Manchester United find themselves 16th in the Premier League table after losing their opening match against Crystal Palace on Saturday.Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men slumped to a hugely disappointing 3-1 home defeat.United were strong favourites before kick-off but Palace took the lead in the seventh minute through Andros Townsend.The lively Wilfried Zaha scored his first goal of the evening from the penalty spot with just over 15 minutes of the match remaining before substitute Donny van de Beek pulled a goal back for the visitors.However, Zaha killed the game off in the 85th minute, slamming the ball past David de Gea following some suspect defending in the United ranks.
Few of Solskjaer’s players, if any, managed to cover themselves in glory. This was a woeful team performance.United fans, however, were particularly angry with the performance of centre-back Victor Lindelof.The Manchester Evening News handed the Swedish defender a 2/10 rating, adding: “So slow and weak he made it easy for Jeffrey Schlupp to cross for Andros Townsend to score. Unfortunate to have conceded a penalty but weak again for Wilfried Zaha's clincher.”
Meanwhile, one supporter has created a damning video showing United’s last five goals conceded, highlighting Lindelof’s role in each one.Man Utd are dumped out of last season’s Europa League by Sevilla last month after conceding two sloppy goals.While Palace’s three goals could also have been prevented with better defending.Watch the video here…
Here's some of the reaction from fans...
Solskjaer will surely be desperate to sign another centre-back before the transfer window closes on October 5.
Former United captain Gary Neville, who was critical of Lindelof on commentary for Sky Sports, believes a new central defender is a must.
“One of the areas that Manchester United are going to try and strengthen is centre-back and it has to be a quick one. Someone who can defend one-on-one,” Neville was quoted as saying by the Metro.
“[Jordan] Ayew and Zaha will fancy it against Lindelof and Maguire one-on-one. But you look through all the best centre-back partnerships down the years, they’ve always had a quick one in amongst them.”
On Zaha, Neville continued: “Well I think he’s had the beating of those two Manchester United centre-backs all day.
“He’s got them exactly where he wants them. He’s just not strong enough there Lindelof. It’s a 50/50. It’s weak!”
He added: “You can talk about Jadon Sancho all you like, but until they get a centre-back in who can run and defend one-on-one, you’re never going to win a league.
“They’re not going to win the league with that centre-back pairing. They have to get a mobile, quick, dominant centre-back in alongside Lindelof or Maguire. Their defending has been better since Christmas, no doubt, but you’re talking about going up a level.”