Marouane Fellaini was one of Jose Mourinho's warriors. In fact, any other manager prior to Jose, for club or country, only had words of praise for the towering midfielder. But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer thought otherwise. Fellaini only lasted a month at Old Trafford following Mourinho's exit last December.
The Belgian says, quoted by The Telegraph: "Mourinho, for the first season, he did amazingly, he improved the team, won things. OK, the second season [Marouane apparently means third here – Tribuna.com point out], was a bit more difficult but he tried, you know, and did his best to help the team. Then they decided to sack him and that’s football.
"For me, yes [they were too quick to sack him] because a manager like that comes and he needs a lot of players to do his own philosophy. He wanted to build his team and after two and a half years they decided to sack him because the results were not there. It’s not easy to build a team in that time, you need more than two years."
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came in last December and, a month later, sold Fellaini to China despite talking the Belgian up as an 'X-factor' player.
Fellaini speaks of Solskjaer: "I don’t know what they will do with this manager but, for me, to win things and to improve, you need time. That’s the problem with the coach and the direction, they have to find a solution together.
"Now you have a new manager, they wanted young players and that’s what happens when you play with just young players. They will be up and down, up and down, that’s football. Of course in football, you can’t play with just young players, you need a mix. To win games, to win titles, to win big games you need experience."
That's where the Belgian doesn't quite understand United's strategy: "The players who left are players of experience. So the coach decided he didn't need them, that’s the choice of the coach. He decided he doesn't need Sanchez or Lukaku. That’s his problem."
In the end, Fellaini doesn't seem to have had a nice time with Solskjaer: "He [Solskjaer] didn’t have a conversation if I will play or not. I was thinking I would start in the FA Cup [2-0 vs Reading] but I didn’t because he put young players in. After that, in my mind, I knew I would not be part of his team and I accept that, that’s his choice. No problem."
Agree with each point made?
