MANCHESTER UNITED HIT A ROAD BLOCK ON THE CLUBS PLANS FOR THE SEASON
The first blow of the season has come at the hands of a very unlikely source such as Roy Hudsons Crystal Palace team. Manchester United registered their first loss of the season last weekend and in doing so some necessary questions have been raised as to whether the entire Manchester United team are really on the same page in the clubs pursuits success this season? The second match of the season saw a strong Manchester United side host a Wolverhampton team in a match that Manchester United were the clear favorites to win. However, by the end of the match against Wolverhampton, Manchester United uncharacteristically relinquished a point to a Wolves team whom clearly deserved every bit of the point they earned two nights ago at Molineux stadium.
After the draw to Wolverhampton, the expectations coming into the match last weekend against Crystal Palace was that Manchester United was going to use the disappointment of failing to win against Wolves two weekends ago as inspiration to come out last weekend in front of a packed Old Trafford crowd and secure three points against Crystal Palace by any means necessary. However, what the Manchester United fans witnessed was the complete opposite of what was expected to happen at Old Trafford. Rather than securing three necessary points last weekend, Manchester United saw themselves leave Old Trafford with a humiliating 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace last weekend in what the Manchester United fans have called an “embarrassing result”.
Embarrassing is right. Especially considering the history between Manchester United and opponents Crystal Palace with Manchester United never recording a loss against Crystal Palace since forever, the response to last weekends loss to the Eagles, besides the obvious rage and anger from most of the Manchester United fans, was simply shock. Here you have a Manchester United team equipped with players such as Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Paul Pogba and a couple other players whom are more than capable of winning games with the quality they possess facing off against a Crystal Palace side whom last season finished 12th on the Premier League table and your first thought might have been “this will surely be three points in the bag for Manchester United.” Not the case last weekend! Manchester United found themselves at the end of a humiliating defeat to Roy Huddsons Crystal Palace in a result that has not only rapidly made the history books as one of the greatest achievements in Crystal Palace history but also simultaneously made history as possibly one of the most embarrassing defeats at Old Trafford this early in the 2019/20 season.
Continuous reflection on past mistakes is not a recommended source of action in terms of building a better future. Manchester United have realised that the team slipped up in their loss to Crystal Palace this past weekend and the bigger question to be asked might not how exactly did Manchester United let such a precious opportunity to earn what looked to be another certain 3 points that would have enabled Manchester United make their way up the table slip by? Manchester United started the game against Crystal Palace very well, stringing their passes together, maintaining a high tempo in their attack, getting shots on target, scoring a goal and even getting two penalties which were both missed by Manchester United. While Manchester United prepared their defense for the mass attack and any set-piece attack orchestrated by Crystal Palace, the one area of attack Manchester United failed to account for was the counter-attacking threat Crystal Palace held in their arsenal and in the end the counter-attack executed by Palace turned out to be Manchester United's downfall last weekend.
During his post-match press conference Ole Gunner Solskjaer had this to say in response to his teams' performance and in regards to last weekends disappointing result against Crystal Palace when asked if the Manchester United team appeared to be running out of ideas last weekend:
“I think we didn’t have enough urgency and penetration the first half until they scored. Then we had opportunities because they never really looked like creating anything we thought it felt maybe a little too easy, I don’t know. But that’s when we needed that tempo, that change of tempo. That’s what we did in the second half, I thought in the second half we were excellent in that respect, creating more pressure on them, creating more chances, more urgency to our game and of cause you have got to hit the target, you have got to score the goals when you have those moments.”
Looking from the perspective of the Manchester United team in general and the Manchester United fans, it will be very difficult to find better words that better express the thoughts of Manchester United players and Manchester United fans alike better than the words of the Manchester United manager during his press conference. Manchester United pace and quality displayed on the field this early in the season has certainly improved compared to last season. However, Solskjea’s have been forced to take a step back in their march towards success in the current due to Manchester United's inability to be clinical in front of goal. This might result in Manchester United players experiencing goal-scoring scrimmage and practices centered more on set-piece taking during most of Manchester United's training this week. The key to winning matches is to score goals.
However, in a competitive league such as the Premier League, Manchester United will be doomed to struggle the rest of the way unless the Red Devils improve on their form in front of goal quickly as the season progresses. Manchester United visits the St Mary’s Stadium to face Southampton this weekend and all eyes will be on the field to see just how improved the Manchester United team have become.
