Former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has opened up on his stint at the red side of Manchester. Solskjaer, who hasn’t taken another management job in almost two years since his dismissal, said egos came to the fore during a disastrous run of results that cost him his position.
Solskjaer said that it was difficult to resist the urge to sign Cristiano Ronaldo when the opportunity came knocking. Bur he also admitted that the decision ‘turned out to be wrong.’
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CR7 returned for a second spell at Old Trafford amid enormous hype in August 2021. But Solskjaer was fired as manager just three months later.
It was thought that Ronaldo had been signed at the request of Executive Vice-Chairman Ed Woodward, with no input from Solskjaer.
Notably, Ronaldo had a decent first season for United, scoring 24 goals.
Solskjaer divulged details about the Portuguese’s move to United.
“It was a decision that was very difficult to turn down and I felt we had to take it, but it turned out wrong,” Solskjaer told The Athletic of Ronaldo’s return.
“It felt so right when he signed and the fans felt that at that Newcastle game, when Old Trafford was rocking [Ronaldo scored twice in a 4-1 win].
“He was still one of the best goalscorers in the world, he was looking strong. When you have a group you need everyone to pull in the same direction. When things didn’t go right, you could see certain players and egos came out,” Solskjaer added.
A run of consecutive defeats in 2021 ended Solskjaer’s reign. It began with a shock 1-0 home loss to Aston Villa, which saw Bruno Fernandes miss a late penalty.
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