MANCHESTER UNITED MATCH DAY FOCUS
Can Manchester United defeat Crystal Palace? The question has the potential to sound like the most ridiculous question ever to be asked in the history of the Premier League.
For most Manchester United fans or the fans of the Premier League, the question might come off as some level of insult to underline just how well the person knows the Premier League. Short answer, definitely! Absolutely! Without any shadow of a doubt, Manchester United can defeat Crystal Palace anytime, in any competition. Sounds like an easy enough question to answer right? But what if the question was flipped around a little bit, can Crystal Palace defeat a deflated Manchester United team coming to a massive loss in the UEFA Champions League and losing key players to injuries, will the question still be such an easy question to answer? “Complicated” might start to be the reoccurring answers popping up.
And complicated is certainly the befitting answer to the question especially considering the recent ordeals Manchester United has had to go through in the past three weeks. Loosing a crucial first leg home game against Paris St German in the UEFA Champions League knock out round and then subsequently losing, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial, two of the clubs current influential for the next few games must be a painful punch to swallow.
On Friday, February 15, 2019, Manchester United manager Ole Gunner took to the press conference table to address the press members found present at the location as well the Manchester United global supporters.
The main topic of discussion was how Manchester United will prepare and move forward toward the next couple of games scheduled in Manchester United calendar with the red devils currently faced with losing to of their most effective players in Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial, both sidelined due to various injuries. Speed, tenacity has been the two necessary ingredients used in Ole Gunner Solskjaer recipe for success so far and pace mixed with intensity are exactly the two most important items both Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial bring to the team. Take both Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard out of the picture and Manchester United is likely to struggle with quickness and creativity.
Therefore, with the absence of both Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard in Manchester United’s line up, anyone can understand why Manchester United will be concerned about heading into the next couple of matches. Now we will return to the opening question of the article: can Manchester United defeat Crystal Palace? Based on the level of performance Manchester United has been operating with ever since the appointment of Ole Gunner Solskjaer as temporary manager at Manchester United the answer should be absolutely Manchester United can defeat Crystal Palace on the upcoming match scheduled for tonight only if Manchester United abandons operating primarily from the width tonight and concentrate on operating through the middle with players who can hold up the ball and create opportunities for themselves and their teammates, players such as Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba seeing more of the ball tonight.
On February 15, Manchester United delivered the sad news of both Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial's possible absence from the line up due to harm string and groin strains respectively. Both Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard have both played critical roles in the injection of speed from the width in the pitch for Manchester United. With both players out of the starting line up tonight, Manchester United will turn to both Alexis Sanchez and Juan Mata, two players whom both seem to have lost a couple of bars in the quality of speed at this point in their career. Ole Gunner Solskjaer did mention that Manchester United do have the option of using some of the youth talents the club has in their youth reserves to supply an extra yard of pace during the next couple of games should Manchester United be missing any extra speed in tonight’s match against Crystal Palace and during the upcoming match against Southampton if necessary.
Speaking of Manchester United’s opponents tonight, the Eagles are a team that are sitting comfortable at the 13th spot in the Premier League table at the moment but Crystal Palace will know that more points will be needed desperately if the Eagles are to stay clear of the relegation zone in the Premier League table at the end of the season. Roy Hudson might head into tonight’s match with the plan of sitting deep in a defensive system and prepared to hit Manchester United on the counter with the speed of players such as Andros Townsend and Wilfred Zaha. In any other circumstance, Manchester United will not have a problem of dealing with Crystal Palace attacking threats but with Manchester United injury situation, Palace threats might just be a little more difficult for Manchester United to handle. On the hand, while injuries to players should not be treated as a good thing, Manchester United might decide on viewing the recent injuries to both Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard as an opportunity for Juan Mata and Alexis Sanchez to basically elevate their performance for Manchester United.
In any case, Manchester United must be aware that losing important players in the starting line up is no excuse for depreciation in the entire team’s performance. “Next Man Up” as Ole Gunner Solskjaer should be Manchester United’s mentality moving forward in the next three weeks. Mason Greenwood and Tahith Chong are two known young talent from the Manchester United youth team tipped to be promoted to Manchester United first team and the duo just might make an appearance in tonight’s match against Crystal Palace.
Manchester United’s youth coach Ricky Sbragia have spoken positively about the continuous growth of the Manchester United reserve team and tonight match against Crystal Palace is one perfect opportunity for wingers like Mason Greenwood and Tahith Chong to show they are ready for a permanent place in the Manchester United first team.
