"It's going to be survival of the fittest or survival of the best. That's how ruthless we have to be. We need players here who are going to be able to take us forward.
"That means culture in the dressing room and what we do every single day here to make us challenge again.
"Liverpool and City are too far ahead at the moment for what we like. We played against a Barcelona team that sets the standard in European football.
"We're under no illusion it's going to be hard work and there will be some tough decisions made by me, Mike [Phelan] and the club.
"We have a certain standard here. We got a great boost, now it's more challenging times with the results and performances.
"You want to see players step up and say now, 'I want to be part of this.'"
Seen Ole repeat this phrase, of Survival of the Fittest. Here are some earlier comments of his:
“It’s probably linked, yes,” said Solskjaer. “But when do you make that change? Do you wait until pre-season and think you will change results by just not asking them to run?
“Or do we start now and show them demands of intensity and how we want to play?”
“You have seen what I have chosen,” he added. “We need to play as a Manchester United team. If you want to be a part of Manchester United, it’s a survival of the fittest isn’t it?”
“They are getting older aren’t they, Juan, Nemanja (Matic), Ander. So it’s about the preparation, the standards that you have to live up to on and off the pitch as a Manchester United player, and as a professional player in the Premier League.
“It’s not just turning up, playing and training and then going home and doing all these little out-of-football activities that we have all seen too many players doing.
“I’m pleased with the way my lads have responded in that way, that we don’t see too much of them outside football.
“That was a big part of my career –- as long as you are a footballer and you play in the Premier League, make the most of it because suddenly you get these injuries and you are done.”
I find this attitude very good to see, looks like he doesn't want sicknotes, or lazy players, and leans towards younger, fitter players, and aims to:
"I have got some targets, I want a Manchester United team that is one of the hardest working teams in the league, one of the fittest teams in the league and that then will bring results. I think the players know my expectations on the future."
Its also noteworthy (but didn't get picked up on the Caf) that Gary Walker, Manchester United’s Head of Strength and Conditioning, left the club last month after 11 years to move to the MLS. I suspect pushed out, as part of the drive for better fitness.
What I can't understand despite these great developments, is the giving out of new contracts, or extending contracts, or having 'in his plans' Phil Jones, Rojo, Young, Darmian, unless its just a ploy by the club to recoup some transfer money before they actually ruthlessly sell them on this Summer.
But I would expect from Ole's words, that any player not putting the kilometres, or spending a lot of time on the treatment table, will not have much future at United.
Considering that previously we have run less kilometres per game than any other team:
Man Utd distance covered under Mourinho
Season Distance covered (avg in brackets) Ranking in Premier League
2016-17 4,023.4km (105.88) 20th
2017-18 4,099.8km (107.88) 19th
2018-19 744.6km (106.37) 19th -
Some of our players who have been lazy might be in trouble:
Martial and Lukaku are in the bottom 25 players in the league for least kilometres run, Martial actually in bottom 10.
"That means culture in the dressing room and what we do every single day here to make us challenge again.
"Liverpool and City are too far ahead at the moment for what we like. We played against a Barcelona team that sets the standard in European football.
"We're under no illusion it's going to be hard work and there will be some tough decisions made by me, Mike [Phelan] and the club.
"We have a certain standard here. We got a great boost, now it's more challenging times with the results and performances.
"You want to see players step up and say now, 'I want to be part of this.'"
Seen Ole repeat this phrase, of Survival of the Fittest. Here are some earlier comments of his:
“It’s probably linked, yes,” said Solskjaer. “But when do you make that change? Do you wait until pre-season and think you will change results by just not asking them to run?
“Or do we start now and show them demands of intensity and how we want to play?”
“You have seen what I have chosen,” he added. “We need to play as a Manchester United team. If you want to be a part of Manchester United, it’s a survival of the fittest isn’t it?”
“They are getting older aren’t they, Juan, Nemanja (Matic), Ander. So it’s about the preparation, the standards that you have to live up to on and off the pitch as a Manchester United player, and as a professional player in the Premier League.
“It’s not just turning up, playing and training and then going home and doing all these little out-of-football activities that we have all seen too many players doing.
“I’m pleased with the way my lads have responded in that way, that we don’t see too much of them outside football.
“That was a big part of my career –- as long as you are a footballer and you play in the Premier League, make the most of it because suddenly you get these injuries and you are done.”
I find this attitude very good to see, looks like he doesn't want sicknotes, or lazy players, and leans towards younger, fitter players, and aims to:
"I have got some targets, I want a Manchester United team that is one of the hardest working teams in the league, one of the fittest teams in the league and that then will bring results. I think the players know my expectations on the future."
Its also noteworthy (but didn't get picked up on the Caf) that Gary Walker, Manchester United’s Head of Strength and Conditioning, left the club last month after 11 years to move to the MLS. I suspect pushed out, as part of the drive for better fitness.
What I can't understand despite these great developments, is the giving out of new contracts, or extending contracts, or having 'in his plans' Phil Jones, Rojo, Young, Darmian, unless its just a ploy by the club to recoup some transfer money before they actually ruthlessly sell them on this Summer.
But I would expect from Ole's words, that any player not putting the kilometres, or spending a lot of time on the treatment table, will not have much future at United.
Considering that previously we have run less kilometres per game than any other team:
Man Utd distance covered under Mourinho
Season Distance covered (avg in brackets) Ranking in Premier League
2016-17 4,023.4km (105.88) 20th
2017-18 4,099.8km (107.88) 19th
2018-19 744.6km (106.37) 19th -
Some of our players who have been lazy might be in trouble:
Martial and Lukaku are in the bottom 25 players in the league for least kilometres run, Martial actually in bottom 10.