Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has aimed a dig at England manager Gareth Southgate over his handling of Mason Greenwood.
Greenwood left the squad early over off-field controversy, but Solskjaer was not impressed with Southgate defying his request over a rest for the striker.
Solskjaer told his press conference streamed at 9.30 via MUTV that he tried to get Greenwood out of the squad.
“I have to be honest enough to say I tried my best to give him a rest over the summer. He needs it mentally & physically. First thing that happens is he’s called up, and he’s right there in the press,” said Solskjaer.
“He had a fantastic season, he’s just come through. We’ve worked, and the club have worked, when we give Mason enough time on the pitch, when we give him enough exposure in the media.
“We’ve done what we can to protect him, I’ve done what I can to help him, and when he comes back into the daily routine he’ll be fine.”
We have already been critical of the Three Lions boss for shoving Greenwood in front of the press straight away, when United have been so careful to manage his media exposure.
The spotlight on Greenwood has ramped up now he’s a United regular and England senior player.
The negative elements of that have become very clear in the last couple of weeks since Southgate put Greenwood front and centre at his press conference.
It also wasn’t a particularly good look when the Three Lions boss tried to deflect the attention from the abject display in the 0-0 draw against Denmark using the Greenwood off-field situation.
Sir Alex Ferguson was generally on a collision course with the international managers of his biggest stars, and Solskjaer has hinted at similar friction between himself and Southgate.
Like Ferguson, he is clearly fiercely protective of his players, especially the young ones. Solskjaer will back himself to help Greenwood through this off-field attention stronger than ever on the field.
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