Manchester United’s players and staff returned to Manchester Airport at 7.45pm on Saturday after the defeat at Watford that will cost Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his job. The Norwegian is to be sacked as United manager after boardroom talks after the chastening 4-1 defeat at Vicarage Road. A compensation package is now being thrashed out before Solskjaer’s departure is officially announced. Speaking after the game Solskjaer said he felt sympathy for United’s fans as another season without a title challenge looms.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “I understand fans who follow the club through thick and thin. They’ve been fantastic the last few years, it’s a difficult period, we’ve had a hard time since Sir Alex left and fans who’ve been with us have been unbelievable, understood the situation.”
David de Gea didn’t hold back in his post-match interview as he labelled the defeat to Watford “embarrassing” and apologised to the fans.
David de Get said: “There’s not much to say – it was embarrassing to see Man United play like we did today. It’s not acceptable – the way we were playing and doing things. It’s easy to blame the manager or the staff but sometimes it’s the players. We need to show much more than we are doing. Embarrassing first half – we could’ve conceded four goals in 45 minutes. It was hard to watch the team playing today – it was nightmare after nightmare. It’s not acceptable. We are trying to give our best and fight for the team but for sure something is very wrong. You can see in the games – it’s very low level, very poor. Sorry to the fans, once again. I’ve been in difficult moments and always believe in myself but there are difficult moments we have to be strong in mind and body. We are paid to play for United and to do better than that. This is not Manchester United or the way we ought to play – it’s difficult to say more than that. It’s been very bad for a long time – a club like Man United we have to be fighting for trophies and fighting for big things and to be honest we are far from that. Let’s see – we have to keep working hard and stick together. We always say the same things but it’s the truth – we have to look at ourselves and see where we can improve.”
