Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has quashed Jose Mourinho’s claims insisting that a second-place finish isn’t an achievement.
The two face each other on Sunday’s evening kick-off for the Premier League return leg. Tottenham trashed United 6-1 at Old Trafford in the first round but Solskjaer is poisoned to assert revenge.
Ahead of Sunday’s clash, United boss claims finishing second isn’t an achievement. Mourinho guided the United to second place in his tenured but the Norwegian has dismissed that it isn’t an achievement.
“If we manage that you can’t say that is an achievement. Our ambition is a lot more than second place,” Solskjaer said.
“I said that when I wasn’t even at the club – you can never be happy with that and we’re not,” he stated.
“The mood in the club is good, but the players are not happy – they are hungry to improve and win something. They want to establish themselves in and around the top of the league, ”Solskjaer added.
On the United’s 6-1 defeat to Tottenham, Solskjaer admits it was a huge surprise. He insisted it was United’s lack of fitness that cost them.
“We had such a low level of match fitness at that time with so little preparation for the season,” the Norwegian said.
“So even though we scored with an early penalty we were just not at the level where we could compete. Especially when Anthony was conned into that red card,” Solskjaer added.
“That was also a big turning point as well, but we learned a lot from it, especially not to get wound up, and not to react,” he continued. So even though the players will all be fired up for Sunday, I still want to see a lot of composure.”
Tottenham will be looking to keep up the pace for the top four considering Chelsea and Liverpool won. However, you cannot dismiss Solskjaer boy’s away form and their maestro midfield.
Remarkably, the Old Trafford outfit has had a tough period since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. They have never held the Premier League title since then. Recently Solskjaer said, “trophies were for egos.”