‘Keep it coming’: Sass-kjaer thrives on Man Utd criticism

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he thrives on criticism and told journalists in his press conference to “keep it coming”.

The United boss was under huge pressure ahead of his side’s 3-0 win over Spurs on Saturday.

Their previous Premier League outing saw them smashed 5-0 at home to Liverpool, leading to reported discussions over his future at the club.

READ MORE: Premier League winners and Nuno Espirito Santo

But Solskjaer changed his system to claim victory away at Spurs, leading instead to Nuno Espirito Santo’s dismissal and the resulting Antonio Conte chaos.

And Solskjaer insisted he enjoys the criticism in quite the sassy comment in his pre-Atalanta press conference.

He said: “Criticism can make you doubt yourself or you can stand up for yourself. I’ve always enjoyed it, keep it coming. We’ve all got different jobs and it is their jobs to give their opinion.

“I am not here to fight with anyone.”

There were reports that the United players had ‘lost faith’ with Solskjaer, but the manager claims his side didn’t need the Spurs win to improve their belief.

He said: “That belief was there before the game against Liverpool. Both games are the past, doesn’t change anything for us.

“The reaction from the players was good, it is always difficult to handle a loss against biggest rivals. We let (the fans) down that time, but that is the past. We focused on Tottenham, now we must forget that win and think what we can do vs Atalanta.”

United are in the midst of a tough run of fixtures that will see them take on Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in quick succession in the Premier League, as well as tough away Champions League ties against Villarreal and Atalanta.

United head into their clash against Atalanta top of their Champions League group with two wins from three games.

But the Italian side gave Solskjaer’s side a scare in the return fixture, which saw United 2-0 down before coming back to claim all three points.

And the Nowegian claims they are a “unique” side, but is well aware of the dangers they pose.

“Atalanta are a team with unique style of play and still believe in themselves. It is always little things they might try to do different to win any game.

We are the same as them, you always try to cause problems for the opposition.”