Mikael Silvestre explains why Man Utd are right to snub Antonio Conte appointment

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Manchester United are right to stand by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, according to Mikael Silvestre. The Frenchman played alongside the Norwegian at Old Trafford. And he feels the club were wise not to go for Antonio Conte, who is now in charge of Tottenham.

Until recently, United were being linked with Conte.

It was reported the Italian was keen on taking over at Old Trafford, especially with Solskjaer struggling to coax the best from his star-studded squad.

But, now, that won’t be happening.

Conte has replaced Nuno Espirito Santo at Tottenham, with the Italian taking over on Tuesday following his departure from Inter Milan back in the summer.

And Silvestre, speaking to MyBettingSites, has claimed United were right to stick with Solskjaer.

“I don’t think United missed out on anything [by not hiring Conte],” said the retired defender.

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“I believe Ole has the support of the club. There was no missing out on Conte.

“Conte can definitely improve Tottenham. He needs to be given some resources to recruit in the transfer window.

“He’s a proven manager and he’s won trophies. It’s a new experience for him, a new club, new players and joining during the course of the season is never easy because you don’t have as much time to work in training with players on your principles.”

Silvestre also thinks United won’t lose heavily to Manchester City this weekend.

The Red Devils go up against Pep Guardiola’s side looking to avoid a repeat of their last home match, where they were beaten 5-0 by Liverpool.

And he said: “The team won’t suffer another heavy defeat [like they did against Liverpool].

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“They will put on a fight, especially at home, for the supporters.

“Ole’s job is safe because he’s got enough credit and the players responded at Spurs. They picked up a point away from home against Atalanta, they are a decent team.

“United are still leading the Champions League group, so it’s a good response after the 5-0 defeat.

“At the moment Ole needs more time because we’re only at the beginning of November and players joined late in the window.

“He needs time to find the right balance with the new players, it’s not easy.

“Nine times out of 10, changing the manager is not the answer. The target is to win trophies, so you need to be in the race in March and April.

“That gives him a lot of time to improve the team.”

Two players to have struggled for United in recent weeks are Harry Maguire and Jadon Sancho.

But Silvestre feels the pair will improve.

On Maguire, he said: “Harry was injured and he came back when there was a lack of confidence and the team started conceding more goals than usual. He wasn’t able to stop that.

“So being the captain, he needs to be on top of his game all the time and to protect David [de Gea].

“Over the course of the season, there’s going to be a time when you’re not going to be at your best, so hopefully this is the time he will respond.

“It’s important that he stays [in the team]. He hasn’t been awful, he just hasn’t been as good. His standard is higher than what we’ve seen over the last two or three games.”

And, on Sancho, he added: “He needs to rediscover his form that led to his signing at United.

“His time will come, I’m sure of that, the sooner the better.

“He needs to stay focused and believe in himself because he’s got talent, that’s for sure.

“When you change the formation like that [with five at the back], you overload the defensive part if you play with Fred and Scott [McTominay], so you have to sacrifice a forward.

“But the season is long, there are a lot of twists and turns, suspensions, injuries, so Sancho’s time will come. He has enough qualities to break into the team and to bring what he did at Dortmund.”

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