OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER has stated that he doesn’t know whether he should have fielded a different starting XI in Manchester United’s 1-0 Premier League loss to Bournemouth on Saturday, with his side now having recorded only three wins in 11 top-tier matches.
United headed into the clash off the back of three away victories – against Partizan, Norwich and Chelsea – but failed to capitalise on any perceived momentum as they struggled for 90 minutes against a compact and well-drilled Cherries side.
A solitary goal from Josh King, expertly dispatched after taking down Adam Smith’s cross, bamboozling Aaron Wan-Bissaka and finishing low and hard past David de Gea, would ultimately settle the contest.
The Red Devils did rally late on, however, and had decent efforts through Mason Greenwood, Scott McTominay and Fred, but their opponents proved too strong to break down at the Vitality Stadium.
The result now puts Bournemouth ahead of United in the Premier League by three points, continuing the latter’s worst start to a season in 34 years, and their manager admitted that perhaps the wrong personnel were deployed for the clash.
“We’re disappointed,” Solskjaer told BT Sport after the match. “When you get to places like this you have to take control of the game. We started really well first 15 minutes but then there was a lack of quality and we couldn’t get a goal.
“The first goal was always going to be important. Every time you concede a goal it’s a bad goal to give away but it’s a bit of magic that wins the game, you’ve got to say that.
Maybe I should’ve started a couple of others, who knows?”
Pressed on whether fatigue played a role in the loss, having played in midweek against Chelsea, Solskjaer added: “We started the game well, so I don’t think that was the case. Wednesday night, Saturday early. We lacked quality at times.
“If you want to be challenging for the top four you have to be winning games like this. We’re disappointed [but] we’ve got a game on Thursday against Partizan and we can make sure we go through and then we play Brighton before the international break.”
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