Solskjaer’s ‘no excuses’ claim reminds Man Utd stars of unwanted record

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has told his Manchester United stars there are "no excuses" heading into Wednesday's Carabao Cup clash against Manchester City.

The Red Devils boss also delivered a rallying-call to his trophy-chasing stars as they look to reach a cup final at the fourth time of asking, having set an unwanted record last season.

After losing to Pep Guardiola's men in the final four of the competition last season, the Red Devils went on to lose at the semi-final stage of the FA Cup and Europa League.

Indeed, United's failure to reach a final last season also saw them endure a third successive trophyless season for the first time since 1989.

Defeat at the hands of Sevilla in the semi-final of the Europa League meant their success in Europe's secondary competition in 2017 was their last piece of silverware.

Jose Mourinho led them to victory over Ajax in Sweden on that occasion but his successor Solskjaer could not replicate the feat last term.

The Special One picked up three trophies during his first year in charge at Old Trafford – The Community Shield, the EFL Cup and the Europa League.

Solskjaer took over from Mourinho when his spell was cut short with divisions rife in the dressing room.

But while he made plenty of strides forward in his first full year in charge, the Norwegian saw his side lose in three semi-finals.

However Solskjaer is confident of taking that important next step when leading in-form United into a fourth successive cup semi-final against rivals City at an empty Old Trafford.

"The next game is always important but of course a semi-final is a chance to get to the final, to get your hands on a trophy in the next round and for this team it would be a very, very big step getting your hands on a trophy," the United manager said.

"We've developed a lot in the last six months, last 12 months since the last semi in the Carabao Cup so of course it's not just learning to win semis.

"We've also earned the right to feel we can go all the way with our performances.

"We are confident, we are going into the game with good form so there's no excuses."

Source: Read Full Article