Pranav Nair
Solskjaer reveals why he didn’t bring on Amad Diallo or Shola Shoretire for Manchester United vs Crystal Palace
According to The Metro, Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed why he failed to bring on Amad Diallo or Shola Shoretire against Crystal Palace.
Both Diallo and Shola Shoretire were left on the bench as United put in a flat performance at Selhurst Park. It was the club’s third straight goalless draw and leaves us 14 points adrift of Manchester City in the title race.
The United attack managed just one shot on target all game and looked clueless in attack. Despite the likes of Edinson Cavani and co. struggling, Solskjaer refused to roll the dice with his promising youngsters.
The United boss made just two substitutions on the night. He replaced Scott McTominay for Fred and Daniel James for Cavani. However, it did little to boost our attacking prowess.
Speaking after the game, Solskjaer revealed that his decision was influenced by the number of attackers United already had on the pitch.
“We had Marcus out there, Mason out there, Bruno out there, Scotty came on to give us a goal thrust and he almost had a chance straight away. We put Dan on for some pace.”
While it is true that we had numbers on the pitch, their effectiveness was largely limited. Given that they failed to break the deadlock, maybe the United boss should have shown more foresight.
Misplaced faith?
Solskjaer also went on to reveal that he felt the players on the pitch could make the difference and chose to leave them on.
“Of course we had Shola or Amad, but which one of those five would you take off? That was my quandary in the last 10, 15 minutes. I felt Mason, Bruno and Marcus could get a goal.”
Unfortunately, Solskjaer’s faith was misplaced and United ended the game sharing the spoils. To be fair, all of our attackers looked lost on the night and the Norwegian should have been more proactive about his decisions.
More Manchester United News
- Ed Woodward holds informal talks with Perez regarding Manchester United target Raphael Varane
- Facundo Pellistri regrets not spending more time at Manchester United
- Lazio unlikely to meet Manchester United valuation of €25m for Andreas Pereira
While it is debatable if either Diallo or Shoretire could have made a difference, it does not beget the fact that those on the pitch looked lost. Inspiration was needed and unfortunately, Solskjaer was unable to or chose not to turn to his bench to achieve that.
