Yahoo Finance Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer criticises ‘too slow’ performance in dull draw at Crystal Palace
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made no attempt to downplay the poor nature of his team’s performance in the 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Thursday night.
Neither team created many scoring chances in a thoroughly forgettable game and United now have just one win from five as the top sides all continue to falter in the search to secure Champions League football.
Solskjaer noted that the home team made it tough for his own side to play their game but a lack of tempo and creativity about United’s often sloppy play was ultimately the biggest contributor to a game in which they mustered just a single shot on target.
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“[A] disappointing [performance]. A little bit off and when you’re off, if you’re not spot on you’re not going to win games,” he told Sky Sports.
“Palace make it hard for you and they did again. We were too slow, second half we never got going, we made a few changes and made one or two chances but not enough of course.
“Sometimes it’s human nature, sometimes you don’t work at your best. Today we didn’t. It’s been a long season so that’s part of it and you’re playing against a good team which make you play the way you don’t want to.
“We kept giving the ball away. First half we had players in the right positions and built some pressure, made some half-decent chances but kept giving it away easily and then you don’t build momentum.
“It’s not what we want but we’re in the Premier League and you have to play better to win games. We’re in a battle to be as high as possible in the table and we need to pick every point we can.”
The best chance of the game fell to Patrick van Aanholt late on, but stand-in goalkeeper Dean Henderson made a good block. Solskjaer praised the reliability of his second-choice, and said there was no timeframe on David de Gea’s return, after missing the match for personal reasons.
“That’s a Man United goalkeeper. You have to keep your concentration and he’s growing into it. I thank him for one point and not zero. No idea [on De Gea], it’s a private matter and it’ll take the time it takes.”
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