Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher admitted that he is deeply puzzled by the remarks that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer “failed” as Manchester United manager.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer returned to Old Trafford in 2018 and was appointed Red Devils caretaker manager after Jose Mourinho was sacked by the Premier League club.
The 53-year-old Manchester United legend enjoyed a successful run as caretaker boss and ultimately succeeded Jose Mourinho for the long term at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer, whose last managerial role was at Besiktas in 2025, was axed from his role as United manager in 2021 and later replaced by Erik ten Hag in 2022.
Jamie Carragher reacts to the negativity around Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Man Utd managerial reign at Old Trafford
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer experienced both the highs and lows as Manchester United head coach, including leading the Red Devils to second in the Premier League.
Both Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho are the only Man Utd managers to have led the Red Devils to second place in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era at Old Trafford.
However, the 53-year-old United legend was sacked from his role at Old Trafford without winning any major silverware as the Premier League club’s manager.
United reached the 2021 Europa League final under Solskjaer and the Red Devils lost to Spanish side Villarreal on penalties at the Stadion Gdansk in Poland.
Speaking on The Overlap’s ‘Fan Debate,’ Jamie Carragher said: “People always say, Ole, was it that, I don’t think it was that bad.
“I don’t think Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should have been totally honest. What he did is, I think the way he got Man United playing good football, they were back up there, and that’s sort of, was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ever going to be a Premier League winning manager?”
Jamie Carragher puts the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer situation in the context of Michael Carrick’s Man Utd interim reign
Liverpool legend Carragher touched on Solskjaer’s reign amid the discourse around whether or not Michael Carrick should be appointed permanently at Man Utd.
The 48-year-old pundit suggested that United interim boss Michael Carrick would draw the same comparisons as Solskjaer over challenging for a Premier League title.
“We didn’t look at him like that, to be from afar, or a Champions League-winning manager,” Carragher said.
“That’s probably the way we look at Carrick. You look at it and think, ‘Can he win the Premier League?’
“You think of some of the big managers that do it. But people always say, ‘But he failed with Ole.’ I think with Ole, I think you finish second one season, the Europa League final was a killer for you.
“If he had won that and been able to get a trophy, and the next killer was being [Cristiano] Ronaldo in for him, under Solskjaer, Man United were all right, they were decent.
“Now, would they ever make that last step, which is always the hardest? Probably not.”
Man Utd legend Solskjaer has been out of management since he was dismissed from his last managerial role at Super Lig outfit Besiktas in 2025.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/ndfuP82