Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer apologized for smiling during a post-match interview after overseeing Manchester United’s 4-1 loss to Watford.
United suffered a seventh defeat in their last 13 games and Solskjaer was booed when he made a gesture of apology towards United fans who attended the Vicarage Road stadium.
After the game, he was briefly asked about his future at United and was also asked why his players continued to start so badly. At that time Ole smiled and quickly corrected himself to then apologize for the smile.
“Sorry for smiling there, but that’s human. You’re surprised from the start. All good players, top players, top professionals, when it’s not in your favour, it’s against you and it’s tough,” said Ole.
United were 2-0 down at half-time and it could have been worse, with Watford having 11 shots on target in the first 45 minutes. Solskjaer blamed a lack of concentration in the first half that made this game more difficult to live. Ole even admitted that United’s game at first was far below standard. “We lost in the first half and we let them into our box too easily. The first half was very, very bad. We need to give the players a better frame of mind to start the game,” said Ole.
Several players and staff burst into tears after United lost 4-1 at Vicarage Road.
Meanwhile, Manchester United’s board has decided to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjær at an emergency meeting on Saturday night (20th November). Joel Glazer, the co-chairman who heads the American family’s ownership, has agreed to rubber-stamp the move. A meeting, which lasted several hours, was called after the team’s chastening defeat. The plan is for an announcement to avoid describing Solskjær as sacked and refer to a mutual agreement. Compensation and other final touches were being attended to after the board completed their discussions.
The first-team coach, Michael Carrick, and the club’s technical director, Darren Fletcher, both successful former United players - are understood to be ready to take interim charge when Solskjær’s departure is confirmed.
Glazer backed Solskjær late last month despite the 5-0 humiliation by Liverpool after the executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, and managing director, Richard Arnold, joined Sir Alex Ferguson in throwing their support behind the manager. But the directors concluded there was no way back for Solskjær after the latest defeat and chose to act before Tuesday’s Champions League game at Villarreal.
The disastrous outing at Vicarage Road brought to 15 the number of goals conceded by United in their past five league games, and David de Gea described the performance as “embarrassing”. Solskjær was booed by United fans, some of whom also remonstrated with Bruno Fernandes, at full time. Jadon Sancho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphaël Varane were signed after United finished second last season and the club gave Solskjær a contract extension to 2024 with an option for an extra year.
Solskjær said the first half at Watford was “the worst we’ve played” and told of the devastation in his dressing room. “The boys are in a terrible place in their heads now,” he said. “We have let ourselves down and the fans down. It’s hard to stand here and explain that but that’s football and we have to take the flak for it.”
De Gea, who saved a twice-taken penalty from Ismaïla Sarr early on, could not hide his disappointment. “It was embarrassing, the way we played today,” he said. “The first half was very poor, it’s not acceptable for this club and the level of players that we have. It’s another nightmare. There’s been some difficulties but I don’t really know what to say. I have been in difficult moments with this club but we are in a difficult situation. We don’t know what to do with the ball, we are conceding a lot of goals. It’s a horrible moment.”