Ole Solskjaer's current life
"I am on a ferry now," Solsa told The Athletic reporter over the phone. The former M.U captain began his first in-depth interview since leaving his seat at Old Trafford in 2021.
"I drove from my home in Kristiansund to Surnadal to guide the U16 team here. This team has 14 15-year-old boys, they are enjoying fun. The children remind me of when I first started playing football. It's great that I've been around my youngest son Elijah more at the moment. When I was sacked at Cardiff City, I also had time like this to train my son Noah and daughter Karna.
Recently, I have also received some invitations, but now, I just want to focus 100% on my family. This is a privilege because when you are the manager of Manchester United, you will have to sacrifice everything.
Currently, I continue my coaching work, 4 times a week with 3 teams. I try to help children, make them love football more. I see hope in their eyes, they are very eager to listen and learn. However, every time I watch top-flight football matches on TV, I feel a little short of it. Since leaving Man United, my children and I have traveled to many places in Europe to watch football such as Napoli, Milan or Dortmund. In the next few weeks, I will go to the US to meet Wayne Rooney and David Beckham, watch a few matches there" - Solskjaer shared.
Is there still a desire to become a professional coach?
"I have always said that there are and in fact there have been many invitations, most recently the two teams in Saudi Arabia. A friend and also my representative refused the invitation. If you have been to Manchester United, you will have your own standards for where you want to work.
I love England and the Premier League but I don't feel bound by anything there. Maybe in the near future, it will be another country with another tournament, where I can experience more about cultures, learn a new foreign language. Choosing a place to join the army needs to be calculated very carefully because once I have chosen it, that place must help me become myself. Maybe before, deciding to choose Cardiff City was a mistake, I felt there was a cultural conflict.
However, not everything is bad in Cardiff. I still remember working with so many good people, going to the headquarters every day to talk about football and planning together for the next matches. I like that feeling, where everyone is building together to become a strong team."
Regrets and memories at Manchester United
"I feel like I am missing a title at Manchester United. A successful penalty could have turned that into a reality (the penalty shootout loss to Villarreal in the Europa League final). If so, my career at M.U could have been viewed differently.
The title is very important, but laying the foundation for continuous good performances is equally important. We have been doing it for a long time and quite consistently. It's a pity that that's not enough, but I feel that I and the whole team have also completed the task of bringing joy to the fans. That was in September 2021 when Manchester United topped the rankings.
After that, Ronaldo, Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho joined. Man United should have become stronger with these stars, thereby challenging for titles. Unfortunately, that did not turn out to be true.
Fans and some media units said Ronaldo had ruined the team, saying he was a slanderous contract of Manchester United. At that time, it was very difficult for us to refuse this (to bring Ronaldo back) and have to accept it. In the end, it was a mistake. When Ronaldo signed the contract, everything seemed to be in place. He scored against Newcastle and shook Old Trafford. At that time, Ronaldo was still very strong, worthy of being one of the best strikers in the world.
Then we entered the decisive stage with the matches against Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Leicester, Chelsea and Arsenal; followed by the matches in the Champions League. Things started against Manchester United when a penalty missed in the last minute of the match against Aston Villa cost the team a 0-1 loss.
When playing in a group, people need to look in the same direction. When things start to go wrong, you will see a few big egos appear. We came back with a 3-0 win over Tottenham but lost two games in a row."
