Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted
the "culture" at the club is still not right and re-stated his
intention to build a squad at Old Trafford that put the team before themselves.
Solskjaer revealed Jesse Lingard played through an illness to start against Manchester City on Tuesday while Harry Maguire made himself available despite carrying a hip problem.
The United manager praised the pair for being willing to
play through the pain barrier but said the job of filling his squad with
similar characters was not over.
"That's the culture that we're working towards, that we
have players who always put the team in front of themselves," said
Solskjaer. "For me I'm in a process of building a squad with the right
culture and I'm still not finished with that."
 |
| Solskjaer-Man Utd |
Solskjaer jettisoned Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez in the
summer despite leaving himself short of options heading into the new season.
Former United defender Gary Neville has suggested the
Norwegian needs to "protect himself" by spending the club's money in
January rather than risk the sack because of poor results. Solskjaer, however,
insists he isn't interested in simply keeping his job.
"I am not going to protect myself," said Solskjaer
"I am going to do what is best for the club, what I think and we feel is
right for the club and I will never put myself before the club. I could never
ever do that, that's not me. I am working for Man United, not for me.
"I have those conversations with Ed [Woodward] all the
time and we are looking at how we are going to look in one month's time, five
months' time, in the longer period, he knows my feelings and we know our
feelings. I am very happy with these players.
"You wouldn't put yourself in a situation where you've
done something that you regret in 18 months' time. We've got to do due
diligence -- character of players, quality of players that are the right fit
into this squad."
While trying to sign new players, Solskjaer is also
attempting to keep the players he has. He is keen for Ashley Young to stay at
Old Trafford despite the 34-year-old entering talks with Inter Milan about a
move to Serie A, either this month or at the end of the season. The United boss
also says he has no concerns about Lingard's future after speculation he signed
up with agent Mino Raiola.
"Jesse is working for Man United," said Solskjaer.
"Whoever he speaks to and gets his advice from is none of my business and
Jesse knows what we expect from him.
"I have a great open relationship with Jesse, we talk
freely so I don't speak to the agents of many players."
Comments
Post a Comment