'Solskjaer's Man Utd look like 11 individuals thrown together'
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 10 Nov 2021 08:00 CST
- 3 min read
Manchester United look like a team “thrown together on the pitch”, according to one of the greatest coaches the game has ever known.
Man Utd manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under pressure after a succession of disappointing results, the latest of which was his side’s 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester City.
Before that, though, the Red Devils had been routed 5-0 by arch-rivals Liverpool, plunging the future of Solskjaer into serious doubt.
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It was an encounter that Arrigo Sacchi, the great architect of Milan’s European Cup double in 1988/89 and 1989/90 as well as Italy’s 1994 World Cup success, watched with interest.
And speaking to Jamie Carragher for the Telegraph, Sacchi offered a scathing verdict of what he saw from a Man Utd perspective.
“This Liverpool team is a masterpiece,” Sacchi explained.
“A fantastic team without any real superstars. A true team. You see one playing for eleven, while other teams are eleven playing for themselves. 80 per cent of the time, they are moving when they have the ball. If they were an orchestra they would always be in perfect tune and in perfect time.”
I didn’t see a team. I saw eleven individuals, thrown together on the pitch
- Arrigo SacchiWhen asked about Solskjaer’s troupe, though, he skirted addressing the issue directly but successfully offered a withering put down.
“At the 2014 World Cup, one of the Brazilian television stations asked me what I thought of the Brazil team,” he said.
“I told them, I didn’t see a team. I saw eleven individuals, thrown together on the pitch.”
Sacchi’s influence on the modern game remains profound. He recently spoke to Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel until 2am while he will also entertain Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp in the near future.
Solskjaer, however, is unlikely to be so quick to join Sacchi following the Italian’s damning criticism of his Manchester United team.
