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The Football Interview - Season 1 Episode 14 -
Ole Gunnar Solskjær
Ole Gunnar Solskjær
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00:00the questions they don't normally get asked as I try to find out more about the person
00:04behind the player or manager. The first half will be on football, the second on their life
00:09away from the game. This isn't just any interview, this is the football interview.
00:14And this week I'm joined by the former Manchester United player and manager, Oli Gunnar Solskjaer.
00:19Oli, good to see you. Let's start with football. Why football? Why did you end up in the game?
00:30Because football is the best game in the world. I think it's such an easy game, it connects
00:35everyone. But for me, I can't remember life without football. Since I was young, my mum
00:39and dad, they told me. One of the first things I kicked was one of the lamps. So I just enjoyed
00:46kicking and it's given me my life, everything. Can you remember a moment where you thought,
00:52okay, this could not only be something I enjoy, but potentially I could make it here?
00:57Not really, because as a kid, I always used to score goals. But when I got to 15, 16, I was
01:03a very late developer. So then I thought, nah, I'm not going to make it in football. I'm just
01:09going to enjoy playing football. Then I went into the army when I was 19 to 20. Obviously
01:15that says, okay, you're probably not going to be a footballer. But when I got back from
01:22the army at 20, I went for it a couple of years. And then suddenly I was in the 21 national
01:28team and playing for Molde and did well.
01:32That's quite a journey, isn't it? And that's quite a change to go from football, army, football.
01:38Yeah. What did being in the army kind of do for you?
01:43Made me more independent. I had to grow up. Suddenly I wasn't living with my mum and dad
01:48and my sister anymore. So yeah, I think I became a lot more mature. I learned a lot, socialising
01:56with people from all different places in the country. We're placed there together in a room
02:03of six or eight and we've just got to get on. And it was a, it was a great year actually.
02:08Is it mandatory to go into the army? Was it a choice?
02:10Yeah. Yeah.
02:11So you always knew you were going to have to do it?
02:13Yeah. Unless you have a special talent or maybe you're in the national teams and all this.
02:19Did you have a special talent?
02:20No, I didn't. Because of all things in the army, we had like an army football team as well.
02:26We had a training session maybe once or twice. We had to, there was like a Norwegian championship
02:32of army teams. And I was not in, in the team in my camp. No. And that's another thing that,
02:40okay, I know I'm better than him. I know I'm better than him. I will be better than him,
02:44but it's other people's view on what, or I wasn't maybe strong enough or big enough in that team that
02:51the way he wanted to play. So that it was a kind of a revenge, you know, when you, when you look back
02:58and okay, they didn't believe in me, but I showed all of them.
03:01And you had an illustrious playing career, but of course it's headlined by Manchester United.
03:07Yeah.
03:07Talk to me about the first time you knew of a possibility to come over here to England,
03:12to one of the most decorated clubs in the world.
03:15It was. So for Norway, this is probably one of the most important games in my career.
03:22We played Norway against Azerbaijan and I scored two very good goals.
03:27Goals. Coincidentally, Jim Ryan, the assistant manager, he was watching Ronnie Onsen, who we signed.
03:33He was sat next to Mark McGee, at that time Wolverhampton manager, chatting as they do.
03:39Mark McGee is looking for a centre forward. Jim Ryan's watching the game. I scored two goals.
03:45Perfect. So he thinks, okay, Wolverhampton will probably sign this boy. He rang Sir Alex that night
03:53and said, I think I found one and it won't be expensive. It's a cheap one, but we've got to be quick
03:59because Wolverhampton are also signing centre forward. So it went really, really fast.
04:05That must have been a whirlwind for you.
04:06Brilliant. Absolutely top. But you're never 100% sure until you sign the deal. So,
04:12but I more or less knew. So before my last game for Molde, I said to Oge Hare, who was the coach,
04:20if I score today, I'm going to take my shirt off, throw it into the stands and run off the pitch.
04:26He said, oh, no, no, you can't do that. But wait until 10 minutes before full time.
04:30And that's exactly what happened. I think I scored the fifth goal, 5-1.
04:34And I just threw the shirt in the, ran off the pitch and we had no subs ready to come on.
04:40So we had to play a few minutes without, with 10 men. Yeah, it was a whirlwind over time.
04:46The media were like outside my house or apartment and wanted interviews. And I just tried to stay
04:52away from all that. Was that all new? Like a whole new level of fame?
