Ole Gunnar Solskjær has said he is not threatened by Mauricio Pochettino being out of work despite the Argentinian previously being a candidate for the Manchester United job.
Pochettino was sacked by Tottenham on Tuesday and replaced by José Mourinho as head coach. Yet while Pochettino is now on the market and may still be of interest to United in the future, Solskjær insisted he was not concerned about the potential threat of being replaced.
The United manager said: “No, it doesn’t bother me at all because I’ve got the best job in the world, and I’m sure that if you’re in or out of a job and you are a manager, you would want this job. So it doesn’t really matter whatever happens around it.
“I’ve got to focus on my job at Man United, do it as well as we can. I speak with Ed [Woodward, the executive vice-chairman] and the owners all the time about how we are going to move the club forward. That doesn’t change if some other clubs change their managers.”
Of Mourinho’s appointment, Solskjær said: “It’s good to have José back – definitely especially for you guys and maybe for me. You can talk and write about everything else. And for Mauricio it’s always sad when one of your colleagues, a good man, loses his job before Christmas. I wish him all the best.”
Nemanja Matic liked a social media post that joked about the midfielder, who has been dropped by Solskjaer, waiting for Mourinho to take him to Spurs. Mourinho has twice previously signed Matic – for United and Chelsea – yet Solskjær has no issue with the Serb’s reaction.
“It’s going to be a spectacle and a circus [around Mourinho] and Nemanja has a sense of humour,” the manager said.
Nine points
United are nine points behind Manchester City, who are in the final Champions League berth, before Sunday’s trip to Sheffield United, but Solskjær believes the gap can be bridged to Pep Guardiola’s champions.
“We’ve still got to keep looking up the table.... we’ve got City next month so we’ve got a chance to get points back.”
Solskjær also hopes Paul Pogba will recover from his ankle injury to play again before the end of the year.
“He had another test and scan just at the start of the international break and it’s not healed yet,” Solskjær said. “But he is stepping up the recovery and doesn’t have to have the cast on [any more]. He’s been out for six or seven weeks so he’s gradually now stepping up – walking on the treadmill, biking. It’ll still be a few weeks. We hope to see him in 2019.”
