Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has branded the fixture scheduling in the Premier League “an absolute shambles” after their 3-1 win against Everton.
United were beaten by Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday and travelled back to Manchester in the early hours of Thursday ahead of the kick-off at against Everton just two days later.
Solskjaer discussed fitness issues before the game but United responded to back-to-back defeats with a good display at the Goodison Park, securing a much-needed victory.
The win relieved pressure on the shoulders of Solskjaer, who was furious during his post-match interview, taking aim at fixture schedule which he believes contributed to Luke Shaw’s injury.
“We were set up to fail,” Solskjaer told BT Sport. “I said to you before, I want to talk about the kick-off time. They set up the boys to fail. We’ve got Luke Shaw injured today because we’ve been to Turkey, we’ve played loads of games already this season, we’ve been to Turkey on Wednesday night, back in Thursday morning and we’re playing Saturday in a lunchtime kick-off, it’s an absolute shambles.
“I can’t praise the boys enough for the character they’ve shown. Those boys deserve better than being thrown out here to fail.”
He continued: “Authorities set up us to fail. How can they set us up after a Champions League game on Wednesday night in Turkey and set us a Saturday 12:30 kick-off?
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“You’ve got Liverpool and City, fair play they play each other, but they played Tuesday and now they play Sunday. Who is responsible? We’ve had enough of that. I’ve had enough.
“You have to understand how these players, in these times, how mentally and physically draining this is. And you set them up like this?
“We’ve lost Luke Shaw because of that. Set us up on Sunday then, there is no argument whatsoever. It’s just a joke.”
