Ole Gunnar Solskjaer called an ’emergency meeting’ with his players in the wake of Manchester United’s 4-2 defeat at Leicester last weekend.
United suffered a disappointing defeat at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, extending their winless run in the Premier League to three fixtures as the Foxes scored three times late on to secure victory.
The Times have revealed that Solskjaer called an emergency meeting with the squad following their loss at Leicester, as the Norwegian sought to galvanise the dressing room amid the increasing pressure on his position.
United responded with a 3-2 win over Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, though were forced to come from two goals down at half-time with Cristiano Ronaldo’s fine header completing the comeback.
Solskjaer discussed his side’s fightback against the Italian side and believes the Red Devils’ improved finishing after the interval ultimately proved the difference.
“First half I thought we played some good stuff. Our finishing wasn’t good enough. They had two chances and in those two moments, yes, we switched off and we conceded two easy goals. Then in the second half David (De Gea) makes two fantastic saves.
“The difference in performances is not that great and that’s what decides the outcome – it’s the quality and the quality of the finishes we had.
“The second half was much better than the first because we created many chances in the first half as well. But I can understand why people who don’t really watch every game see the inconsistency and within that game of course going 2-0 down it looks really bad. But the performance wasn’t 2-0 down worthy and that was the message at half-time.
“Keep going like this, just add more quality in your finishing, get an extra pass off and of course make sure we don’t concede a goal.”
Solskjaer also spoke on Ronaldo’s influence and praised the forward’s performance in leading the line, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner scoring the decisive goal late on after emphatically meeting Luke Shaw’s cross.
“I was really, really pleased with how he led the line,” he said.
“As a centre forward we asked him to run the channels, drop in, press more because we’re at home, of course. We want to get the crowd behind us.
“Even he was down inside his own six-yard box towards the end defending, you could see him sprinting. He did everything a centre forward should be doing, leading the line and defending.
“If anyone wants to criticise him for work-rate or attitude, just watch this game. Watch how he runs around.
“And of course the goal is just what he does better than most. The header is not on a par with his Roma one but he’s still got a leap and timing like no-one else.”
