We can now safely say that Manchester United’s 4-0 win over Chelsea on the opening weekend of the season was a false dawn.
Some fans excitedly thought that United might be ‘back’ after thumping Frank Lampard’s side at Old Trafford - especially as the result had been preceded by six consecutive wins in pre-season.
But since then, United have drawn away to Wolves, lost at home to Crystal Palace and been held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton at St Mary’s.
Five points from their opening four league fixtures is a disappointing return and one which leaves United eighth in the Premier League table, two points behind fourth-placed Palace and seven behind leaders Liverpool.
If the Red Devils fail to beat Leicester City in their first match after the international break on September 14 then serious questions will be asked of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his players.
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Solskjaer, The Sun have revealed, was furious with his players for the way they failed to finish off Southampton last Saturday.
Dan James opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a fabulous finish but Jannik Vestergaard’s second-half header denied United their second win of the campaign
The Sun report that Solskjaer called his players a ‘joke’ in a ‘furious dressing-room rant’ after full-time.
It’s said that the Norwegian coach lost it with his under-performing players, telling them it was ‘embarrassing’ how they were failing to kill teams off.
He also accused them of playing for themselves, instead of the team - and ‘trying the spectacular rather than sticking to the basics’.
Solskjaer, who is reportedly frustrated that his players are failing to implement what they work on all week in training, refused to single out individuals during his post-match rant.
However, he did say there are players in the squad who are letting down their teammates and need to put more effort in.
Solskjaer is understood to have warned his players that they’ll be in serious trouble unless they improve after the international break.
United fans will be pleased to hear that Solskjaer is laying the law down to his players.
This is officially the club’s worst start to a season since 1992 and another poor result against Leicester will mean United slip another step closer to full-blown crisis mode.
