“I could hear him behind me.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has recalled a comment he overheard Ashley Young make after his first team meeting as manager of Manchester United.
The former United manager has been speaking about his time at Old Trafford during an appearance on the Stick to Football podcast.
During his chat, he spoke about the three now-world class footballers he tried to get United to fork out for, along with revealing that he twice urged United to sign Erling Haaland back in 2018.
He also discussed the start of his tenure at Old Trafford, when he was hired on an interim basis in December 2018 as Jose Mourinho’s replacement.
On the podcast, Gary Neville asked the Norwegian what he “found in the dressing room” when he first went into the job.
Solskjaer replied: “Obviously the players lost games, they weren’t happy, they weren’t playing well, low in confidence.
“First thing, we go in, just talk about just being Man United, express yourself.”
Solskjaer explained that, at the time, the plan was for him to be at the club for “four months” so he wanted to make the players “enjoy playing football, enjoy running forward, playing forward like Man United teams should do.”
He continued: “I remember Ashley Young’s comment when we walked out of that meeting and I could hear him behind me: ‘Thank f**k we’re talking about being Man United again!’
“Because I think maybe there had been a few managers before talking what they did at other clubs.”
In March 2019, Solskjaer was given the United job on a permanent basis after a run of one defeat in 13 games.
He ended up leaving the club in November 2021, following a run of five defeats in seven games and a humiliating 4-1 defeat at Watford.
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