Football
Rob Dawson, Correspondent 5y

Solskjaer takes responsibility for Man United's sloppy display vs. Reading

MANCHESTER, England -- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took responsibility for Manchester United's lacklustre display against Reading after admitting his team selection had made the task more difficult.

United won for the fifth game in a row under the Norwegian but United were not at their best during the 2-0 victory and Reading, second from bottom of the Championship, ended the game having had more possession and more shots.

"It was always going be difficult with my team selection," Solskjaer said, after making nine changes to his team.

"I made it hard for the players to be fair on them because it's a team that's never played together.

"Reading made it really difficult for us. We never had a kick the first five minutes, they just kept possession and we weren't cohesive enough in the pressing. That happens when you don't have a team that doesn't plays together as much.

"We didn't have too much time to work. The pleasing thing is we're through and it's another clean sheet. Two-nil flatters us because I think they played some great stuff."

- Ratings: Sanchez 6/10, Romero 8/10

Solskjaer handed starts to Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez while 19-year-old Dutchman Tahith Chong came on for the final 30 minutes to make his senior debut.

Lukaku scored for the third game in a row but Sanchez, starting a game for the first time since Nov.7, was forced off with a hamstring injury.

"I think maybe he's happy that he got through 60 minutes," Solskjaer said. "Hopefully he won't be too bad. He's been out a month now, he's had 20 minutes against Newcastle, half an hour maybe.

"Now he's had 60 minutes, so it's about building up again. You know the quality he has.

"I think maybe when he gets another few games under his belt, he would have finished a little bit earlier on in the first half. He had one touch too many, could have finished when he was driving through the box, so he'll be fine."

The squad flew to Dubai on Saturday evening for a warm weather training camp ahead of the trip to Wembley to face Tottenham next Sunday.

The Premier League clash against Mauricio Pochettino's side will be the first real test of Solskjaer's reign but the caretaker boss insists he expects to win.

"You never anticipate setbacks, when you're at Man United you expect to go into next game and you expect the players to expect to win the game and I expect any Man United team I put out to win the next game," said Solskjaer.

"That doesn't mean I expect us to win all the games because it doesn't happen but they do go into a game and expect to win that one.

"Of course, Spurs away, Wembley, that's a proper test. We're looking forward to that one. That will give me more of a reference for where we are against the top boys. We're not happy talking about fifth, sixth or fourth in a year or two. The club needs to move on and move up the table."

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