OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER waited six months to do it.
But when he finally stuck the knife into Jose Mourinho he made sure that he got right to the heart of the Special One.
For he made clear that he sees his Old Trafford predecessor as a whinger.
Solskjaer had kept a dignified silence over the Tottenham manager’s claim back in September that Manchester United had become “worse than last season.”
He also claimed it was “sad” to see the decline of the club that sacked him in December 2018 and brought in Solskjaer.
But the Norwegian lived up to his playing – days nickname of the Baby-Faced Assassin as he first held back on winding up relations with Mourinho before Sunday’s crucial confrontation between their clubs – which looks likely to be called off amid along with the rest of the Premier League amid the coronavirus outbreak.
He first declared when asked about his predecessor’s comments: “I'd rather not speak about other teams and other manager's teams.”
Then he went for it – effectively calling out Mourinho for complaining over the loss to injury of star front men Harry Kane and Son.
Solskjae, meanwhile, has been without No 1 front man Marcus Rashford since mid – January.
The 19–goal top scorer is recovering from back surgery and may not play again this season.
Anthony Martial was also missing from Thursday’s 5 – 0 Europa League drubbing of LASK while Paul Pogba has been out since just after the start of the campaign with major ankle problems.
Asked about the loss of the trio he agreed that life for him had become more difficult without Pogba and Rashford, saying: “Yeah, but I don't talk about those two, do I?
“I want to focus on the ones who are fit and the ones I have got.
“There's a chance for new players to challenge for a place in the team. It's part and parcel of this game that you do have injuries.
“We've managed well without some of our top players this season.”
And he left little to the imagination when he made clear that since he initially took over as temporary manager before being give a three–year deal 12 months ago that he had been cleaning up the mess left by Mourinho.
He has signed Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes, Dan James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka and brought in Idion Ighalo on loan although he has suggested he wants the Nigerian to be signed permanently from Shanghai Shenuha in the summer.
More players, including Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish and James Maddison are on the radar and he declares of the work done so far: “I felt a lot needed to be changed.
“We've signed four players [five including Ighalo] and lost quite a few and promoted from within, lots of youngsters.
“I don't know how dramatic those changes have been. I don't think it feels dramatic for the squad and the ones that were here. We needed certain pieces in the puzzle and they've worked.’
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