Ole Gunnar Solskjaer calls out two 'sour' Man Utd players over dressing room leaks

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has described how certain Manchester United players became 'sour' when discussing dressing room leaks while he was manager at Old Trafford.

Solskjaer was initially appointed as interim manager of United in 2018 following Jose Mourinho's sacking, but was promoted to take full-time charge in the summer of 2019.

After guiding United to a Europa League semi-final and a second-placed Premier League finish that season, the side then lost to Villarreal in the Europa League final in 2020.

The following campaign, United struggled to live up to their previous heights under the Norwegian, and Solskjaer was sacked after a 4-1 defeat at Watford left them seventh in the Premier League table.

Towards the end of his reign, a number of leaks that were allegedly based on sources around the United dressing room emerged in various media outlets.

And speaking on the latest episode of The Overlap's Stick To Football, alongside presenters Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Roy Keane, special guest Solskjaer opened up on the leaks.

He explained: "I felt we [coaching staff] had a very good rapport with the players, but there are always one or two in a squad that leak things because they are unhappy.

"Being a manager, you play a game Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, you sack about 14 players every game, and the next morning you have to tell them they have another chance.

"There are only a certain amount of times you can say, 'I'll give you that game, you've got a chance'.

"In the end, they go sour. We had a big squad with too many players. If you have too many players, they get unhappy."

Solskjaer has not had another managerial role since his departure from United, although was recently linked with potentially replacing Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich until the end of the season.

However, the German giants subsequently confirmed that Tuchel would see out the campaign before vacating his role, with Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso the current favourite to take over at the Allianz Arena.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.

Topics: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United, Premier League

Ryan Smart

Live in constant hope of the top flight as a Preston North End fan. Written in the past for SPORF, GiveMeSport and more.