Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has sought to shrug off an outburst aimed at Jesse Lingard through Manchester United’s Carabao Cup clash with Manchester City that saw him warn the England global: “One more time and you are f*cking off”.
The Red Devils boss was captured on camera bellowing the warning towards his midfielder in the 58th minute of this semi-final second leg in the Etihad Stadium.
United had hauled themselves back to the derby competition by that point, with Nemanja Matic’s first-half strike giving them hope of overturning a two-goal deficit.
So as to push for a second, Solskjaer was searching for his side to take control of proceedings and dictate the pace.
He was impressed with Lingard’s ball retention, but with a single cluttered pass just before the hour mark allowing City to spring out on the counter and ship Raheem Sterling through one with David de Gea.
Solskjaer made his feelings known to the 27-year-old, who has struggled for form this year and did wind up hauling the out-of-sorts playmaker off in the 65th minute.
Quizzed on his rant towards Lingard on the rear of this 1-0 win over City which wasn’t enough to reserve a final berth at Wembley, Solskjaer stated: “Only heat of the moment, once in a while.
“When you eliminate the ball, make sure we try to play more. And in the next moment, he and Victor [Lindelof] grew in confidence and began playing.
“Once in a while you are going to make mistakes but if you are going to come here and only defend you have got no opportunity.
“Yes, we made one or two dangerous moments with how we attempted to play our way out, but that is how we need the box to express themselves.
“We must do this to release the pressure.”
He’s gone over 12 months with no Premier League goal, with his final effort from the English top-flight coming from Solskjaer’s first match at the helm against Cardiff in December 2018.
Just two efforts are recorded by the midfielder this season from Astana from the Europa League and Tranmere Rovers at the FA Cup, and questions are asked of his potential after linking up with the so-called ‘super broker’ Mino Raiola.
