‘I wanted to show the manager I should be playing more’

“We had a fantastic squad, a fantastic team spirit and the hunger in the team was unbelievable,” said Solskjaer. “Of course, with the quality of players [we had], some quality players had to start on the bench and stay on the bench.  

“I remember Jim Ryan telling me, when I was coming on: ‘We’re winning 4-1 so you don’t need to do anything stupid or daft. Just keep the ball.’ And those were the wise words.

“To be honest, the manager always used to say to us go and express yourselves, go and enjoy it. We were 4-1 up and had won the game anyway. For the opponents, 4-1 was close enough for them to have to have a go, and I knew there would be spaces for me to run into. Every time I was on the pitch, I wanted to show the manager I should be playing more.”