Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tried his best to avoid singling Victor Lindelof out for criticism after the club’s 3-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace last night.
The Red Devils were poor as they got their season off to a losing start with Palace stunning them at Old Trafford with a fine performance.
MORE: Mourinho keen for surprise £30million transfer reunion with Man United ace at Tottenham
Lindelof looked particularly culpable as Palace’s attacking players took full advantage, but Solskjaer was not drawn on taking aim at the Sweden international when asked about him after the game.
The Norwegian tactician did admit his team need to improve defensively, however, which could suggest that, on the inside, he was not too happy with how Lindelof played.
“Well we all need games, we all need sharpness, we all need time to get back to our best,” Solskjaer said after the game, as quoted by the Metro.
“And I think we are going to get better but we’re playing catch-up. And today of course we didn’t defend as well as we could have done.
“But I wouldn’t point any fingers at any individuals, no I wouldn’t.”
He added: “Today was a performance you don’t see very often from this group. We should look at ourselves in the mirror. Everyone knows we can perform better than this.”
Man Utd supporters will likely be losing patience with Lindelof, who has never quite looked good enough since he joined the team back in the summer of 2017.
It’s surely time for United to get busy for the final weeks of the transfer window and bring in an upgrade at centre-back.
We actually need two CBs because Lindelof is 24-carat garbage but Maguire is only fractionally better especially now that his mind is still on a Greek island. Fosu-Mensah is also putrid as is McTominay. Rashford was good until he turned his mind to politics and social works; now he is not worth 20k per week let alone 200k. Martial needs an injection of enthusiasm to replace boredom.
Totally agree with comments of alec nicklos.
The word desire appears to be missing on most Utd performances and sadly the owners and Woodward have no interest in the football team or the fans.
I see many dark years ahead under this regime.
Lindelhof’s problems are occasional lapses of concentration and a lack of bravery in closing down attackers and blocking shots. Pogba is still a problem. If he is not proud to be part of Man United and 100% committed to the cause then he should go, no matter how brilliant he might be.