04:55Of course, because 18 months before Man United, I played for Klausneng and my local team in front of
04:5950 people. So of course, it was a big, like big step up in attention. But I think I've been quite
05:07okay in handling these situations. I always ask players and with you, it feels even more
05:12prominent because you've played in some of the biggest games. Yeah.
05:15If you could relive one game from your career, what would it be?
05:19Of course, the Champions League final in 1999. I thought you might say that.
05:23I was 80 minutes on the bench, like really like unhappy with the manager. Why don't you put me on
05:29really? We're losing the game. And it's so, football is so emotional and it's like, I'm, you're so low
05:35and you're so, you want to get on the pitch. So 80 minutes of real agony. But then I managed to play
05:4215 minutes and those 15 minutes, I'd really love to play again. It changed history, of course,
05:49changed my life. It didn't make me a better footballer. But of course, that changed my life
05:55as in, we made history and I was the one that was fortunate enough to score that goal. And so many
06:02men have come up to me and said, thank me for giving them the best moment of their lives. Don't tell my
06:07wife, please, will you? You mentioned before that you were annoyed with Sir Alex. Obviously,
06:11you would have always wanted to start. Yeah. But you gained this incredible reputation, didn't you?
06:16Yeah. As a super sub, I know every footballer wants to start every game. How did you embrace
06:22that? I had discussions with Sir Alex. I signed a long, long term contract. So what I did was I put
06:28my career in his hands, really. And I more or less said to myself, just do your best. I've seen so many
06:36strikers sulking when they're on the bench. And I felt, okay, someone, they've played 70, 80 minutes,
06:42defenders, they're tired. I come on, I can make a difference. I'm fresh, as long as my head is fresh
06:49and my mentality is good. If we were winning 1-0, I was never going to come on. So I was, I never hoped
06:55that we were. On 0-0, I was like, don't score, don't score until he puts me on. 1-0 down, yeah,
07:01definitely I'm coming on. 2-0 up, yeah, he'll always give me the 15, 20 minutes just to make me feel part
07:07of it. So he was, he was very good at giving me enough minutes. But I knew at 1-0, just sit down,
07:13Oli, you're not going to come on. So, 1-0 down against Bayern. I was like, come on then,
07:21it's like 20 minutes, no, like 88 minutes, I think, I think I came on. Yeah, it's one of the 13,
07:2815 minutes, best minutes of my football career. When did management become the thing?
07:34You know, when I was a kid, I was very into football. I used to, me and my cousin, we always
07:40used to buy the Rothmans football yearbook every year and that was our bible. We knew every player
07:47in every division in England and we used to make our own game like a management game. That was the
07:53probably prequel to the championship manager game. We should have copyrighted that one. We were,
07:58we were in the really like nerdy, freaky into that football and I always, I was always playing
08:05the computer games, the management games instead of the FIFA where you play. I've always been into
08:12into coaching or in management and picking teams. I used to coach my, call it in the local streets,
08:20the younger boys. We used to make a street, a team for these tournaments and I was the boss.
08:26How old were you at this point? 13, 14. Oh wow. So probably I would, I would, I've always had this
08:33manager in me. Then I played at Man United and I didn't know if I had the personality to be a manager.
08:41Say the players in the 80s, 90s, or it would, it is different to managing now. Then I got injured
08:49and that's the moment where I decided, oh, I need to stay in the game. That's the time where I decided,
08:55okay, I start all these coaching courses and starting to write whatever Sir Alex says.
09:00And since I read somewhere that you wrote everything, you kept a notebook.
09:04Not everything, but yes, I did suddenly start to try to, instead of just being the player that
09:11was told and now I'm learning from the best teacher in the world. How does he get the best
09:17out of all these players? What tactically, what, changing his staff, changing the players.
09:23So I just started keeping more an eye on him and that part of football.
09:28It's the biggest club in the world, one of the biggest clubs. You knew that as a player,
09:32but as a manager, that pressure, particularly when things aren't maybe going right, must be really tough.
09:36I remember one game, Everton. I'm stood there in my technical area, fourth official next to me,
09:46Carlo Angelotti comes across, so he's more or less in my technical area. And so the fourth official says,
09:53Carlo, you need to get back into your technical area, unless you want Ollie's job. And Carlo, as Carlo is,
10:00he's always, he's always got a comment and a smile. He said, no, no, no, too much pressure,
10:06too much pressure. That job is too much pressure. So he walked back to his, his technical area. And I
10:12thought, you know, pressure is a privilege that he's always said that as well. And I felt,
10:17I felt privileged to be the manager of Man United, but of course, it's not the same as playing. As a
10:22player, you just do your job. Suddenly now you're the manager, you're the face of everyone. You have,
10:28you think about all these supporters, players, everything surrounding Man United.
