Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick has praised Manchester United and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo over his brilliance despite his advanced age.
Ronaldo scored twice in the win over Arsenal but there have been questions over whether the 36-year-old will fit in under Rangnick's pressing style of play.
However, Rangnick noted that he has never seen a player of the age 35 who is still physically fit and committed to football.
"You always have to adapt your idea of football to the players you have available, not vice versa."
"Seeing Cristiano in the second half at the age of 36, amazing top professional. At his age, I have never seen a player who is still that physically fit and he is still a player who can easily make the difference.”
"It's about how we can develop the whole team, it's not only about Cristiano. We play in the most competitive league in the world so we need all the players on board. What I saw from Cristiano, he is more than willing to do that," Rangnick noted.
Rangnick takes over with United seventh in the Premier League, 12 points behind leaders Chelsea, and through to the Champions League last 16 as Group F winners.
"The challenge is to bring more balance into the team. Even [against Arsenal] we needed three goals to win the game. It's almost two goals on average conceded per game and this is too much.”
"The game was exciting for the fans but as the coach they are not the games you need every day," he added.
Rangnick pointed out that he had a conversation with Solskjaer for 90 minutes last weekend, while he also met with caretaker manager Michael Carrick to try to convince him to stay on.
Carrick took over after Solskjaer's dismissal and was in charge for a win over Villarreal, draw at Chelsea and the victory against Arsenal before announcing he was leaving the club.
"I had a private conversation with him for more than an hour. I tried to persuade him to stay on board. In the end, I had to accept his decision."
"I am more than happy to work with the current coaching staff because I need their expertise on the current squad.”
"I will try to find a few people who can join us in the next one or two weeks but, because of Brexit regulations, it is not that easy. Many of my former colleagues are in long-term contracts with big clubs so are not available right now," Rangnick highlighted.
On his philosophy Ralf noted that to gain control on games in the future, it has to do with playing proactively.
"It is about helping the team play together. It is about togetherness, team spirit - the two halves [on Thursday] were completely different and having these unique fans behind us will help us.
"It is not easy, I cannot do it in a few training sessions. It's about control - this is the major target," Ralf explained.
The Manchester United interim boss has also not ruled out staying on as manager beyond his initial six months in charge.
Rangnick will be in charge of United until the end of the season before moving into a two-year consultancy role at the club.
"If everything goes well I might make the same recommendation that I did at RB Leipzig twice - that it might be a good idea to keep working with me for one year - but it is all hypothetical."
"The people with whom I have spoken have been very clear that we are speaking of a six-month role as manager."
"We have never spoken about what will happen in the summer. Right now, I'm fully aware that they might be looking for a new manager. If they will then speak with me about that, we will see. “
"For me, now it is about winning the next games and this is the major focus," he stated.