Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists Manchester United must stay true to their principles despite admitting that this season was never going to be straightforward.
United squeezed past Rochdale in the third round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday, eventually defeating the League One outfit on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
“I don’t worry what the press write about other teams or me and Man United,” he said. “We are focused on what we have to do: to keep improving. Reading the papers doesn’t change my view. Sometimes my kids are asking: ‘What’s this [criticism] all about?’
“When I was a player it was always Man United hogging the headlines. We wouldn’t want to scramble through the newspapers to see if things have been written about us. That’s our rightful place. When we lose a game or go through difficult periods we must keep our eyes on the prize and keep working in the direction we believe.
“I never said it was going be easy this season. There are going to be ups and downs, highs and lows. And when we lose a game we have to trust ourselves and what we’re doing, [keep our] eyes on the prize and keep the principles we believe in.
“Any game in the Premier League is winnable but also losable. It’s margins, fine margins and sometimes you stand there smiling happy to have won a game, sometimes angry because you’ve lost. You’ve got to portray the right image.”
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