Solskjaer questions players mentality … after United’s loss in Carabao Cup

OLE Gunnar Solskjaer questioned the mentality of his Manchester United stars after a first-half capitulation against bitter rivals Manchester City.

The Norwegian admitted United have a ‘mountain to climb’ if they are to reach the Carabao Cup final after going down 3-1 in Tuesday night’s first leg.

Solskjaer told his squad to take pride in the shirt during a half-time dressing down after City scored three goals in 21 minutes before the break.

Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez and an Andreas Pereira own goal looked to have taken the tie away from United before Marcus Rashford later gave them a lifeline.

“The first half, from their first goal, was the worst we’ve played,” Solskjaer said.

“Pride is a word you speak about at half-time. It’s natural that your head goes down but we have to get back into the mentality quicker. It can’t be me at half-time.

“Make sure you win the second half and you’re still in the tie. It’s a difficult task ahead of us. Even though it is a steep mountain to climb we can still climb it.

“We’ve got a young team. We’re still learning. These experiences will stick. The second half gives me something to believe in.”

Former United midfielder Darren Fletcher blasted United’s central defensive pairing, Phil Jones and Victor Lindelof. “One of the centre-backs has to be brave and engage somebody,” he said.

“They can’t stand there marking nobody it is absolutely killing the rest of the team.’

Guardiola warned that his City side can play better despite their first-half blitz at Old Trafford.

“We played really good before half-time,’ Guardiola said. ‘They changed to a diamond in the second half and we struggled a bit.” – Sportsmail