This is not another “time to call Solskjaer” article, he is fully occupied with winning his first game as Besiktas coach and getting the Turkish media to use “tactical genius” in the headline after the big win against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday. This applies to what goes on outside the match arena, where Ruben Amorim learns from Solskjaer – and not Mo!urinho – how to deal with English journalists sooner rather than too late.
After the Brighton game on Sunday, a devastated United manager sat in the press conference and stated that this was the worst Manchester United team of all time. This was said in connection with Amorim’s statement “I’ll give you a headline”.
Regardless of the motivation for the “worst of all time” label, this was of course twisted to the fact that the United players are the worst in the club’s history.
A bit of a pep talk to the players before the next game!
Before the Rangers game on Thursday, Amorim tried to explain he was misinterpreted.
“I talked more about myself than about my players, because it’s hard to find a coach who has lost seven games in his first ten. It was more about me. I’m frustrated sometimes and I shouldn’t say things like that, but it is what it is,” the United manager said, according to BBC Sport
“Sometimes it’s very difficult to hide your frustration. “The good thing is that I said the same things in the dressing room five minutes before,” says Amorim.
Then we’ll see how things stand, with the self-confidence, of what were still not the worst players in club history, against Rangers.
We remember well when Jose Mourinho started to glide grumpily and snap the messages about individual players, the squad, the club owners and the English weather came in a row. The Portuguese spent the next press conference often explaining what “he really meant”. Last week, Ruben Amorim fell into the same trap, we hope he has learned.
Ten Hag fell into the same trap over the past year, but if there’s anyone Amorim should learn from, it’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. No matter how cliché the journalists were when it was blunt, Solskjaer kept his professionalism in the press conferences and did not have to run after to “explain what he meant”.
We advise the United management to bring out clips from Solskjaer’s press conferences when the wind was at its worst as Manchester United manager until 2021.
