Solskjaer Defends Team Selection In Loss To Leicester City
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has defended his team selection in the 3-1 defeat to Leicester City in the FA Cup quarterfinals at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.
United went into the game without the injured Marcus Rashford, but the likes of Luke Shaw, Bruno Fernandes, Scott McTominay and Daniel James, who all started in the 1-0 Europa League victory over AC Milan on Thursday, paved way for Alex Telles, Anthony Martial, Nemanja Matic, Donny Van De Beek and Paul Pogba.
The substitutions could not inspire the Red Devils to victory against Brendan Rodgers’ men as Solskjaer’s quest to win his first trophy as United manager goes on.
Manchester United’s only realistic hopes of hoisting a trophy this season lies in the Europa League but Solskjaer felt it was imperative to introduce fresh legs against the Foxes.
"I would've done the same again, the changes were necessary to do. We knew Paul [Pogba] wouldn't last more than an hour and I don't think I would do anything differently. What goes on behind the scenes isn't always known," Solskjaer told the BBC when pressed on his selection.
“I would have started the same team again, we felt they had more than 45 minutes in them, they're important players for us, that's why we started.”
“Every team selection has reasons behind it and Bruno has played a lot of football, on Thursday night he broke all his records physically, statistically and the boy is not inhuman.
"He has played a game every three or four days and it was a chance to start both Donny and Paul, but the accumulation of games maybe caught up with us. Bruno wants to play and sometimes you make decisions for the benefit of the team.”
