How Sir Alex is inspiring United in Poland
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Luke Shaw and Bruno Fernandes have discussed the impact of Sir Alex Ferguson joining the Manchester United squad in Poland for the Europa League final.
Our iconic former manager was pictured boarding the squad’s flight to Gdansk on Monday afternoon and he has been spending time with the group in the hotel, before the big game against Villarreal.
During a press conference at Gdansk Stadium on Tuesday, Solskjaer highlighted the subtle role that Sir Alex might play this week and emotionally admitted he owes his entire career to him.
Ole even joked how ‘the boss’ was beaten to a couple of correct answers in a pre-match quiz, as you can watch in the video below.
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“He flew out with us yesterday,” said Ole. “Some of us, some of the players and some of the staff went to see his documentary, or Jason’s documentary about his dad. I sat there thinking about this man and what he's done for the club. I'm sure Luke, sitting next to me, felt the same.
“He's a special man. He's like an encyclopaedia of football, even though I got him on a quiz question yesterday... and one of the players got the answer before him, so I'm not sure he's happy with that!
“Just to have him around when we eat in the restaurant, I'm sure the players if they wonder about something, they can ask him. He's always about for a chat because this is the club of his heart. I hope he is going to enjoy it tomorrow night because I have to say I owe most of my career to him.”
“He's a special man. He's like an encyclopaedia of football, even though I got him on a quiz question yesterday... and one of the players got the answer before him, so I'm not sure he's happy with that!
“Just to have him around when we eat in the restaurant, I'm sure the players if they wonder about something, they can ask him. He's always about for a chat because this is the club of his heart. I hope he is going to enjoy it tomorrow night because I have to say I owe most of my career to him.”
The presence of a legend like Sir Alex is naturally inspiring, yet Shaw admitted the players are already raring to go and will not need any additional motivation on matchday.
“I wouldn't expect him to speak to us,” said Luke. “We see him around the hotel at the moment a little, but within the team we have to inspire ourselves and focus on what we need to do as a group.
“I am sure we don't need people to inspire us for the game tomorrow, as much of a legend as he is. Inside our group we need to do that ourselves. Of course I'm sat next to the manager now and I am sure he'll be doing that tomorrow so I'm not sure we'll be seeing too much of Sir Alex tomorrow.”
“I wouldn't expect him to speak to us,” said Luke. “We see him around the hotel at the moment a little, but within the team we have to inspire ourselves and focus on what we need to do as a group.
“I am sure we don't need people to inspire us for the game tomorrow, as much of a legend as he is. Inside our group we need to do that ourselves. Of course I'm sat next to the manager now and I am sure he'll be doing that tomorrow so I'm not sure we'll be seeing too much of Sir Alex tomorrow.”
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As another senior player at the top table, Fernandes agreed with Shaw’s view and explained Solskjaer has already adopted Sir Alex’s mentality from a long career under the former United boss.
“I think we have a coach who passed a lot of time with Sir Alex Ferguson so everything he could say to us, he already knows,” said Bruno. “So he could pass that message to us. We trust our coach.
“The team is confident, we trust ourselves, we know what we have to do, we've worked for an entire season together and this is our moment to enjoy this final and try to do our best.
“We've trained well the days before. We have another day to train and we will prepare well for the game. It's to make the job tomorrow, do it properly but at the same time, enjoy the moment because being in the final is not for everyone and we have to enjoy it.”
“I think we have a coach who passed a lot of time with Sir Alex Ferguson so everything he could say to us, he already knows,” said Bruno. “So he could pass that message to us. We trust our coach.
“The team is confident, we trust ourselves, we know what we have to do, we've worked for an entire season together and this is our moment to enjoy this final and try to do our best.
“We've trained well the days before. We have another day to train and we will prepare well for the game. It's to make the job tomorrow, do it properly but at the same time, enjoy the moment because being in the final is not for everyone and we have to enjoy it.”
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