November 5 – Not for the first time this season but even more so now, pressure is mounting on Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following the end of their winning start in the Champions League, coupled with a poor run of domestic form.
United slumped to a calamitous 2-1 defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday, a second straight loss after losing at home to Arsenal on Sunday, with their defending in Turkey branded “unforgivable”, “embarrassing” and “disrespectful to school boys”.
Huge focus will now centre on Saturday’s clash with Everton, United’s last game before the international break, a time when struggling managers traditionally get sacked.
“The two losses have set us back a lot,” Solskjaer admitted as he looks ahead to arresting the club’s worst start to a Premier League season in seven years.
He does so as one betting company made him firm favourite to be the next top-flight manager to lose his job, with fans and pundits urging the appointment the currently out-of-work Mauricio Pochettino .
Asked if he now feared for his job, Solskjaer, whose side sit a lowly 15th in the Premier League, said: “You know, I decline to comment on such a thing.”
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