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MANCHESTER, England – If there was any optimism left at Old Trafford, it disappeared over the course of 90 terrible minutes against Crystal Palace. Manchester United lost 3-1 to a team that finished 14th last season, but it could have been worse. It was still United’s worst defeat on opening day in 25 years.
A debut goal from Donny van de Beek, which briefly gave Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team hope of saving something, was the highlight, but there were few other positives to draw from a miserable night. Palace converted 24% of possession into 14 shots and five on goal, while at the other end Vicente Guaita had very little to do.
It didn’t help that as United struggled to get out of first gear, Tottenham Hotspur featured Gareth Bale and Borussia Dortmund got rid of Borussia Monchengladbach thanks to Jadon Sancho. Solskjaer used his program notes to tell fans that this season is about “continuing the progress” made last season, but there is already growing frustration among fans, who have seen Liverpool sign Thiago, Bale return to the Tottenham and Chelsea spend more than £ 200 million.
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Two weeks before the transfer deadline, United still need a right forward and, judging by Victor Lindelof’s performance against Palace, another central defender. They also seem to be in desperate need of inspiration.
“You can see we’re short and they deserved the points,” Solskjaer said. “They were sharper than us in challenges and tackles. We started slowly and that had a ripple effect for the rest of the game when they scored the first goal.
“I’m very, very disappointed, but sometimes you can’t be too surprised when we’re not yet at our best because this is the first game. We played until mid-August last season and they had a very, very short and preseason. strange. I was hoping to improve today, but it wasn’t. We need to improve and fast. “
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It took only seven minutes for Palace to thwart United’s hopes of getting the new season off to a winning start.
David De Gea had already sent a direct pass to James McCarthy and got away with it, but United were not so lucky when Jeffrey Schlupp was sent running down the left. Lindelof couldn’t get close to the left winger, who crossed for Andros Townsend to score at the far post.
Like Lindelof, Luke Shaw should have done better – perhaps an indicator of why the club is interested in 27-year-old Brazilian left-back Alex Telles. Talks have started, but nothing has been agreed with Porto yet.
Solskjaer’s halftime team talk would have been made even more difficult if De Gea hadn’t done well to raise his arm to block Jordan Ayew’s shot after he flipped inside Scott McTominay.
While Manchester United need reinforcements on the market, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must get more out of the players at his disposal. Getty
The manager’s response at halftime was to shift to the right, adding Mason Greenwood for Daniel James. Unfortunately for Solskjaer, his favorite right winger is still playing in Germany.
Donny van de Beek, the only signing of the summer to cross the line, came in in the 67th minute to replace Paul Pogba. But by the time the £ 40 million Dutchman had any chance to make an impact, things took a turn for the worse for United.
First, it was determined that Lindelof had handled Ayew’s foot strike after VAR Jon Moss advised referee Martin Atkinson to consult the field monitor. United appeared to have escaped when De Gea saved Ayew’s penalty shot, but after Moss decided Spain’s number one had left his line early, Wilfried Zaha took over responsibility for the restart and shoved the ball into the top corner.
Van de Beek scored his goal in the 80th minute when a Timothy Fosu-Mensah cross bounced off Joel Ward, but any hope of forcing a tie ended five minutes later when Zaha took advantage of another Lindelof error to make it 3-1. Not surprisingly, television cameras caught Solskjaer in July telling Ake that he needed another central.
He needs more than that before the transfer window closes on October 5 if he hopes to avoid another fight all season to get into the top four. It was supposed to be the season in which United began to close the gap with Liverpool and Manchester City.
The newcomers will help cheer the club on, but Solskjaer’s first job is to get more out of the players he has before the trip to Brighton next weekend.
“If you look at the players we have on the field and on the bench and not here, we have to look inward first and we know we can do better,” Solskjaer said. “We are always looking to improve if something is available in the right place, but we can all look in the mirror.
“We have to look inward. We can perform better than this. It was a bad day, everyone knows they can improve and we will improve.”
Source: espn.co.uk
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