Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer explains why he made changes including dropping Paul Pogba against Atalanta. ‘We’ve looked a little bit open.’
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Champions League liveblog: Man Utd vs. Atalanta and Zenit vs. Juventus
Solskjaer pulled a few surprises at Old Trafford this evening, leaving Pogba, Jadon Sancho and Juan Mata on the bench, with Marcus Rashford starting, Fred partnered by McTominay in midfield.
“The last few games we’ve looked a little bit open. We’ve been too easy to play through on counter-attacks,” the manager told BT Sport.
“Today we’ve picked a team that will give us legs and energy. Our fans will also want to see us on the front foot.
“It’ll be nice for [Marcus Rashford] to play football freely without a niggle on his back or shoulders. The last few months he’s been carrying an injury. You’ll see a smile now, and Marcus enjoying football is a brilliant sight to see.”
Atalanta are currently top of their Champions League group and unbeaten, having reached the Round of 16 in each of their other two European campaigns.
“The last two or three seasons Atalanta have been scoring close to 100 goals in Serie A, so we will have to defend really well. Plus we want to hopefully be on the attack,” concluded Solskjaer.
“Talented players are being allowed to get away with it, that wouldn’t happen at other top clubs.”
“The squad Solskjaer has assembled is killing him now.”@petercrouch on Man Utd and their failure to live up to expectations so far this season…#UCL pic.twitter.com/m7jP2Sf9D7
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 20, 2021