Peter Schmeichel believes the calls to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are ridiculous and says Manchester United fans should remember they also went through tough periods under Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho.
United enjoyed a promising start to the campaign, winning three of their first four matches, but have since flattered to deceive in the Premier League and in Europe.
The Red devils lost their opening Champions League game and were then eliminated out of the EFL Cup by West Ham, before losing to Aston Villa at Old Trafford the first time in 12 years.
And Solskjaer’s side needed an injury-time goal to beat Villarreal last week but their struggles at home continued on Saturday as they were held to a draw by Everton.
They are currently fourth in the league – two points behind leaders Chelsea – but the manner of their recent displays and more general doubts over Solskjaer has led some supporters and pundits to call for the manager to be replaced.
But Schmeichel says his former team-mate needs time to ‘rebuild’ the club after a bleak period following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, and doubts there is any manager currently available who would do a better job than the Norwegian.
‘I think it’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous,’ Schmeichel told ITV when asked about the calls from fans to sack Solskjaer. ‘Do they want another [Louis] Van Gaal or another [Jose] Mourinho? What do they want?
‘It’s been tried, bringing in the so-called big-name managers and they don’t have the same care and attention to detail in the youth and development and DNA of the club as Ole has.
‘That period before him [Solskjaer], a lot of players came in and a lot of coaches left, so everything needs to be rebuilt. I hope people understand that it takes time.
‘Remember, we finished runners-up last season, if we can do that again it will still be very good.
‘So give Ole time. Let’s not throw all these big headlines out there saying “Ole out”, because the next question is “who?”
‘If anyone can come up with a manager who is guaranteed to do better then I’m willing to debate that but at the moment I don’t see that name out there.’
