Ole already thinking about 2020/21 season
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted it is difficult to make concrete plans for next season at present, although the Manchester United boss has already started thinking about the 2020/21 campaign.
Our European campaign restarts on 5 August when we face LASK at Old Trafford in the second leg of our last-16 tie. Progression from that stage - and a potential run to the final - would elongate the current season and certainly alter our summer plans. For this reason, Ole feels the two campaigns could somewhat blur together.
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“So planning next season, pre-season preparation of course, it’s a new experience for everyone and we’ve just got to be quick on our feet when the last game’s done. But the transfer market, who knows what that’s going to look like? But of course, we’ve got a plan in that respect and we have a couple of scenarios.
“It’s how mentally it’s going to change when the season ends. When it does, we’ll know where we’ve ended up and what’s going to happen next season. So next season is just going to run into one, more or less, and it’s going to be non-stop and it’s going to be midweek, weekend, midweek, weekend, which is also a challenge. It’s great having things to think about.”
A win or a draw for the Reds at the King Power Stadium will guarantee us a top-four finish and, despite the high-pressure stakes of the match, the Norwegian isn’t preparing anything out of the ordinary before the fixture.
“We prepare as we normally do,” he said during his pre-match press conference. “But then again, you have the little tweaks, of course, for every single game. For us, it’s knowing that we’ve given ourselves a good chance here to go and win this game.
“It’s the end of the season. We’ve still got Europe, it’s a way to experience and learn and I’m just looking forward to the game.
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“How are we going to prepare? I can’t give the quiz questions for now! Of course we do have a great camaraderie and the team building, team bonding is good, so they are ready.
“This has never been about me on a personal level,” he added, when asked about the significance of qualifying for the Champions League. “It’s for the club.
“We want to go to the next level, we want to get in to play against the best teams, but this is a journey that I’m on with the club and we are hopefully going places.
“We are getting better, we are looking more and more like the team I want Man United to look like – that job is the one I was brought in to do.
“Sunday will be a big game in that respect, as in to see how far we’ve come mentally and how strong we are going into a last game of the season, which I hope we’re going to do in the years to come – FA Cup finals, Champions League finals or to win the Champions League.”
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