The current manager says this isn’t the first time he’s disagreed with his former coach, but he isn’t concerned
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he’s “relaxed” about Sir Alex Ferguson’s recent criticism of his lineup decisions, adding that it isn’t the first time he’s disagreed with his former manager.
Ferguson was caught criticising Solskjaer during a conversation with UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov, saying that the Manchester United manager should not have rested Cristiano Ronaldo in the club’s 1-1 draw with Everton.
Solskjaer, though, has taken the criticism in stride, reiterating that Ronaldo is a player that will occasionally need rest to be at his best.
What did Ferguson say?
The video of Ferguson and Nurmagomedov’s conversation begins with the ex-manager saying: “I also think that when they saw Ronaldo wasn’t playing…”
Nurmagomedov reminds him that Ronaldo entered in the second half before Ferguson responds: “I know, but you should always start with your best players.”
Solskjaer’s response
“I’m quite relaxed about it,” said Solskjaer in response to the former Man Utd manager’s criticism.
“I disagreed with the gaffer quite a few times and I told my wife quite a few times that I disagreed with him, but that never made headlines as a player.
“I’m sure Sir Alex knows that it doesn’t bother me. We all want to see Cristiano.
“We all want to, because he’s unique, he’s different, he’s had a career and everyone wants to come and watch him. But the plain fact of it is he cannot play every single game that we play, that’s just physical nature, human nature.
“He knows how difficult this job is anyway, the gaffer. He didn’t always play the same 11. He took some risks at times to rest Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney or David Beckham, the best players that we had. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.”
(images: Getty / Goal)
