Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has claimed some of his Manchester United stars wouldn’t have survived under Sir Alex Ferguson in Old Trafford’s glory years.
But Solskjaer insists he can’t manage the same way as United’s legendary 13-time Premier League winning boss because he was a one-off and times are different.
Solskjaer heads into today’s crunch top-four battle with Chelsea expecting his stars to give it everything to beat Mauricio Sarri’s stars with Champions League football next season at stake.
And, having called them out after defeats by Everton and Manchester City , Solskjaer can’t help some of underperforming players wouldn’t have lasted five minutes under a tough boss like Ferguson.
“We have a different generation of players now,” he said.
“And maybe some of them could not have handled the way Sir Alex managed the club back then.
“They know the history of this club, it means a lot to everyone, but it can’t linger on.
“We look to do it our way. We are doing things differently to all the previous managers like Sir Alex and Jose.
“We can’t try to copy Sir Alex and be successful because he was unique. We have to do it our own way.
“Everyone of these players knows that times have changed and what the gaffer did was unbelievable.”
Despite having issues with stars such as Alexis Sanchez, Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba, Solskjaer is adamant United’s players won’t throw him under the bus – as Roy Keane suggested after the derby defeat to City.
“That was Roy Keane who said that, wasn’t it? Of course, that is not going to happen,” said Solskjaer.
“I speak to the players all the time, they know my expectations and standards.
“I am in charge. I pick the team. I have got three years here now and I am going to do whatever I can to make this club successful.
“We do that together. It is not like players against managers here.
“Supporters know, we know, we are doing this together and working together to improve. We are all in this together.
“When you are in the middle of a season, you can’t make too many drastic changes. You can’t really turn this group and work really much harder.
“Of course, the fitness levels are not good enough for me and we have been caught up with that and that’s why pre-season is going to be big for me and for all of us.
“I have not inherited a championship-winning team. I need time to rebuild and put my stamp on it.
“You can see City and Liverpool have set the standards and Guardiola and Klopp have done a fantastic job. The’ve had their bedding-in period and put their stamp on it.” Despite losing four of their last six league games, United could still snatch fourth spot by winning their remaining games against Chelsea, Huddersfield and Cardiff .
Solskjaer said: “That is the ironic part.
“Because, three weeks ago, if you had said we would lose the games we have, I’d have said we were out of that chase since you need 76 or 77 points.
“But suddenly we are in with a chance and every one of my players should wake up today with the reality that if we beat Chelsea we have a very, very good chance to get in the top four.”
