Solskjaer slams ´impossible´ Manchester United fixture pile-up

Manchester United head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has criticized the scheduling of his side’s league fixtures, labelling them as “impossible” amid a pile-up.

Solskjaer fielded a second-string line-up for Tuesday’s 2-1 home loss to Leicester City, which comes only two days after they won 3-1 away to Aston Villa in the Premier League.

The Red Devils’ fixture pile-up has been compounded by their run to the Europa League final, having completed their passage on Thursday with an 8-5 aggregate win over Roma.

But United’s backlog was made worse by their postponed league fixture against Liverpool due to fan protests at Old Trafford.

United play that fixture against Liverpool on Thursday before another league match against Fulham on Tuesday.

Solskjaer acknowledged the situation the postponed Liverpool fixture had created but called for fairer re-scheduling.

“It can’t be like this again,” Solskjaer said post-game. “You can’t play Thursday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday – it is impossible.

“That’s the reason why we had to make these changes because it is unheard of. I say it again, if this game was tomorrow, no problem and if we have another game on Saturday.

“If you have two days in between, there is no problem but this is impossible for the players to perform at this level Thursday night, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday. It is impossible.”

Time to regroup, recharge and be ready to bounce back on Thursday #MUFC pic.twitter.com/mCo7c5B0CN

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 11, 2021