Solskjaer demands more attacking adventure

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes his players need to take more risks going forward if we are to beat Liverpool on Sunday.

In his pre-match press conference at the Aon Training Complex, the manager said he would like to see more of the attacking adventure he believes is ingrained in the club’s DNA.

“Of course, it's about results and [to] start winning games and start scoring goals, which is the main thing,” insisted Ole. “We need to create more chances because, at the back, I think we've looked solid, but we haven't been adventurous enough, taking enough risks.

“If you watch the best teams around, they risk the ball more often than we do, make more runs in behind and that's part of the process for the boys.

“When they're losing confidence, maybe they want to play a bit more safe and it's my duty to say 'come on'. It's not safety here. At this club, you do take risks.”

The Reds come into the game on a disappointing run of form in the Premier League, but Ole suggested the weekend’s crunch clash should provide ample motivation for his players to get a big result.

John O’Shea, Rio Ferdinand, Diego Forlan and, of course, Solskjaer are among those who have scored famous goals against the Merseysiders and the Norwegian wants one of his current squad to follow suit.

“It's working towards something and the staff, the players, they know when it's Liverpool coming up,” he added.

“It's a game that's going to be watched by so many and, when you sign for Man United, this is the first one you look forward to every year when the fixture list comes out, because at home against one of your main rivals, it's always been a big fixture.

“It's a chance for them to, as I did a couple times, get in the history books, because if you score a winner against Liverpool, that's always going to be there with them.”

United have been affected by injuries in recent weeks, with Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial having missed two months of action so far and David De Gea and Paul Pogba already ruled out of Sunday's game.

Ole compared the current situation to when Jurgen Klopp first arrived at Liverpool in 2015, suggesting the players need time to get used to the pressing work they’re being asked to do.

“I didn't feel that they had the robustness and the mentality at times and, for us, we've been working really hard on the physical robustness, the conditioning,” he added.

“Of course we've had injuries, but that's maybe part of the process here.

“I remember when Jurgen came in at Liverpool as well, if we compare, he also seemed to get a few injuries early on, maybe because of the workload and the intensity he wanted his team to play in, and you don't see that anymore.

“He can play with the same XI every week and we'll get there.”