Former England manager Sam Allardyce has said that he was always considered ‘lucky’ when he defeated one of the Premier League’s big clubs but that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is perceived as a ‘master tactician’ when United best one of their rivals.
The Red Devils followed up their upset win over PSG with a 2-0 loss to Arsenal on Sunday with United now dropping down to fifth place in the league, just behind Tottenham and the Gunners.
"I was always 'lucky' when I beat Manchester United, or Arsenal or Chelsea. I was never a 'master tactician', I was just lucky because they had a bad day. Now, he's at #MUFC so he becomes a 'master tactician', not lucky."
Allardyce on Solskjaer! #beINPL #ARSMUN 📺 HD11 pic.twitter.com/3g2q3V6dZV
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) March 10, 2019
United have won 14 of their 18 games under Solskjaer but Allardyce insists that the club will have to buy some new players if they want to compete for the Premier League title.
”I was always lucky when I beat Manchester United, or Arsenal or Chelsea,” Allardyce said on BeIN Sport.
“I was never a master tactician, I was just lucky because they had a bad day. Now, he’s (Ole) at Manchester United and he’s a master tactician because he’s at Manchester United, not lucky.
“If he was in my position with a lesser team than the opposition who have spent hundreds of millions more than you…. and you beat them… then they’re below par and you’re lucky.
“He has to find better players so Manchester United can challenge against Liverpool and against Manchester City as quickly as possible.
“As good as a crest as this wave will be the test will be where do you go next season and how quickly can you get those players.”
His criticisms follow his earlier critiques of the United squad under Solskjaer where he envisions forward Marcus Rashford struggling to compete until 30 because of the demands of modern football.
“[It will] probably be very difficult [for Rashford] to get to 30 because of the demands physically and mentally and the fatigue that he will suffer. He will have three weeks a year off, that’s it,” Allardyce said on talkSPORT.
“He’ll play all over the world because there’s no pre-season anymore, he’ll be playing straight away across these tournaments.”
