Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: ‘Man Utd’s young players learned a valuable lesson’
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Manchester United’s young players “learned a valuable lesson” after coming from 2-0 down at Sheffield United to eventually draw 3-3, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said.
Solskjaer’s side were lacklustre until they scored three goals in seven second-half minutes, before Oli McBurnie’s late equaliser.
“This team don’t give in – such a difference from last year,” he said.
“It shows the quality that we can score three in a game when we don’t perform.”
- Football Daily podcast: Man Utd’s close shave with the Blades
The Red Devils began the day in 10th, 10 points below fourth-placed Chelsea having failed to win two Premier League wins in a row this season.
Former United striker Solskjaer, who took charge initially on a caretaker basis almost a year ago, also faced questions about his future in the build-up after former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino was again linked with the Old Trafford club.
Solskjaer’s side were poor in the opening half, going behind to John Fleck’s opener before Lys Mousset doubled the lead shortly after the break.
Having barely threatened the Blades goal, the visitors scored three in quick succession through Brandon Williams, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford to stun the Bramall Lane crowd.
However, Chris Wilder’s side did not give up the fight with McBurnie earning a deserved point with his late strike.
Solskjaer made the comparison between his team that were 2-0 down to Everton in April – eventually losing 4-0 – and the current side.
“When you’re 2-0 down, you fear the worst,” he told BBC’s Match of the Day.
“But this group won’t give in, don’t give in. We’ve made massive strides and would have a learned a lot today.”
The Norwegian added: “Even though the big part of this game is a negative and we are disappointed with it, the overriding feeling is a positive because of the character to stick in there and turn it around.
“They’ve come through the academy most of these boys and in the academy you don’t play in these kind of games, despite trying to teach them to play without fear, and they will have learned a lot in this 90-odd minutes.”
Social media reaction
And from #bbcfootball
Pablo Sanchez: All in all Man Utd did just enough to pull the wool over their own eyes for another week. We’ll go on pretending this experiment will end well, Ole & this squad were just outdone by a couple of unlucky VAR decisions. Player quality, coaching, tactics all OK.
Ryan Howard: Solskjaer is right – Man Utd have at least shown they have the mental strength to come back from 2-0 to get a result, unlike last season with that embarrassing 4-0 loss at Everton.
Richard Browne: Ole should be ecstatic; after 70 minutes surely even chief executive Ed Woodward had put “phone Pochettino” on a notebook.
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