Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists he is still the right man to turn around Manchester United ’s fortunes, despite watching his side slump to another humbling home defeat.
Two weeks on from the 5-0 thrashing by Liverpool, it was the turn of Manchester City to come to Old Trafford and dictate play against the Red Devils.
An own goal from Eric Bailly and a near-post finish by Bernardo Silva earned the champions a 2-0 win which greatly flattered the home side.
Pep Guardiola’s charges barely got out of second gear in order to beat their local rivals and kept them at arm’s length for the entire afternoon.
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The full-time whistle was greeted by a crescendo of boos from disgruntled supporters, who also showed their frustrations with the disjointed display.
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It’s now just one win from the last six Premier League games for Man United and the pressure is firmly on under-fire Solskjaer.
Solskjaer was asked if defeat to City could be the final nail in his coffin, but remained defiant in his post-match media commitments.
"I have good communication with the club. I want the best for United and as long as I'm here I want to do everything I can to improve this,” he told Sky Sports.
"We've been through this a few times and since the last home game it's been a very difficult period. Systems or style we need to be on the front foot more. I can't look at myself and say this is how I want United to be."
Pressed on whether he can still salvage United’s season, the Norwegian added: "Definitely. And you're right, back to where we should be, for me it's about back to what we started to look like, we started to look a proper team, we started to look like a team I like to see. We've had three or four weeks now of a disappointing spell.
"The result and performance against Tottenham was good but it's not what we want to look like, to put it that way.
“We want to be on the front foot and more aggressive. But unfortunately, we've had to try and get a few good results. We got a couple against Atalanta and Tottenham but today was a big step back."
United could slip 11 points behind league leaders ahead of the international break and Solskjaer concedes that his side are a long way behind the genuine title challengers.
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"At the moment we are (far off top teams) we need to get back to where we were at the end of last season.
“I’m sure when we come back the players will be fresh and the demands will be high but we need to get back to what we were for a while and we have the players to do that.”
