'It's an absolute joke' - fuming Solskjaer takes aim at Premier League

Despite victory the United boss was furious with kickoff time at Goodison

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (left) and first team coach Michael Carrick walk out for the Premier League match at Goodison Park, Liverpool.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer launched a furious verbal attack on the Premier League after Manchester United won 3-1 at Everton in the lunchtime kick off.

The United manager was furious that his team had been required to play in Turkey on Wednesday evening in the Champions League, where they were 2-1 losers to Istanbul Basaksehir, and then handed the lunchtime fixture at Goodison.

United requested the league game be delayed until Sunday but had the request rejected as the game had been selected for live coverage by television.

“It was an impossible kick-off time we were handed today,” said Solskjaer whose team returned to England at 4am on Thursday from Turkey.

“How can you expect players to perform to the best of their ability when you set us up for 12.30? It’s an absolute joke.

“How can you defend the product, and the quality of the product? You could see in the first half today we were excellent then the second half, of course, we were tired.” 

Solskjaer claimed that United made representation to the Premier League as soon as it became clear how the scheduling was going to work.

United’s anger has been compounded by the fact that so many Premier League fixtures are currently being played on Sundays, with no two games being played simultaneously, while the game is taking place behind closed doors.

It should, claimed the United manager, have been easy to move the Everton game to the Sunday.

“We tried a month ago to move this game, why not?” he said.

“What sense is there for us to play Saturday when you can play us on Sunday and then there is an international break.

“I can’t say enough how difficult these times are for everyone, never mind footballers, for everyone in the world.

“We want to see football with quality and our boys were set up to fail today with the schedule. They need to take a step back, think twice and dwell upon the times we’re in.” Solskjaer also claimed that Premier League managers need to make more of a concerted collective effort to try and make the authorities see sense during the pandemic.

“I hope so,” he said. “I pushed my club to really fight for this kick-off time in this one, to give us at least half a chance.

“But it was quashed because it had been selected for TV.

“There are too many serious injuries in the Premier League already - not just on my team, on all teams - because mental fatigue and physical fatigue are a factor.

“We want this product to be the best in the world and it is at times. But we don’t want it to harm the players.”