Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer won’t be sacked from the head coach role at the Red Devils anytime soon. The Norwegian tactician was initially recruited by United in December last year as the interim manager and the team’s performances over the next three months convinced the board to hand him with the permanent role.
Since then, the club’s fortunes have completely reversed with just five wins from 23 matches in all competitions and recent reports have claimed that Solskjaer could be sacked, should the Red Devils suffer a heavy defeat to Liverpool in the forthcoming league game. In response to this, Ferdinand has said that the board should have anticipated the current situation, given the performances of the squad have not been good enough.
He added that he would be surprised, If Solskjaer is axed from the helm, considering the club have supported the Norwegian with the recent project of developing young British players, he told TalkSPORT: “There’s no way the club would have thought this would be rosy straight away, they’re not naive enough to think that it was going to be a situation where he just changes it overnight. That’s why I don’t see there being a change straight away, I’d be very surprised if I wake up, open a paper or an app and see that he has gone so quickly.”
United are currently placed 12th on the league table after bagging just nine points from eight matches. The poor run of form sees them within a couple of points off the drop zone and things may get worse after the international break with Liverpool making the Old Trafford trip. United have lost just one league game against the Reds over the past five years but they have a huge task of avoiding a defeat, considering the contrast in the form of both teams. Jurgen Klopp’s side have not dropped a single point this term and they are currently at the top of the table with an eight-point advantage over second-placed Manchester City.