Topics: Premier League, Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
The Norwegian manager spoke on his team's performance and where they stand in terms of recruitment following Saturday's defeat.

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made a transfer admission following his side's defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday. The 47-year-old Norwegian manager was at the helm of affairs in the Red Devils' season opener but saw his men end the day on the wrong side of a 3-1 scoreline.

A brace by Wilfred Zaha and Andros Townsend's first half strike sealed the win for the Eagles while new boy Donny Van de Beek scored United's consolation goal at Old Trafford. Generally, it was a poor showing by the hosts who had their day characterized by defensive errors and inefficiency in attack. Having had very little time to prepare for the new season, Solskjaer resorted to giving minutes to a number of his second-string players, but the lack of quality in depth always meant that the test was going to be challenging.

In the absence of Nemanja Matic and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Scott McTominay and Timothy Fosu-Mensah were given the nod to start. Welsh winger Daniel James was also thrown into the mix to occupy the right-wing while Mason Greenwood started on the bench. With the plan backfiring, the latter two were hurled off in the second half.

Indeed, the encounter with Crystal Palace further exposed Manchester United's shortcomings on the right flank, a position in which many await a fix for with the signing of Jadon Sancho. Owing to the day's performance, a number of players could potentially arrive at Old Trafford with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stating that the club is actively pursuing targets that fit the identity and are available for the right price.

"You can see we are short and they deserved the points," Solskjaer remarked after the game.

"They were sharper than us in challenges, tackles. We started off slowly and that had a knock-on effect for the rest of the game when they got the first goal.

"We had a long season last season and we didn't finish until August 16 and we have not had enough preparation time to be sharper. We've worked hard with the ones who've been here, there have been a few players away on internationals.

"I spoke to Roy [Hodgson] and he said they had four friendlies and this was their third competitive game, and it is a big difference to our one against Aston Villa last week.

"You have to make the most of the time you have got and we have already started playing catch-up, of course, and it showed. But we will improve quickly, hopefully quicker than we've seen today. Today was a performance that you don't see very often from these players because these players are better than that.

"We can play so much better than today. If you look at the players we had on the pitch and on the bench and not here today, we have to look within first and look at ourselves and know we can perform better.

"But we are always looking to improve if there is something out there that is available at the right price. We always want to strengthen. But we can all look ourselves in the mirror, instead."