MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, Oct 24 – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted he is the right man to manage Manchester United despite a historic hammering by Liverpool on Sunday as Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 rout at Old Trafford.
For the first time in Premier League history, United trailed 4-0 at half-time and lost by five goals without scoring at home for the first time since 1955.
The Red Devils have now taken one point from a possible 12 in the league to fall to seventh, eight points off leaders Chelsea.
“I do believe in myself, that I am getting close to what I want with the club,” said Solskjaer.
“The results lately haven’t been good enough, that brings doubt in anyone’s mind, but I’ve got to keep strong and believe in what we’ve been doing.”
Naby Keita started the rout before Diogo Jota doubled Liverpool’s lead inside 15 minutes.
Salah then took centre stage to take his tally for the season to 15 goals in 12 appearances and become the top-scoring African player in Premier League history in the process.
To round off a miserable day for United, Paul Pogba lasted less than 15 minutes as a second-half substitute as he was shown a straight red card for a reckless lunge that forced Keita to leave the pitch on a stretcher.
Liverpool’s first victory in front of a crowd at Old Trafford under Jurgen Klopp moves them back above Manchester City into second, just a point behind Chelsea.
“What we did in the last third was insane. Pressing high, winning balls, scored wonderful goals,” said Klopp after Liverpool’s record away win against United.
“The result is insane. I asked if there was one like this in history and if there isn’t then it will take a while (to beat).”
By contrast, United’s hopes of a first league title since 2013 already look over.
That gap is likely to grow in the coming weeks with Tottenham and City to come in the next fortnight before an international break.
Whether Solskjaer will still be in charge come November is now in serious doubt as he has completely failed to form a balanced team from a talented collection of star players.
“In the last few weeks we’ve hit a brick wall,” added Solskjaer. “The performances haven’t come, the results haven’t come. We’ve conceded too many easy goals and that’s a concern.”
