It has not been the start to the season Manchester United were hoping for. The 4-0 win over Chelsea on the opening weekend was full of promise but the team have failed to push on since then and deliver in the Premier League.
The 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers was disappointing considering Manchester United took the lead and dominated much of the game. The 2-1 loss at home to Crystal Palace was even worse and it is results like that which have undermined the Red Devils in recent years.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took his players to Southampton on the weekend and having seen out some early pressure, grew into the game. They took the lead thanks to a stunning goal for Daniel James but could not hold on in the second half. Having conceded an equaliser, Manchester United did not have enough about them to break Southampton down.
Hear the thoughts of the #MUFC manager, who spoke to #MUTV after today's game ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/J5YwXOczgc— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 31, 2019
Hear the thoughts of the #MUFC manager, who spoke to #MUTV after today's game ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/J5YwXOczgc
Even when the hosts were reduced to ten men, Manchester United failed to create any good opportunities to score the winning goal. It is only early days this season but the alarm bells are already ringing at Old Trafford.
One of the major issues this season, other than the Chelsea game has been the ability to score the number of goals required to win matches. Anthony Martial was injured on the weekend and that left the club woefully short of options up-front.
Solskjaer has made the decision to allow both Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez to leave the club and join Inter Milan. That decision could prove to be costly, especially with Premier League, Europa League, League Cup and FA Cup games to play this season.
Martial is a quality player and he has shown he can score goals as the centre forward this season but his injury record is not great. Marcus Rashford has not had a great start to the campaign and was poor against Southampton. Mason Greenwood is just 17 years old and cannot be expected to step up and be a regular option in attack for Manchester United this season.
So why have both Lukaku and Sanchez been allowed to leave Old Trafford?
If it was a move to make some funds available for a new striker to come into the club, it would make sense. However, to let both players leave and not be able to bring someone in to strengthen the squad in that area seems baffling.
Should the current options of Martial and Rashford underperform or pick up a long term injury, Manchester United could be without a recognised striker for parts of this season, which is unthinkable.