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JADON SANCHO FLOUNDERS, RASHFORD UNCOMFORTABLE – OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER EXPLAINS MAN UNITED STRUGGLES

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reveals Jadon Sancho's difficult start at Man Utd was due to a severe ear infection that hospitalised him. The former boss also admits he doesn't know why Marcus Rashford "did not enjoy himself" at Old Trafford.

Jadon Sancho Flounders, Rashford Uncomfortable – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Explains Man United Struggles
Solskjaer Cites Bad Setting for Star Struggles - Credit: AFP

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does not know why Marcus Rashford "did not enjoy himself" at Old Trafford, but he does attribute Jadon Sancho's difficulties under him at Manchester United to a bad ear.

During the majority of his tenure as United's manager, Solskjaer pushed the team to sign Sancho for £73 million from Borussia Dortmund in the summer before the Norwegian was fired. Solskjaer managed 149 games as manager from March 2019 to November 2021 before Erik ten Hag took over.

After failing to impress at United, Sancho went back to Dortmund on loan before making brief moves to Chelsea and now Aston Villa.

Additionally, Solskjaer, who was fired by Besiktas after just 29 games, has stated that he was unable to get the best out of Sancho because he was hospitalised with an ear infection shortly before coming to United.

"We wanted to take the next step — not move away from what we had, but add something different in the final third," Solskjaer stated in an interview with The Overlap.

Jadon provided us with the skill, link-up play, and small passes around the box that we were looking for in a player.

However, he was unlucky. Like everyone else, he had a vacation before joining and ended up with an ear infection.

Before he could even begin training with us, he spent the first ten days or so in the hospital and struggled greatly.

It has not actually surfaced before. Therefore, I never really had the opportunity to play with him properly because I was already leaving by the time he was getting back into form.

Rashford flourished under Unai Emery at Villa Park in the second half of the previous season, while Sancho finds it difficult to make an impression at Aston Villa. Now, the United loanee is dominating in Barcelona, scoring six goals and dishing out nine assists in just 16 games for the Catalans, who will undoubtedly exercise their option to extend his loan permanently for £30 million at the end of the current campaign.

Even if Solskjaer acknowledges that Rashford "did not enjoy himself" at United, he is unable to pinpoint a single cause.

During his appearance on Stick to Football, he stated, "Since I left, I have not spoken to Marcus. I email him occasionally, but circumstances."

"I am not sure what is going on in his life, but it is clear that he is having fun in Barcelona right now.

He did not seem to be having fun here. It is not only Man United, in my opinion; it is a problem everywhere.

"Every single pressure is unique, and when the players arrive at the office in the morning grumpy, we have no idea what is going on. It is the manager's responsibility to ask, 'What is up? I see that something is amiss.

We only want him to succeed; we have no idea what has transpired. He has that enthusiasm and is a fantastic player when he is pleased and in form.

"When I think about Erling Haaland, to put it simply, his constant energy and passion on the field is the least I can say.

However, what is it? Too many games? We are not sure, but he has struck the ideal equilibrium.

EX-CAPTAIN NEVILLE CLAIMS SUBSTITUTIONS MADE MANCHESTER UNITED "WORSE" AGAINST WOLVES

Gary Neville slams Ruben Amorim’s "weird" substitutions and tactical shifts after Manchester United's 1-1 draw with bottom-side Wolves.

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Was the halftime substitution a tactical error or an injury?

Gary Neville said that the performance of Manchester United in their match against winless Wolves was ‘the baddest of the bad.’

United would have moved fourth in the league with a win at Old Trafford last night, although Wolves, who had two points in 18 games before kickoff, ended their record of 11 straight losses with a 1-1 draw.

Amorim’s team had been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by a League Two team, Grimsby, in August, but Neville was convinced that United had hit rock bottom in a game that could have been even more one-sided were it not for two important saves by Senne Lammens.

“That was the baddest of the bad," the former United captain declared on the Gary Neville podcast.

“They weren’t just booed off at the final whistle. The fans waited in the stadium to continue to boo them. They’ve gone backwards.”

United had won at Newcastle 1-0 on Boxing Day, despite being plagued by an injury list that already lacked skipper Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, and Matthijs de Ligt, as well as three players on African Cup of Nations duty.

But they remained flat right from the first whistle, and the header by Ladislav Krejci just before the half bottled Joshua Zirkzee's deflected shot.

Amorim’s formation choice of 3-4-3 was brought into focus once more as the Portuguese opted to go back to his preferred tactic of four at the back against Newcastle.

“This isn’t right. I’ve watched enough of United over the last five or six weeks to know what looks right and what isn’t right,” Neville had declared 20 minutes into his commentary on Sky Sports.

“Because, when I see that we go back (to three at the back) after five minutes tonight, I’m thinking, no, Ruben, why have you done that?

"The manager has to look at that and think, I got that wrong. I complicated it."

However, Amorim decided to substitute Zirkzee at halftime and brought on an 18-year-old Jack Fletcher, who made his third appearance at the senior level.

Regarding substitutions made by Amorim, Neville further added, “They made Manchester United worse. Every single substitution was ridiculous.”

‘If Zirkzee was injured, and it was a tactical substitution, that was a very poor one.’ But Zirkzee isn't Eric Cantona, not by a long shot, and he had to get out there for physicality, for presence, for experience.”

SEE LISANDRO MARTINEZ’S FURIOUS REACTION AFTER MAN UTD’S SHOCK WOLVES DRAW

Lisandro Martinez demands more after Man Utd’s 1-1 draw with bottom-placed Wolves. United ended 2025 sixth in the Premier League.

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Martinez slams United’s tactical mistakes

Stand-in captain Lisandro Martinez was mad that Manchester United dropped points against Wolves, who are at the bottom of the league.

United came into the last game of 2025 after a good win against Newcastle on Boxing Day and were expected to easily beat Wolves.

Joshua Zirkzee scored first for United, but they didn't take their chances. Ladislav Krejci's header tied the game for Wolves, 1-1.

It was only their third point in 19 games, and it stopped their 11-game losing streak. United fans booed at the end of the game.

When Martinez was asked if it felt like a disappointing point, he said, 100 percent.

We are very disappointed. We can't keep drawing or losing points at home. We have to win.

We want to be at the top, competing with the best.

We can't drop points in games like this. We just have to accept it and be hungry for the next game.

Martinez was captain again because Bruno Fernandes is still recovering from an injury.

When United coach Ruben Amorim was asked about injured players for the game against Leeds on Sunday, he didn't give much away. Leeds are really wanting to beat United for the first time since 2010.

Martinez said to MUTV, You can either make excuses, or you can be strong and say, 'We're dropping points, so we need to go for the next one and show what we can do.'

We need to work together and do the easy things to get the three points.

United is in sixth place in the league at the end of 2025, only two points behind Liverpool for the last Champions League spot. Liverpool has a game in hand.

They could be in a better position if they had been better in both boxes. Leeds has been playing well lately, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin doing great up front.

Martinez added, It's about us. I don't like to think about other teams.

I'm thinking about what we can do to get better as a team every day, and we have to learn from this game.

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