Solskjaer: Players 'don't have to be best friends'

Cape Town - Manchester United interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he doesn't mind if any of his training sessions ends with a quarrel and insists his players "don't have to be best friends".

The Red Devils are currently in Dubai for a training camp ahead of a tough run of games that includes tough tests against Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.

Solskjaer has revealed there have already been "one or two fights” but feels such incidents do not bother him as it shows his players "want to improve".

"I've already noticed that they are very well knitted together," Solskjaer said.

"It's a fantastic atmosphere, which is one of the foundations for any team. You don't have to be best friends. The team spirit is great.

"We had one or two fights but that is just the demand, the standards that you set.

"If the session ends with a little bit of a quarrel I don't mind because it means they are winners, they want to improve.

"If you settle for losing in training you'll lose when a game when it really matters. There are a couple of aspects with the break: it's the weather and the downtime the boys can have together."

He continued: "Here they're not just running away back home to their kids and wives.

"We've got plenty of time for video analysis and to get some principles in play.

"We've got longer time on the training ground. We sit down and go through things. You learn so much by winning but when you get tougher games you learn more about the personalities and how the team deals with different situations."

The Red Devils currently occupy sixth place in the Premier League standings, three points shy of fifth-placed Arsenal, and take on Tottenham at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.