Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes his Manchester United team can match Tyson Fury s powers of recovery as they look to end their slide in Saturday s clash with Tottenham.
The Red Devils have not won any of their last four Premier League games, culminating in a 5-0 humiliation at the hands of rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford last Sunday.
United have lost three of their last four Premier League matches, as many defeats as they suffered in their previous 37 league games (W23 D11), as they head into the clash at Spurs. They have not lost three Premier League games in a row since December 2015 under Louis van Gaal.
Rumours around Solskjaer’s future have gone into overdrive following the heavy defeat to Jurgen Klopp’s men, and the Norwegian coach wants to see his team show the same spirit as WBC heavyweight champion Fury.
I ve got open and direct communication with the club, with the board, and we re very up front. Of course, I don t expect them to come out and defend a performance like this [against Liverpool], and we re in a poor run of form,” Solskjaer told Sky Sports.
But my 18 years at the club are not going to be defined by these few weeks. I ve had ups and downs as a player, I ve had ups and downs as a manager, as a coach in the reserves, and for me, I ll always make sure that I fight back.
I m not going to let a period like this define me. I m going to go all in now for a result on Saturday and that s the only thing we can do. We need a reaction and we need a result.
I ve not seen what s being talked about now or what s being said out there, but we ve had two or three, let s call them crises , in the two or three years that I ve been here. The team and the players have come through it stronger.
Every team has a bad spell every season. We re in a very precarious and a bad moment, but that s what good players thrive in, that pressure. They re here at Man United because they re good people, good players and can handle these situations.
1 Over the last 20 matches in all competitions of each current Premier League side, Manchester United have registered the fewest clean sheets (1), with only Newcastle (37) shipping more goals over their last 20 games than the Red Devils (34). Sticking.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
We ve had a good training week and sorted some mindsets out because we need to go into the game with a right frame of mind aggressive and go all out for a win, but also to be calm and composed and wait for the right moment.
You see, for example, Tyson Fury; he gets knocked down, he stays down for as long as he needs to – calm and composed – then gets up and goes again.
The 48-year-old recalled times as a player at Old Trafford when he experienced similar difficulties.
When I was here as a player, we lost 5-0 to Newcastle, 6-3 to Southampton, even between that we lost to Fenerbahce 1-0, the first home defeat in the Champions League group stages, Solskjaer added.
That was my first season at the club, and you learn so much about the club and how strong people – winners – react to adversity. This club has been through so many bad spells and I m strong enough to know that I won t give up anyway.
