“We have seen tonight how far behind they are.”
Didi Hamann has defended Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following Manchester United’s defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
On Wednesday night at Old Trafford, the French side outplayed Solskjaer’s side in the Champions League last-16 first-leg tie.
They won the game 2-0 and were never really troubled by United.
The defeat has left some questioning whether Solskjaer is the right man to get the manager’s job on a permanent basis.
The Norwegian has won 10 of his 12 games as United coach – the PSG result was his first defeat – yet some have argued that this was his first genuine test in the position, and he came up short.
😵 United beaten up by PSG
👺 #CancelSolskjaer?
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However, Hamann urged fans to look at the bigger picture.
He argued that the result shows the large gap between United and Europe’s elite teams. He also said that several players simply aren’t good enough to bridge this gap or play for United.
“I feel that they should keep the manager for a season, because I think we have seen tonight how far behind they are,” Hamann said on RTE.
“Two of their best players were missing, they still got outplayed by a long way. So, I think to make them contenders for the Champions League, I reckon (they need) five years, and now you need to consolidate because there is a lot of dead wood in the squad.
“You need to get rid of at least five, six, seven players and bring other players in.”
Sanchez 😑 https://t.co/GsVQwO0mQI
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 12, 2019
Hamann went on to say that, regardless of who the manager is, United need to get their house in order.
The club needs a director of football and a clear out of the squad before they can seriously challenge for major titles.
Therefore, it makes no sense to write off Solskjaer as manager on the basis of one performance and one result against PSG.
He argued that Mauricio Pochettino would not do better with the same set of players.
“It was always clear that there was a vacuum after Ferguson, I think all of these managers were on to a hiding to nothing,” the former Liverpool midfielder said.
“If you bring Pochettino in, he won’t do anything with that squad, he won’t win the Premier League, he won’t win the Champions League.
“So, I think it is maybe a wise thing to keep the manager now, the interim manager, keep Solskjaer for another season or two, try to bring a director of football in, bring some players in, get rid of the players you don’t want. And once you’ve done that, you can look at a manager who can take you to the next level.
“But, on tonight’s performance, I think they are a long way from winning the Premier League or Champions League.”
You can watch Hamann below, he speaks about Solskjaer from around the 12:40 mark.
