Paul Merson Makes Chelsea And Arsenal Claim As He Questions Why Solskjaer Is Still United Manager

Paul Merson Makes Chelsea And Arsenal Claim As He Questions Why Solskjaer Is Still United Manager

Paul Merson doesn’t believe Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would still be in the job if he had been in charge of either Chelsea or Arsenal.

Manchester United suffered a humiliating 5-0 home defeat to archrivals Liverpool at the weekend, and Merson claims that other clubs would not have kept faith with their manager following a similar result:

“I don’t care what anybody says but if any other manager at any other club in Europe lost 5-0 at home to your biggest rivals, the manager is gone. If Chelsea or Arsenal lost 5-0 at home to Tottenham, the manager would do well to still be there on the Monday morning. Manchester United have won just one Premier League game in five, that just isn’t acceptable, and yet the manager has still got a job. I don’t know what’s going on at the club.”


It does seem as though the United board are biding their time with Solskjaer. There is clearly no succession plan for the Norwegian so giving him three matches to save his job gives them scope to draw up a shortlist of replacements.

Merson is right, though, in saying such an awful performance would have been grounds for instant dismissal at most other high-profile clubs, particularly Chelsea.

Solskjaer’s status as a legend of the club would have also played a role in keeping him on board, but there is a growing feeling that he is on borrowed time, with reports, even in the local media, suggesting he has lost part of the dressing room. We shall see if that’s true when the Red Devils face Spurs this weekend.