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Manchester United welcomed Crystal Palace to an empty Old Trafford on Saturday, hoping to kickstart the 2020-21 Premier League season with a bang.
The Red Devils had ended the 2019-20 season on a high, going on a 14-game unbeaten run in the league to end the campaign in third place. However, despite making a return to the Champions League, there are quite a few areas of concern regarding the team.
For starters, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s indulgence in the same starting-eleven for a majority of the last few games betray a lack of trust in his squad. The three semi-final defeats, on the other hand, hints at a lack of maturity in the team.
It is clear that the squad needs reinforcements, but while Manchester United fans were eager to see new faces in the team before the start of the season, they were utterly disappointed by the relative inactivity of their beloved club in the transfer market.
Donny Van De Beek’s arrival did spawn a brief air of optimism, but those were doused by the failure of Manchester United to land any new player before the first game of the season.
As such, the home game against the Eagles was an opportunity for Solskjaer to not only put his best foot forward but also improve the mood of the fans. The Norwegian, aware of the threat of Roy Hodgson's side after being stung in the dying minutes of the same encounter last season, named his first-eleven accordingly.
Manchester United Starting XI:
David De Gea; Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw; Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes; Daniel James, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford.
Unfortunately, the home side were too slow off the blocks, and it was Palace who took the lead in the seventh minute through Andros Townsend.
The home side played catch up for the rest of the half as the game went into the break with Palace leading 1-0. Solskjaer brought on Mason Greenwood in place of James, hoping for a response, but it was the away side who went 2-0 up in the 74th minute through Wilfried Zaha after Lindelof conceded a penalty.
Donny van de Beek, coming off the bench for Pogba, pulled one back for Manchester United to raise hopes of a comeback. But Palace put the game to bed with Zaha’s second goal of the night in the 85th minute, and the game ended 3-1 in favour of the away side.
With Manchester United failing to win their first league game of the season for the first time in seven years, Solskjaer will be agitated with the performances of five players in particular as they were very poor on the night.
#5 Timothy Fosu-Mensah
When Solskjaer opted for Timothy Fosu-Mensah ahead of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, he perhaps had match fitness in mind. However, the Dutchman lacks the robustness of the Englishman, a fact that was as clear as daylight as the game progressed.
Fosu-Mensah was neither fruitful in the final-third, nor did his defending warrant much confidence. The Dutchman was caught out of position on quite a few occasions and had to rely on his teammates to bail him out.
His passing accuracy also left a lot to be desired, while the few times that he did get in good positions in the final-third in the first half, his final ball was not up to the mark. However, he did improve after the break and might have even picked up an assist had Greenwood been a little more clinical.
Fosu-Mensah gave the ball away cheaply and generally looked short of ideas on the pitch. That led to a one-dimensional attack from Manchester United. After such a performance, the Dutchman might find chances harder to come by this season.
#4 Daniel James
Solskjaer opted for the pace of Daniel James for the first game of the season in another case where match fitness dictated the manager’s decision more than any other. And it was easy to see why the Welshman is no longer an automatic starter for the Red Devils.
James started on the right, a position that has been Manchester United’s bane for quite a few years now, but offered very little for the entire first half.
The Welshman’s work ethics are commendable, but that alone does not win games. James offered very little in attack and was not comfortable in the forward-right position. His lack of penetration in the final-third hurt Manchester United's chances on the night.
By the end of the first half, James cut a sorry figure and had to be hauled off by Solskjaer at the break. If the Old Trafford hierarchy requires any reason why a certain Jadon Sancho is pivotal to Manchester United’s upturn in fortunes, they only have to have a look at the Welshman's performance against Crystal Palace.
#3 Anthony Martial
Anthony Martial had transformed into a Manchester United talisman by the end of last season.
In a team that boasted the likes of Rashford, Pogba, Greenwood and Fernandes, it was the Frenchman who brought the goals, scoring 23 times and developing into a terrific number nine for the Red Devils. After having a similar impact for his country over the summer, Solskjaer must have hoped that Martial would have picked up where he left off at the end of last season. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
The Frenchman cut an isolated figure in the final-third as Palace successfully teamed up to crowd him out. The away side denied Martial the space to run into and allowed him very few sniffs at goal. But Martial is talented enough to make the most out of such situations. It was simply a case of a lack of concentration from the Frenchman on the night.
Martial did not link up well with his midfield too. His off-the-ball runs were missing and more often than not, his positioning worked in favour of the Crystal Palace defence. In a game where Manchester United struggled to create chances, Solskjaer would have wanted his main striker to have put in a little more effort. Sadly, Martial failed to have an impact on the game.
#2 Marcus Rashford
The curious case of Marcus Rashford continues to drag on beyond the summer. The Englishman was unstoppable in the first half of last season before a back injury brought an abrupt halt to his game-time.
Since returning from his injury, Rashford has struggled to replicate his old form. Nevertheless, Solskjaer put his trust on his number ten despite the latter's recent indifferent performances, but right now, time and patience are both running out for the English striker.
The Englishman started in his favoured left-forward position against Palace, but by the end of the game, he had supporters scratching their heads trying to figure out his contributions during the 90 minutes.
Rashford was blunt in attack, and even with the ever-eager Luke Shaw powering him from the back, the striker could not stamp his authority on the game. He switched positions, dropped deep and even tried a few one-twos with Martial. But none of his tricks and flicks worked on the night.
His poor form has begun to hurt his teammates as well. Against Palace, he was undoubtedly one of the poorest Manchester United players on the pitch.
#1 Victor Lindelof
While the rest of the world is desperate for Manchester United to sign Jadon Sancho, pundits have pointed out that a new centre-back should also be high up on the agenda for the Red Devils.
Despite having the third-best defence in the league last season, it was clear that a central defensive partner for Harry Maguire would vastly improve the team. However, with no recruitments on the horizon, Solskjaer opted for Victor Lindelof alongside Maguire, but by the end of the game, the Norwegian was perhaps ruing his decision.
Lindelof was nervous as usual, and his lack of desire and hunger for combat cost Manchester United dearly against Crystal Palace. He put David De Gea and the midfield under undue pressure with poor passes, and some of his decision-making must have left Manchester United fans cringing in their seats.
For the first Crystal Palace goal, Lindelof should have cut off the pass from Jeffrey Schlupp that led to Townsend opening the scoring for the visitors. The Swede was probably a little unlucky for the second goal as he conceded a penalty after the ball hit his hand. But Lindelof was totally at fault for the third Crystal Palace goal as he failed to clear the ball and then allowed Wilfried Zaha to manhandle him.
With a little over two weeks of the transfer window left, Lindelof’s performance against Crytal Palace might force Manchester United to rethink their transfer targets for the season. The Swede was the poorest player on the pitch and cost Manchester United the game.
