Manchester United lost for the first time this season on Saturday and while that is hardly cause for concern, closer inspection at their recent form shows otherwise.
Crystal Palace picked up their first ever Premier League win at Old Trafford with Patrick van Aanholt’s stoppage time strike securing three points for the Eagles.
Prior to that, Man United had been held to a 1-1 draw at Wolves, having begun the new campaign with an emphatic 4-0 drubbing of Chelsea.
That victory offered fresh optimism that United had turned a corner following a woeful end to 2018/19, with fans optimistic that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had finally got the team he wanted after a summer rebuilding his defence and ushering in youth.
In reality, United sit fifth in the Premier League table on four points, but based on their last 10 matches they are a lowly 17th, just above the relegation zone, having won only two of those fixtures.
Before they beat Chelsea, United had not won in the league since edging past West Ham 2-1 in April.
Defeats to Everton and Manchester City followed, while there was a draw with already-relegated Huddersfield and an embarrassing final day loss at home to Cardiff.
*For the promoted clubs it includes their last seven games in the Championship last season (excluding play-offs)
Only Southampton, Watford and Brighton are beneath United in the form table.
Given their run of poor form, former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has told talkSPORT he does not believe Solskjaer is the man to restore United to their former glories.
“With respect, Palace got very, very lucky yesterday and Roy [Hodgson] talked about ‘riding their luck’ and ultimately pulling a result out of nowhere,” he said.
“But looking at that performance; there is no fear factor, nobody cares about Old Trafford in way they once did because that image is gone.
“And I don’t think it is going to come back under the stewardship of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer because part of that image, as we know, was best players winning games.
“But also, there was this figure at the very head of Manchester United as a football operation, which was [Sir Alex] Ferguson.
“Are you seriously saying to me that the serious times of Man United, with Liverpool and Man City disappearing into the horizon, that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is going to operate at the level that is required? I don’t think so!”
