Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes that finishing second in the Premier League table is no achievement.
Manchester United are currently lagging behind rivals Manchester City at 14 points at the top of the table and appear unlikely to catch Pep Guardiola’s men before the end of the season.
But while a possible second place would be almost a first since their last league win in 2012-13, Solskjaer insists the Red Devils need to aim higher.
“You can’t say it’s a success,” Solskjaer told reporters, when asked about the merits of finishing second.
“Our ambition is much more than second place. I said when I’m not at the club – you can never be happy with that and we are not.”
“Make no mistake, our ambition is to catch up with the team ahead of us. For now [City] has had a fantastic season, they’ve had three or four, and we know the challenge ahead. But we must take it up. If you don’t, then you’ve come to the wrong place because that’s what I’m looking for. “
“The players really have to come to terms with the sacrifices they have to make and the work they have to do. It takes blood, sweat and tears because this is the best league in the world – and the toughest. . “
A man who might disagree with Solskjaer’s opinion is none other than José Mourinho. The Tottenham boss, who welcomes his former employers to north London on Sunday, was proud of United’s efforts to finish 19 points behind City in second place while in charge in 2017-18. “It’s hard to believe we finished second because you are able to make it look like the people who finish second have been relegated, and the people who don’t win end up below us, and you pass them over. for serial winners, ”he explained in 2018 while still a United manager.
“So it’s hard for me to understand, feel or believe that we finished second, which I keep saying I won eight championships and three Premier Leagues – and sometimes that’s just as hard to believe. But I keep saying and thinking and thinking that the second last season was one of my greatest accomplishments. ”
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