Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has rejected the suggestion that his team finishing second in the Premier League is an achievement.
The club have a strong grip on second spot in the Premier League going into the final two games and three more points would clinch the second position.
It would definitely be an upgrade on last year’s third-placed finish under the Norwegian coach – the first time the Red devils has secured consecutive top four finishes since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.
But, Solskjaer rejected the idea that United finishing second would be an achievement for the club – which goes against the comments of his predecessor Jose Mourinho
The Portuguese coach guided United into second in the 2017-18 season – and lagging 19 points off the title pace in December the following campaign, which saw him dismissed eventually.
Mourinho constantly referenced a top-two finish with the as a huge achievement and equivalent to winning titles at other teams, but Solskjaer was not in agreement.
Solskjaer told reporters on Monday ahead of his team’s clash against Fulham : “The competition now is a lot harder than when I was a player. Three, four, maybe five teams that can challenge for the top two positions.
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“For the last few years they have been taken by the same two teams and for us to go into them and divide them it’s good, it’s a good performance but we can’t say it’s an achievement, it’s not an achievement.
“We’ve taken steps as a team but we’re not where we want to be, we know we have some deficiencies as a group there’s parts of the game that we need to improve on but I’ve felt we’ve made strides in most places and I’ve been very pleased with the players and I’ve got to say I’ve been impressed by them but we want to take the next step as well.”
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Solskjaer also said the club’s recent displays in defeat to Leicester and Liverpool have been impacts by the fan protests. He said: “I just didn’t want to use it as an excuse because we lost two games but surely it’s a reason behind the performances.
“I’m not saying it didn’t affect them but I was impressed with how professional they were and how they went about it.
“There was none of them that complained and that’s one of the big things for me, we never complain we just look at what we can do and how could we maximise the situation.
“We tried to do that but we couldn’t get the results but the players have been good as gold. They’ve had a couple of days off and they’re refreshed and ready and now we prepare as normal for these last two games.”
