Man Utd boss Solskjaer admits he’s struggling to get used to crazy new world of football amid handball law chaos
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER says he is struggling to get used to the crazy new world of football in the Premier League.
No fans in the ground, unequal preparation times due to last season’s very late finish for his side and now the handball rule that has everyone’s head spinning.
Not that the Manchester United boss was complaining on Saturday at Brighton as they were awarded a spot-kick after the final whistle when VAR penalised Neal Maupay and Bruno Fernandes struck the winner.
Elsewhere it was even less clear what was going on, not least when Newcastle won a penalty at Tottenham when the ball hit an unsuspecting Eric Dier.
But United have been on the wrong end of it too when a penalty was awarded against them in the 3-1 defeat to Crsytal Palace in their opening game when Victor Lindelof was a yard from his opponent when it hit his hand..
Solskajer said: “I think football has changed. There are no fans, it’s a different game. Pre-season we were at different stages, the new handball rule… you never know what’s going to happen.
You see other results and other incidents and you think ‘well, three points in this league is vital’.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
“You can discuss it all day long but we need some clarity on what’s a foul and what’s a penalty because now it looks like you can chip the ball up into someone’s hand like what happened to us against Palace for example and Victor got a penalty against him.
“And then the header against Tottenham, he’s got no idea the ball hits him.
“You see the goals scored against West Brom at the end, is that not handball? We need to get that clarity. It’s a whole spectre of things that aren’t normal.
“There have been so many changes and nuances to different rules. Back in the old day it seemed simpler.”
Saturday’s result for United was not normal either as Brighton were by far the better team, hitting the woodwork five times, yet somehow the Red Devils emerged 3-2 winners.
Solskjaer said: “You see other games and other results and other incidents around in the league and you think ‘well, three points in this league is vital’.
“You can look back at the performance especially in the last 20-25 minutes when we didn’t really get hold of the ball and control the game when we were winning 2-1.
“But then again it’s three points – the reaction after conceding was fantastic and there are some positives.
“We’ve got to be happy. I don’t think too many teams will have a comfortable ride down there.”
United are back down there on Wednesday night looking for a place in the last eight of the Carabao Cup but the two managers will be fielding very different teams with big league fixtures at the weekend.
United face Tottenham at home, while Brighton travel to Everton who have nine points from nine so far.
Solskjaer said: “Every game lives its own life and of course at the stage we’re at in the season with all the games coming up I think teams are making changes.
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“You can see teams have a cup team and a league team and we’ll make changes. It’ll be very similar to what happened last week against Luton.
“It’s an opportunity for game-time. We need to build up the squad for a long season ahead and of course it’s an opportunity for individuals to impress.
“At the stage we’re at we need to have players ready and available because it’s a long season. But we have a strong and a big squad.
“We’ve got a big week coming up with this cup game and Tottenham on Sunday so have eyes on both of them.”
Of course a victory will land United a very early quarter-final place and Solskjaer joked one team hasn’t even had to play to get to this stage.
Spurs got a bye after Leyton Orient could not field a team due to positive Covid tests.
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Solskjaer said: “It depends how you want to get there, you’ve got teams getting there even without playing, even to this round!
“It’s a competition you always want to go far in and you always want to try to give experience to the young kids as well and the squad needs to feel that we’re together.
“If you only play one XI that’s not great at times. So for us we want to win and give that feeling that it’s important this season.”