it’s personal, about character, they listen and think about it more than you think.”
‘If you have too many players, they get unhappy’
Solskjaer also criticized the leaks in the dressing room and said it was partly the result of a squad being overexcited. “I felt we were [coaching staff] They had a very good relationship with the players, but there are always one or two in a squad who leak things because they are unhappy,” he said.
“Being a manager, you play a game Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, you sack about 14 players every game and the next morning you have to tell them they have another chance.
“There’s only so many times you can say, ‘I’ll give you that game, you’ve got a chance’. In the end, they go salty, we had a big squad with too many players. If you have too many players, they get unhappy.”
Ronaldo re-joined United for £19.7million amid much fanfare in August 2021 but Solskjaer admits the signing did not work out as planned, despite the player scoring 24 goals in his debut season.
The Portuguese forward left United in November 2022 after giving an explosive unauthorized interview in which he took aim at Solskjaer’s permanent successor, Erik ten Hag, and the club in general.
“It didn’t work out for me, it didn’t work out for Cristiano, but it was the right decision at the time,” Solskjaer said.
“We immediately started thinking about how we are going to push and change the minor changes.
“There’s a difference between Cristiano and Anthony Martial who was leading, or whether we play Mason [Greenwood] or Marcus [Rashford] to start. Edinson Cavani was the one who suffered the most when Cristiano came in – we were playing and we put Edinson in a certain way to understand the way we played.
“With the ball, when he was in the team, there was no problem. That’s it [pressing], we had to change the different roles we were used to a little bit. We were one of the highest pressure teams before [Ronaldo joined]. We let in Dan James when Cristiano came in, and they are two different types of players.
“Part of signing Cristiano Ronaldo was getting that passion from him, but there were complications with that.
“You’ve got Greenwood, Martial and Rashford who can learn from Cristiano because he’s the best, the most disciplined and the best player in the world, and you’d think he’s going to help them.
“When he arrived at the club, he told me to start him for three games in a row, and then put me on the bench for the fourth game, but he’s so passionate so when I did that, I didn’t like he with. “
Solskjaer also revealed the reasons behind the decision to award Harry Maguire the captaincy to Bruno Fernandes, who succeeded the England defender as United skipper.
“I knew Bruno Fernandes had captaincy qualities when I was manager of Manchester United,” he said. “He has personality and quality, but he knows and I told him that sometimes he gets too passionate and loses a little bit of control.
“I loved Harry Maguire as captain, he was the leader of that group for me when I was at the club.”
