As he sat in front of the news media at Anfield on Sunday night, beaten, 2-0, by the hosts, Solskjaer seemed weary, dejected, a sigh in a club suit. When he returned to Manchester, 13 months ago, it was striking how little he had aged. Solskjaer had always been known, as a player, as the Baby-Faced Assassin, and he was still — even in his mid-40s — somewhat cherubic.

No longer. He looks tired, drawn, grayed, a cautionary testament to the pressure he is under and the responsibility he feels. It was immediately apparent how much losing to Liverpool had hurt him. He had to force himself to concede that his opponent — now 16 points clear at the summit of the Premier League, with a game in hand and a record that reads, Played 22, Won 21 — might just be the best team in England. “At the moment,” he added, more placebo than balm.

Still, he did what he always does; he trawled for positives. His players had retained their “commitment,” he said. That was one. They had “stood up for each other.” That’s two. In the final half-hour, either they made Liverpool “look tired” or United “looked strong.” And all of that without three of his key players, after Marcus Rashford joined Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba on the injury list a few days before Sunday’s game.

This is what all managers do, of course; to some extent it is the whole point of the often futile exercise of the news conference. It is their chance to provide context, to sway a few minds, to make excuses, if necessary. Solskjaer is by no means unique in using it as a stage for self-justification.