Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel calls for patience with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after UCL exit
Some change is needed, but he feels Ole should stay at the wheel

Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel was critical of his former club following their Champions League exit on Tuesday but has called for patience as the Red Devils aim to build towards returning to their glory years. United lost 3-2 at RB Leipzig to finish third in Group H, sending them to the Europa League. They needed just a draw, battled back from 3-0 down and almost got it, but it was the defensive woes that did this team in.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer went with one of his most defensive teams he's fielded, only to see his guys go down 2-0 after just 13 minutes with defensive mistake after defensive mistake.
"I did [watch the game]," Schmeichel, who is covering the Champions League for CBS Sports, said on the post-game show from Paris. "And I didn't enjoy it for absolutely sure. It was one of them nights that you just don't want to remember this. I thought the defending was so bad.
"So he plays a system where you have five at the back, and they were so narrow. And those two first goals, I don't know what happened in this game.
"In all fairness, the way Manchester United performed today, the way they played last week, they haven't deserved to go through."
Schmeichel was asked about whether his former teammate would keep his job, and he said he knows the pressure is going to mount, adding that the distractions haven't helped.
"That's going to be a big problem for Ole. This Ole out campaign will continue and will get more and more [forceful]," he said.
"There is no doubt about that problems that are at the club. We've had the whole Paul Pogba situation where the agent is out saying the relationship between Paul Pogba and the club has broken, and he wants to leave. All of these kind of stories is just going to add to the pressure on the players. I'm not saying that the pressure from that story got to the players today, but for sure it was a massive test. And I don't think they managed too well in that test."
United once again find themselves far from their best years under Sir Alex Ferguson and looking to find stability. In the Premier League, they are in sixth place but continue to concede first game after game, putting themselves in holes that they finally couldn't dig themselves out of. In their last nine games, they've gone behind first in seven of them.
"What is success? Do we have progress at the club? I think yes," he said. "I think we are trying to introduce a lot of young players. We know with young players, they are inconsistent in their performances, so it's not going to happen for them in every game."
He said Solskjaer needs to get rid of the players he doesn't count on, find players who are a better fit and praised the impact of Bruno Fernandes.
"There are some young players. It is worth waiting for this project to carry on a little bit," he said.
"Any top four position would be great and a good run in the Champions League. Obviously that's not happening now."
Schmeichel pointed out the changes at Liverpool, who believed in Jurgen Klopp and changed their fortunes at the back by getting Alisson and Virgil van Dijk. He hopes something similar can happen at Old Trafford.
"I see no point in changing the coach. I want a little bit of consistency. I want the directors of Manchester United and the owners of Manchester United to step up and say listen, we believe in this project Ole is having and give him a little bit of peace and quiet," he said.
"It's not good enough."
The folks back in the studio know that's how you feel Peter.
There was a camera on @pschmeichel1 while he was watching the Man Utd match 😂 pic.twitter.com/CqX2ABjme1
— Champions League on CBS Sports (@UCLonCBSSports) December 8, 2020
















