Manchester United head coach Ole Gunnar Solksjaer has stated that winning the premier league title is harder now because there are a lot of better teams now than during the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson’s time in charge of the club.
Liverpool on Thursday clinched the 2019/2020 premier league title bringing the club one step closer to matching Manchester United’s title tally.
United enjoyed dominance during Ferguson’s 26-year tenure, winning 13 Premier League titles and 38 trophies in total at Old Trafford.
However, United have not won the Premier League since Ferguson’s final season in 2013.
Even though the club have won the Europa League (2017), FA Cup (2016) and EFL Cup (2017) since Ferguson’s retirement, Solksjaer says it’s a different ball game now.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Norwich City, United manager Solskjaer said: “We’ve got to be honest enough to say it is more difficult now.
“We’ve always had challengers, whether it was Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool. But most of the time it was just one of them challenging us.
“Finishing third wasn’t normal. Now there are at least four, maybe five teams that can win the league and the cups.”
Speaking about star man Paul Pogba’s future and whether he and new signing Bruno Fernandes can work together, Solskjaer told reporters: “I’m certain they can play well together, yes.
“They’ve both played well in training and in the games they play together it’s exciting. There will be rotations and there will be times that Paul will play up with Bruno, sometimes it’s deeper, sometimes we will play with a diamond. It’s encouraging to see them together.
“It’s also encouraging to see how Nemanja [Matic], Scott [McTominay] and Fred are making it difficult for me to keep them out.
“It’s a good position to be in as a coach and you want to give Paul a chance to get 100 per cent fit with practice and rest. He’s been out for so long and I think it says everything about the boy with the quality of his performances.”
