Solskjaer 'proud' of United's effort
TranscriptOle has plenty of praise for his players, despite our Carabao Cup exit...
Ole, it's strange to win here again and leave disappointed... "Well, a fantastic effort from the boys. They are giving us absolutely everything - the attitude, the character. First half we didn't play well at all; second half I thought we came out and played better. But we've beaten them here again at the Etihad, that's twice in six weeks or whatever it is. If you look back [over] months, these boys have grown so much. So proud of them. A great effort, and some tremendous individual performances and a team effort." Is there anybody you would pick out then? "David shows again when he's the best keeper in the world. I think the back four, with Harry and Victor, were excellent. Young Brandon's been unbelievaable again. And Nemanja, [was] man of the match for me." A shame for him, obviously, to get the red card with 15 minutes to go... "It's ironic isn't it. All the times they foul us and foul us and foul us when we counter-attack, and Nemanja's first tackle, he gets a yellow card. It's not even near a yellow card. And the second one, yeah - that might be a yellow. But he even wanted to give him the second one [tackle], which wasn't even in a foul. So he got a yellow, [then] he took the ball off Aguero, and that's not a foul. He gave it a foul and said, 'Next one you're off'. But Nemanja was brilliant, and I'm proud of everyeone." Did you feel the game plan was working? Obviously the goalkeeper is always going to be busy here, but when you got the first goal, did you think 'this is working how we wanted it to work'? "I thought so. We wanted to get to the last 10 minutes, five minutes, with a chance to nick it with a free-kick or a set piece or a counter-attack, or good play. Second half we pegged them back as well, they defended deeper as well. We didn't create the massive chances, but we had efforts and we had chances. When they're relieved after beating us [in the tie], you know you've done well." Was that the only thing [missing] - the clear-cut chance? There was a free-kick at the very end... "The pressure we built was good. You know, these boys are tired; they are down on their knees. We're squeezing absolutely everything out of them, and they've been absolutely brilliant again." You said they are tired, but they've got one more to go before the winter break, which I'm sure everybody needs. It's only a couple of days [to Wolves] but one last push, perhaps? "No worries. We need everything about Wolves; they know everything about us. So we don't need too much time on the pitch, we just need treatment and recovery and to get going again." We might have a new signing hopefully, which would give everyone a boost as well, as we go into the winter break and back for the final part of the season? "We just want to get the next game out of the way, hopefully [get] three points, and then enjoy the break."