Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s decision to make Axel Tuanzebe captain against Rochdale was reportedly not well received by Manchester United’s entire squad.
Senior players Paul Pogba, Sergio Romero, Phil Jones and Jesse Lingard all started at Old Trafford but were overlooked for the armband as United scraped into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
Mason Greenwood’s strike was cancelled out by 16-year-old Rochdale full-back Luke Matheson in the 76th minute before the Red Devils eventually prevailed over their League One opponents on penalties.
Academy graduate Tuanzebe – who was raised in Rochdale – played the full 90 minutes on Wednesday evening and Solskjaer reserved special praise for the defender after the final whistle.
Assistant boss Mike Phelan informed the 21-year-old he would skipper the side just prior to kick-off and the decision is understood to have shocked certain members of the United’s squad.
According to The Daily Mail, it ‘was not met with universal approval’ and ‘raised eyebrows’ inside the changing room.
The report claims Solskjaer was keen to reward the young centre-back for the character he has shown following an impressive loan spell with Aston Villa last season.
‘Axel is a captain in the making, he’s a leader – why not give to young kids?’ Solskjaer told talkSPORT.
‘We know we can give it to Sergio and we can give it to Paul, that’s no problem and they’ve been captains before.
‘But it was Axel today and how does he handle it? He was absolutely fine, he enjoyed it.
‘It’s just a way of telling him that we trust him.’
Tuanzebe has revealed he had ‘goosebumps’ when he led the side out at Old Trafford for the third round tie.
‘Dreams do come true. I had goosebumps as I was walking out,’ he explained.
‘It is something I have been working on for a long time and the moment finally came.
‘I am just grateful to the manager and grateful to the club and the players I am playing with for sharing this moment with me.
‘It was a nice surprise. I was literally getting ready to stretch and loosen up and Mike Phelan just came to me and said ‘are you ready to go and see the referee’.
‘I said “what do you mean?” and he said, “Come on you are captain”. So I said “alright, let’s get it”.’
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