Man Utd boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer doesn’t care what Liverpool think about him playing weakened team

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he isn’t concerned what Liverpool think about him fielding a weakened team against Leicester – with Jurgen Klopp admitting Manchester United’s hectic schedule is a ‘crime’.

Solskjaer made 10 changes for Manchester United’s defeat at Old Trafford on Tuesday night that saw Leicester move nine points ahead of Liverpool in the battle for a Champions League place.

The United boss is expected to recall his first-team regulars at home to Liverpool on Thursday night in a fixture that was re-arranged due to the violent protests at Old Trafford 10 days ago.

Anthony Elanga (left) and Amad Diallo (second from right) made their Premier League debuts

Victory over Klopp’s side would almost certainly kill off Liverpool’s Champions League hopes, and raise more questions on Merseyside over Solskjaer’s selection policy.

But the Norwegian maintains that he had no choice but to rotate players for four games in eight days, and isn’t worried about the reaction from Klopp and the Liverpool fans.

He said: ‘My job is Man United and my concern is the Man United fans – what they think about my team, what they want from my team and that we come together as one and show what Man United is.’

Having given teenage wingers Amad Diallo and Anthony Elanga their Premier League debuts against Leicester, Solskjaer confirmed that he will rotate again as United look to cement second place behind Manchester City and prepare for the Europa League final against Villarreal in two weeks time.

‘There’ll be changes, of course,’ he added. ‘But many of the players that played against Leicester did really well, so they’re in contention as well.

Solskjaer said he didn’t care what Jurgen Klopp thought but the German agreed with his rival’s decision

‘It’s about managing the squad now, building momentum and confidence, making sure we get enough points to get second and then going into the final confident.’

Klopp was in complete agreement with Solskjaer’s rotation though and insisted he would have done the same had Liverpool been dealt such a hectic week. 

Speaking ahead of his side’s trip to Old Trafford, Klopp said: ‘It was the line-up I expected. Not exactly but I knew he (Solskjaer) had to make these changes.

‘They played Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. I’ve said it 500 times that with all the protests at Manchester that led to this situation that to play Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday is a crime.

‘It’s not the fault of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the players. Would I have done the same? Yes. You have to, you have to. We are late in the season, United have gone to the Europa League final, which is an awful lot of games..

‘It is not possible to play Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday. The weekend after is a weekend off for United. I am not the guy doing the schedule but my understanding when we thought how it could work out was there would be no Tuesday, Thursday game and you could have still played them all.

‘The explanation from the Premier League was that no other team should suffer because of what happened in Manchester. That didn’t work out pretty well. Nobody else but a little bit us and West Ham.

‘But if we don’t get into the Champions League then it’s not the fault of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or the Premier League but in this case I think they could have done it differently.

‘But we are getting more and more used to things barely going in your favour or direction. We just accept it.’ 

Solskjaer believes Edinson Cavani will have an even bigger influence at United next season

Solskjaer brought on a number of senior players against Leicester to try to salvage the game and prevent City from being crowned champions.

It included in-form striker Edinson Cavani, who has scored eight goals in as many games, and Solskjaer expects the Uruguay striker to be even more influential next season after signing a 12-month contract extension.

‘I think we’ve seen the last few months what we can expect and what we want from him,’ said the United boss.

‘Next season he’ll come ready, he’ll be fit when he comes in pre-season. This year he had seven months of no football to catch up, which is not easy and he’s had a couple of niggles because of that.

‘He comes in every day and does everything right. The boys look at him. He gives us a No.9 position. I don’t know how many games we’ll get out of him, but he’s one of the best No.9s in the world at the moment.’