Here are your Manchester United morning headlines for Sunday, 20 September.
Solskjaer: “Palace deserved the points”
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits his side are “short” after their Premier League season started with a 3-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace.
Fan disgruntlement is growing over their lack of transfer activity and their only summer signing, Donny van de Beek, started on the bench.
The Dutchman came on to pull a goal back for United, but Palace were worthy winners.
Solskjaer said: “You can see we are short and they deserved the points.
“They were sharper than us in challenges, tackles. We started off really slowly and that had a knock-on effect for the rest of the game when they got the first goal.
“We had a long season last season and we didn’t finish until August 16 and we have not had enough preparation time to be sharper.”
Lindelof escapes manager’s criticism
Solskjaer refused to single out defender Victor Lindelof following the defeat by Palace, despite the centre-back putting in an error-strewn performance.
Sweden international Lindelof allowed Jeffrey Schlupp to cross for Andros Townsend’s opener, was bullied by Wilfried Zaha for Palace’s clincher and was penalised for handball inside his own area which resulted in a contentious penalty.
Solskjaer said: “We need games, we all need sharpness, we all need time to get back to our best and I think we are going to get better.
“But we are playing catch-up. We didn’t defend as well as we could have done, but I wouldn’t want to point fingers at individuals.”
“Luke Shaw was lazy”, says ex-United star Evra
Former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra accused Luke Shaw of “laziness” in the build-up to Palace’s opening goal against the Reds on Saturday.
Jeffrey Schlupp burst down the United right and sent a cross to the back post, where Andros Townsend was left unmarked to fire past United goalkeeper David de Gea.
Evra, working as a pundit on the game for Sky Sports, highlighted Shaw after he was pictured jogging back into position, with his man, Townsend, eventually scoring the goal.
“I think it’s laziness, he’s guessing and that’s the worst,” the ex-United left-back said.
“I’ve made those mistakes where someone is crossing the bal and I’m not running.
“You have to be in line with your centre-backs and then you have to sprint to be on the same line as Lindelof.
“You can see he’s guessing. I call it laziness.”
