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To go or not to go: Solskjaer holds ‘crisis talks’ with senior Man Utd players

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Harry Maguire was among the Man Utd players called into a meeting with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer / Mike Hewitt/GettyImages

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has held ‘crisis talks’ with six senior players ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash with Watford.

United go into the game at Vicarage Road with one win from their last six league fixtures, including embarrassing home defeats to Liverpool and Manchester City.

Solskjaer is under huge pressure to get a win against a Watford side that sits just two points above the relegation zone and has the fourth-worst defensive record in the Premier League so far.

It has been rumoured in recent weeks that key players have grown frustrated this season. Earlier this month, Bruno Fernandes was said to be among those concerned by the lack of clear game plans by Solskjaer and his staff.

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo, although not expecting to find the exact same club he left in 2009, is said to be ‘shocked’ by how far standards have fallen.

The Daily Mail writes that Solskjaer spoke with Fernandes, Ronaldo, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Victor Lindelof and Nemanja Matic at a 10am meeting at the club’s Carrington training ground on Thursday morning.

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The main point of discussion was how they would turn things around, as well as a tactical plan following a recent shift to a back three system.

With the majority of the United squad called up by their respective countries for World Cup qualifiers, Solskjaer used the first few days of this month’s international break to get away from it all by taking a short holiday with his family back in his native Norway.

Immediately after Watford, United face Villarreal in the Champions League, where anything other than a win would leave their progression to the knockout stages in doubt. Then come tough back-to-back Premier League fixtures against Chelsea and Arsenal.

-90min

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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