Manchester United

Nemanja Matic: 'Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to blame if Manchester United fall short'

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 05 September 2019

Matic: 'Solskjaer to blame if Man Utd fall short'

Midfielder Nemanja Matic claims that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must take responsibility if Manchester United do not challenge for the Premier League title.

Nemanja Matic has insisted that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must take responsibility if Manchester United struggle this season.

Despite thrashing Chelsea in their first outing of the season, United have recorded just five points from their opening four Premier League fixtures.

Matic has only featured for 22 minutes of those games having been introduced as a substitute against Southampton last weekend, leading to speculation about his future.

While the Serbia international has acknowledged that he does not agree with being left out of the team, the 31-year-old has claimed that Solskjaer must take the blame if his new-look United team fails to succeed.

Matic told reporters: "The coach must opt for the team that will fight for the title and if he does not win, he bears the responsibility.

"I have been in football for a long time, I have played almost all the games for all the clubs in the last 10 years. In order for me to play, one had to sit on the bench and accept that fact, and so do I now."

"In the first two or three games he picked the team without me. I work as hard as I can. We respect the decision, it's up to me to show him that he was wrong and to bring me back to where I belong. There is no problem. I told him I disagreed with him but that he had to decide the team."

United currently sit in eighth position in the top-flight standings.