10:34But that pressure is a privilege because I was allowed to do that and I was allowed to deal with
10:39it in my way. And that was having great staff around us, environment in and around the club was
10:46very positive. But in the end, it doesn't matter if you enjoy coming to work every day,
10:51training sessions, you need results. And we unfortunately had a very bad six week spell.
10:59And that's, that's too long at a club like Man United. And they made a change, which, which is fine.
11:08Reflect back on it. Sorry. How do I say this then? It was sad. We lost to Watford, of course,
11:16and I knew this is more or less the end. I drove my family to the airport. They went back to Norway
11:22actually, and I was going to work. I got a text, Oli, I need to see you in my office. And I knew
11:27what was going to happen. So I rang my wife straight away. I'll be back. I'll catch you up. I'll
11:32probably be back home before you. So did it feel a bit sudden?
11:36I think it's sudden, but it's not surprising. If you don't get results, you do make a change at
11:46football. But I felt we had something going. Do you feel like when you look back on your period in
11:51charge, that now people understand, given what's happened to Manchester United since and the
11:56struggles, they look back on that fondly. Do you think you're given maybe the credit that you deserve
12:00for your time? It's not about getting the credit, but it was a difficult, not difficult, it was the
12:05worst time to be the manager of Man United. You have Jurgen Klopp with his Liverpool team and you
12:10have Pep Guardiola with his City team. Just the two best managers in the world at the time.
12:14Yeah, best managers in the world at the time. Probably the two best teams in the world at the time.
12:20But we got second and third. So we, you know, with the staff, we had something going,
12:26but we couldn't take the next step. And then hopefully we can get back as a club later on.
12:35What was it like growing up in your household? What can you remember?
12:41So, no, me as a kid, obviously school, football, every recess or every break.
12:48Did you work hard at school?
12:50I was decent at school, yeah. And my best subject was maths. So I was, if I wasn't a footballer,
12:58I probably would be an accountant or something with numbers or maths.
13:01Wow, really? Probably, yeah. And you're a dad now.
13:04Yep. Three children.
13:06Yeah. And you've passed the football bug on, I hear.
13:08Well, that's, I think they're environmentally damaged. Yeah, they all play football.
13:14And a little bit of history, your daughter made an appearance for Manchester United Women,
13:19didn't she? And I think you're the only father-daughter combination to have both played for Manchester United.
13:25I think we are, yeah. I think we are.
13:26That must be incredibly proud. What was that like for you?
13:28I was really, really proud when it was an FA Cup game where we drove down.
13:33Really good to see her because the passion is football. She loves football and they love football
13:39and they enjoy it and it's because they love it.
13:42Does your wife like football or does she have no choice?
13:44We met on the football pitch more or less. So yes, she was a very talented footballer.
13:51So we used to have in Christensen every Tuesday and Thursday, like a talent group
13:57that used to train at seven in the morning, seven till eight before school.
14:01And she was in that, who wakes up at seven just to go and, or wakes up at six to train football.
14:08You don't, you go there to impress or be close to someone that you have a keen eye on.
14:13So that's the reason I got up in the morning really to, to play football with Celia.
14:19Tell me one thing about yourself that might surprise me.
14:23I used to, yeah, well, I'm surprised you by saying I would be an accountant,
14:27but I used to read and speak backwards. So I was quite good at that, reading backwards.
14:33So how does that come about? I don't know. It's just,
14:38that's probably my sense of like organizing structures, seeing structures, more or less
14:44every, every car I drive. And then you look at the license plates. What, how can I rearrange those
14:51letters or that number or something? I'm quite-
14:54Your brain's always going, isn't it?
14:56My brain's always going. Yeah. Most of the time.
14:59If you could only achieve one more thing in your career, what would it be?
15:03Not lifting a trophy for Man United. That's one of the, the, the things that I will, as a manager.
15:09I was going to say, you've forgotten a few.
15:12As a manager, that's something that doesn't play on my mind, but that's something that I would have
15:18liked to achieve. Hopefully we can do well in the World Cup with Norway, but then
15:24may, then maybe be to be the next one. Who knows? You've always set targets.
15:30The next Norway manager. Next Norway manager. My friend Ståle is there now. We're playing really
15:35well. We're going to the World Cup. I do really, really like managing. It's a great, great
15:44job being the manager of young men, ambitious young men that want to achieve something together.
15:52Ollie, thank you for your time and the best of luck with whatever comes next. Pleasure. Thank you.
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