Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists Manchester United are ‘going in the right direction’ despite the club’s indifferent start to the season.
Sunday’s disappointing home draw with Aston Villa leaves the club in ninth position in the Premier League, eight points adrift of the top four ahead of tonight’s meeting with Jose Mourinho’s resurgent Tottenham.
Speculation continues to mount surrounding the long-term future of the Manchester United boss but despite their lowly league position, Solskjaer is confident in his side’s progress and insists the squad are heading in ‘the right direction’ as they bid to turn their fortunes around.
“I can just go on the evidence of the game days and supporters I’ve met,” Solskjaer said at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday. “There’s not many I’ve met that say you’ve got to do something different. They can see what we’re trying to do.
“They know there’s a lot of work being done behind the scenes – put a culture in the team, what we’re trying to do here, with what’s happening here at Carrington.
“I’m not going to tell anyone how to run their football clubs, but I think everyone knows continuity is one of the keys of success. Some clubs have more patience than others, some clubs don’t have that time and continuity.
“For me, with Man United, we have a plan in place and hopefully we can get the results to speed it up. Sometimes it doesn’t go at the speed you want to, but it’s still going in the right direction.
“It depends, there’s different aspects to this. It’s on the pitch, it’s behind the scenes, it’s what’s happening in the club.”
Victory over Spurs tonight will lift United above this evening’s opponents with seven sides currently separated by just three points in a tightly-contested division, and Solskjaer says his side remain confident and in positive mood ahead of a huge clash against former United manager Jose Mourinho.
“I felt the team towards the end of last season didn’t have the desire, didn’t have the heart, didn’t have the belief that this is going to turn around,” he added. “This group is a different mentality.
“I just know I have a set of values and beliefs. The club have values and beliefs and I know that we have made these decisions together.
“Results will change moods but the mood behind the scenes is positive.
"At least I know the sources are just made up blatant lies…"
Ole Gunnar Solskjær hits out at media reports ahead of a huge week for Manchester United
Full story: https://t.co/87xYN6w6Aw pic.twitter.com/2ynVib2M67
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) December 3, 2019
“I can’t sit here and just talk about that, we want results and I feel we’re going to stick to the plan we’ve put together. Results will probably speed that up.”
United’s hopes have been dealt a blow with the news that Anthony Martial is set to miss the clash through injury, whilst Paul Pogba is also not yet fit to return from a troublesome ankle injury.
There was, however, more positive news on the fitness of Scott McTominay and Nemanja Matic with the midfield duo believed to be in contention to return to first-team action tonight.
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