Ole on Rashford Headlines
“Good afternoon, boys. Just to get the elephant out of the room straight away, we know the headlines that came after the Leicester game,” the manager told reporters before a question was asked. “We are so unbelievably proud of what Marcus has done on and off the pitch.
“You know what I said and you made a headline out of one little comment that I never intended to be the focus of what I was saying. I was saying it must be nice for the boy to focus on going into training and not feeling his ankle, or his shoulder or his back.
“Now he can just go and enjoy his football, and I think you all know that. So, there are no more questions on that one, or you can ask Marcus about it, but I just wanted to start with that one to get it out of the way.”
Rashford on loss vs Leicester
You know, I think at a club like Manchester United, as soon as you lose a game, this is what happens. I think for us as players, we have to just go back to basics, we have to look at ourselves and see what we can do better. We’ve had the conversation as a team, as we would do whether we win a game or lose a game. We know that the next game is another opportunity to improve and that’s the aim."
Ole on coaching staff
Every team will go through a patchy period, we are in one now, we know that.
"The coaching staff we have got is absolutely amazing, the attention to detail, training sessions, preparations. I don't think I could ask for better.
"They are Manchester United people with intention of helping the team grow."
"What I've done? As with every game we analyse the game, look at we have to improve on. But you move on quickly, which is Atalanta.
"We focus on what we need to be good at."
Rashford on conversations after defeat
"Yeah, but it’s not only after defeats, even after some games when we win and we know that we’ve not played well. It’s as important, if not more important to have the conversation after those because you want to nip it in the bud as soon as possible.
"Especially in the Premier League, you have to defend well, I don’t talk just about the back four and goalkeeper, as a team you have to defend as one. Against Leicester, it was just too open, it’s as simple as that. They’re a good footballing team, as there are a lot of them out there.
"It was too easy for them to break through us, it’s something we’ve analysed and we’re going to do our best not to let it happen again. The game tomorrow is a perfect opportunity for us to show that."
Ole on Ronaldos pressing
"We have got 11 players out there with different roles. We put a team out we think will win a game, if we don't win there will always be criticism.
"He is doing everything he can to help the team."
What would be a succesful season:
Ole: "It is not a jovial happy camp, they are focused and determined. Conceding four goals is a big eye-opener for us."
Rashford: I think for us, as players, we want to win silverware, and the staff as well, everyone wants to win trophies, but there are steps you have to take to get there, you don’t just win the trophies overnight. We’ve been on this journey a while now, it’s taking a while to get there, we’ve come close a lot of times. We have to find the difference between coming close and getting our hands on trophies. But after the period we’re in now, it’s the next games that counts, we don’t want to look too far ahead."
Feel safe in the job?
Ole:
"We've progressed over the years. Sixth when I was here for half a season, then third, second, you can see the progress, the development, the improvement.
"This season, we still want to improve. We've signed some players that have raised expectations. Other teams have signed players and improved as well. We're in the same boat as all of the top teams. "There's pressure all of the time, there's pressure on me, of course. We've been under pressure before but come through it. I'm just looking forward to the response now and, as you said, I'm in dialogue with the club all of the time, so that's an open and honest discussion.
"After every game, we look through the game, we analyse the game, we look at what we did well and what we didn't do well. You move on quickly to the next opponent.
"It's Atalanta, it's a different opposition, a different competition, and we focus on what we need to be good at in this game.
"And as I've said there's been loads of stuff that hasn't been good enough lately and we've put a few things right and hopefully tomorrow we can see the result from that with a good performance."
Carragher comments:
Ole:
"I prefer not to watch them two!
"It doesn’t affect me but of course you see some of the comments, we’ve got Liverpool on Sunday as well so Jamie is always looking at these little things.
"I’ve got my values, my way of managing, I believe in myself, as long as the club believes in me, I'm pretty sure Jamie Carragher’s opinion isn’t going to change that."
Atlanta:
Ole:
I am very impressed by their way, their style, the way they develop players. The manager is clearly very strong.
"Of course we signed Amad and watched them quite a lot. They have an attacking philosophy which many fans of football would like."
Rashford:
"I think they have a very aggressive style of play, I’d say, both in attacking and defensive situations. It’s a team [which is] definitely going to be a tough game. It’s going to be an intense game but it’s the type of test that we want, it’s the type of test that we’re going to thrive off and I believe that this game can bring the best out of our players, so hopefully we get the tough game that we want and show people what we can do."
