Solskjaer's defiant words come back to bite him after Liverpool defeat

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is facing questions regarding his future after the humiliating defeat against Liverpool despite stating early in his reign that he "would be successful".

Manchester United shipped five at Old Trafford as their flaws were greatly exposed by their arch rivals on Sunday.

Pressure has intensified on the Red Devils boss following a poor start to the campaign.

Solskjaer is into his third full season at Old Trafford and, after steady improvement, must deliver a trophy to justify the club's patience and investment.

He inhterhited a group low on morale in 2019, but initially got results. They quickly tailed off and early in his permanent role he saw United lose 4-0 at Everton.

Solskjaer's tenure was in its infancy with changes incoming and the Norwegian declared he would be a success story.

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer claimed after defeat at Everton in 2019 that he would be a success at Man Utd ( Image:

GETTY)

He said in April 2019: "If you want to play at this club, you have to give more. I want my team to be the hardest working team in the league - that's what we were under Sir Alex.

"You ran more than anyone, every single week. We can't change the whole squad in one fail swoop but we'll take one step at a time.

"As I've said all along, I'm going to be successful here - and there are players here who won't be part of that success. Many do have what it takes, others don't".

Players have come and gone but United remain without silverware and Solskjaer has, so far, been unable to back up his words with actions.

Several semi-final defeats and a loss in last year's Europa League final are his best efforts.

This year, following the signings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane, United have been unable to turn their impressive group of individuals into a collective.

Performances have been below par and recent defeats against Leicester and Liverpool have highlighted the team's issues.

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Solskjaer's side face games against Tottenham, Atalanta, Manchester City and Chelsea in the next five weeks.

The Norwegian claimed Sunday's defeat was his "darkest day" but was adamant he had total faith in the his ability.

He said: "I do believe in myself, I do believe that I am getting close to what I want with the club, I think what we've done, what I've seen, the development, of course, the results lately haven't been good enough.

"But I've got to keep strong and I do believe in what we've been doing, the coaching staff and the players."