Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reveals Sir Alex Ferguson visited after Liverpool loss

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will go in to tomorrow’s huge Premier League game at Tottenham bolstered by a heart to heart with Sir Alex Ferguson.

Having seen his Manchester United team lose 5-0 at home to Liverpool last Sunday, Solskjaer is under huge pressure.

Speaking at lunchtime on Friday, Solskjaer insisted that there were no problems between him and his players, saying they’d had a ‘good week’ in training.

Solskjaer has been under huge pressure following United’s 5-0 thrashing at home to Liverpool

Asked if he had spoken to Ferguson this week and whether he believed could come this rough patch the way his old manager once did, he said: ‘Yes, on both accounts, if that’s short and sweet.

‘We had a commercial day and Sir Alex came in to do some stuff. I met and spoke with him for a brief moment because he was in there with Cristiano [Ronaldo].

‘I’ve been through some very bad moments as a player here and when I’ve been a manager I’ve dealt with setbacks.

‘There have been two or three crises at least since I became manager here and one thing I can say is I’ll always give it a good shot and fight back.

‘It’s been a difficult week, of course. We’ve had to deal with the result and performance against Liverpool which we know wasn’t good enough and that’s something that footballers have to deal with.

‘That’s why we’re in this game. You have to look forward to the next game, and when you get to that next game sort it out and challenge the problems. We’ve had a good week on the training field.’

Ferguson looked thoroughly fed up during United’s humbling defeat to Liverpool

Ferguson had a habit of responding to heavy United defeats in resounding fashion

United have only kept one clean sheet this season and fell behind early against Liverpool last Sunday.

Solskjaer says his team must take some hints from the boxer Tyson Fury when it comes to responding to a setback.

‘Of course, you have to hold your hands up and that performance is not acceptable,’ he said.

‘We have to look at why it was not acceptable.

‘To use an analogy, it felt like we were a boxer being punch drunk, knocked down in the first four minutes or first round.

‘We had a chance then we conceded a goal. We wanted to sort it out and went a bit too open and too frantic against a good team.

‘You see Tyson Fury when he gets knocked down a couple times, it’s remarkable how calm and composed he is when he is on the floor. Counts…six..seven…eight…then he gets up and is ready to go again.

‘Maybe we got up too early and tried to sort it. So our minds have to be better but we’ve had to look at difficult things as well and of course we have to be upfront and honest. The communication has to be direct.

The Norwegian said he has faced ‘two or three crises’ in his three-year tenure as United coach

‘But the players come in. They are proper pros, good people. We have an environment in and around the place, loads of respect for each other.

‘So when you come in for criticism like you do you come into the trenches with your teammates, that’s the reaction. Whatever this club has been through before, it’s about courage, self-belief and sticking together.

‘That’s what this group has shown.’