Every word from Ole's post-match briefing

Saturday 20 November 2021 19:21

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer answered reporters' questions after Saturday's defeat to Watford at Vicarage Road.

The Norwegian faced the media following a difficult afternoon for United as the Hornets ran out 4-1 winners at their home ground.

Joshua King sent the hosts in front before Ismaila Sarr doubled their lead shortly before the break. Half-time substitute Donny van de Beek cut Watford's lead in half, five minutes after his introduction, before injury-time goals from Watford duo Joao Pedro and Emmanuel Dennis.

Here's what the manager had to say after the disappointing defeat...

Listen to Ole's press conference Video

Listen to Ole's press conference

The boss had the difficult task of taking questions from the media after our painful afternoon in Watford....

Ole, I know you’ve been asked this before but this is a very damaging defeat for you. Are you sure you’re the man to lead Untied after this?

"I always have belief in myself but, of course, at the moment it’s a difficult time for us. I can trust every single one out there to give what they have, the staff are fantastic but the results at the moment, are difficult, of course. Yeah, I believe we can turn this around."

It was hard not to notice at the end when you when went over to the fans to applaud them that there were a lot of angry faces in the away end. Bruno was particularly upset by some of the abuse you were getting. How did that feel? It must’ve been terrible?

"I understand the fans who’ve supported the club through thick and thin. They’ve been fantastic over the last few years. It’s a difficult period. We’ve had a hard time since Sir Alex left at the club. The fans who have been with us for the last years, since I came in, they’ve been unbelievable. They’ve understood the situation. The signings this summer with Rapha, Jadon and Cristiano raised everyone’s expectations, rightly so, because we brought some top players in. With second last year, we hoped to kick on but we can’t seem to find form. I understand and that’s their right to show their opinion. Bruno is such a passionate boy and a man. He knows that the club can change quickly."

You were speaking before the match that you needed to work on a few things but the first half seemed to be so fragmented...

"In a game against Watford away from home, you need to give them a harder time than what we did. They outfought us, they won too many challenges, they were allowed to get the ball into our box, too easily. The first goal is an example, Ben Foster’s more or less on the halfway line when he put that ball in. The cross… there’s so many things that can go wrong in football and too many of them did in the first half."

You’re saying you can turn it around but what do you need to do to make things better? How do you get back to winning ways?

"I need to get the players to perform better. That’s my responsibility. That’s the biggest thing now. They’re so disappointed, they’re trying to get their confidence back. Second half I was very pleased with. Don’t get me wrong, of course, the whole afternoon is so disappointing and so far away from our standards but the attitude and application until the last 15 minutes, or last 20 minutes, I thought we played some really good football, creating lots of chances. That shows the attitude of them. Donny and Anto, for example, disappointed as they should be, but gave us quality."

Is there a lonelier place than a football dugout when a match is going like that?

"No. That’s the short and simple answer. No."

Recommended: