Solskjaer will keep his job at Man United, says Ronny Johnsen

Ex-Red Devil says United will let Norwegian continue his rebuilding work

Sep 24, 2019 06:00 am

The heat is on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, following Manchester United's dismal 2-0 defeat by West Ham United on Sunday.

The result meant that United have just five wins in the 17 games since Solskjaer became the English Premier League giants' permanent manager in March.

Former United captain Roy Keane told Sky Sports he was "saddened" by the lack of quality and that "it is a long way back and it is scary just how far they have fallen".

Jose Mourinho, Solskjaer's predecessor, also weighed in, saying he does not see any improvement from last season and that "Ole can't take any positives from the West Ham game".

United have taken eight points from their opening six games of the EPL season and, despite the infancy of the campaign, former Norway and Fulham defender Brede Hangeland has gone as far to say that Solskjaer, 46, will get the boot soon if the results do not improve.

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But another Norwegian, Ronny Johnsen, has come to the United boss' aid, saying that his countryman will keep his job and continue his rebuilding task.

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At the Kallang Wave Mall yesterday to promote the Battle of the Reds, a triangular tournament involving the Masters sides of Liverpool, United and Singapore, the former Red Devils centre-back said: "Oh, yeah, definitely (Ole will be at United at the end of the season).

"He's been there for only half a year and you need more time to rebuild a team. Hopefully, we will get there (challenging for top honours), but it will take time.

"You need good results along the way that's for sure but, in my mind, he will come good."

Rio Ferdinand also backed Solskjaer to come good in his chat with The United Stand YouTube channel.

"Ole out for what? Are we going to keep changing managers every week, is that what everyone wants? You get a bad result, you change it," said the former United centre-back.

"Two weeks ago, I didn't see people saying 'we want Ole out'. Now it's changed after two weeks. It's knee-jerk. Sometimes you've just got to let a thing play out..."

Time, it seems, is key to Solskjaer returning the Old Trafford outfit to their former glory.

And Johnsen also hopes that patience is extended to United's centre-back pairing of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof as well as the Red Devils' young strike force.

"Like Ferdinand-Nemanja Vidic, Steve Bruce-Gary Pallister and Johnsen-Jaap Stam, all partnerships need time," said the 50-year-old cheekily, as he dropped his name into the mix.

"It takes time to understand each other because, in that position, it is so important that you know what your partner is thinking. So it takes a little bit time to get into that rhythm.

"The Maguire-Lindelof partnership is going to be really good, they complement each other well."

Johnsen also rejected the notion that United should have brought in another striker to cope with the departure of Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan.

"At the moment, you can say that we should have kept Lukaku but that is because we have so many injuries. But having a big squad makes it difficult to rebuild as well.

"Ole is rebuilding the squad, so then sometimes he needs to make some changes... Lukaku was one of them.

"Barring the injuries, what we have is good enough and there are opportunities for academy players like Mason Greenwood to step up and shine."

Johnsen also feels that Axel Tuanzebe is another promising defender who can break into the squad - in line with Solskjaer's effort in pushing young talent through, much like legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson did with his Class of '92.