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da betway： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Speaking to talkSPORT, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has opened up on the struggles Manchester United faced last season and vowed to turn things around for the upcoming campaign.
What did he say?
The Red Devils endured somewhat of a topsy-turvy season that began in poor fashion under former manager Jose Mourinho. Following the sacking of the Portuguese tactician, United experienced a dramatic upturn in form under Solskjaer, but saw their campaign fizzle out and ended up finishing sixth in the Premier League.
Now, Solskjaer has revealed that “mental tiredness” played a part in their decline and insisted that the early signs in pre-season have been “encouraging”.
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He said: “It’s been encouraging so far. Everyone went to their summer holidays with a bad taste in the mouth and disappointment with the way the season ended. Football is an emotional game. It’s always difficult when a new manager has to come in and the previous one loses his job. But the players handled it well over the summer and they’ve come back really fit and sharp.
“I know how fine the margins are in football and how easily things can go from good to bad. It’s a mental game, it’s all in the head. We didn’t handle the ups and the downs well enough, we know that. That would be down to mental tiredness because it was a draining season for everyone. But we’ll be better this year. These boys have shown their capabilities. If we just stay level-headed, I can see us improving a lot.”
Don’t speak too soon
Such was United’s incredible streak in Solskjaer’s early weeks in charge, that it appeared as if everything was all back to normal at Old Trafford. Instead, the Red Devils’ drop-off towards the end of the season felt like being more in tune with the way things have been going at the club in recent seasons.
So whilst Solskjaer’s upbeat mood is refreshing to say the least, judging how things are looking in pre-season is a very dangerous game to play indeed. The futures of both Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku remain uncertain with less than a week to go in the transfer window, and a seismic clash against Chelsea in their opening game of the Premier League season could see things go sour very quickly.
It will only be after the first half of the season before Solskjaer can judge for himself if his players have truly gotten over the mental struggle of last year.
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