Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has taken aim at some of his 'petty' Gen Z Manchester United players while speaking about his tenure at Old Trafford.
The Norwegian was in charge of the club for two-and-a-half years, having initially arrived as an interim replacement for Jose Mourinho in 2018.
Solskjaer guided United to consecutive top four finishes during his time in the dugout.
Yet he was axed in November 2021 after a chastening 4-1 defeat away at Watford at Vicarage Road.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has opened up on his time as Man Utd manager
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Solskjaer has now discussed his spell as United manager with former team-mates such as Roy Keane and Gary Neville on The Overlap.
And the 51-year-old has taken aim at 'Gen Z' players he had in his squad, admitting some were too scared to be captain of the club.
"No one said 'No' to being the club captain, it was just for certain games," he said.
"'I don't want to be captain for this match.' Yes, but they didn't want to say it themselves, they had other people come up to me and say it.
"It was disappointing. It's a different generation, its Gen Z.
"It's petty and shows a lack of ambition."
Solskjaer also admitted some United players were worried about receiving three questions from the media, too.
"Many players said no to doing the pre-match interviews, the three questions," he said.
"You had the go-tos, Bruno [Fernandes] always did it, Harry [Maguire] always did it, Victor [Lindelof] did it, David [De Gea] did it, Luke Shaw did it.
"The others were worried about the questions, so preferred not to do it.
"You're scared of the whole reaction maybe, but you also understand some of the players' mental health."
He added: "[On whether criticism from pundits and media affect players] Definitely, 100 per cent.
"You criticise players or teams' tactics, but when it goes above that, because there are so many who watch and listen and go on social media [it does have an impact].
"If they don't read it, friends, agents, managers will.
"When it gets personal, about character, they listen and think about it more than you think."
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has ripped into his 'Gen Z' Man Utd flops
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One player Solskjaer signed during his time as United manager was Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo returned for a second stint at Old Trafford in 2021 but was unable to prevent his former team-mate from getting the sack.
And Solskjaer has admitted managing Ronaldo wasn't easy due to the veteran's reluctance to press.
"Part of signing Cristiano Ronaldo was getting that passion from him, but that did have its complications," he revealed.
"You've got Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, who can learn from Cristiano as he's the best, the most disciplined and he's been the best player in the world, and you think he's going to help them.
"When he arrived at the club, he told me to start him for three games in a row, and then put me on the bench for the fourth game, but he's so passionate so when I did that, he didn't like it."
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has outlined his stance on Cristiano Ronaldo after the Man Utd icon returned in 2021
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He continued: "It [re-signing Ronaldo] was a very quick decision.
"We didn't think Cristiano was available and that he was going to move.
"When it became apparent that he was leaving Juventus, obviously there were other clubs that wanted him – but I was excited.
"They [United] asked me, 'Would you want us to try this?'.
"I said yes – obviously we know Cristiano is quality, and he's 37, but we have to manage – he's the best goalscorer in the world.
"It didn't work out for me, it didn't work out for Cristiano, but it was the right decision at the time."
