Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has singled out Fred for criticism after Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Southampton on Sunday and believes his players ‘lost their heads’ during the match.
After a remarkable win over Leeds United last week, United delivered a poor display at St Mary’s and were behind after only 30minutes following Fred’s own goal.
In the build-up to Southampton’s goal, the Red devils were aggrieved that they were not awarded a free-kick for a challenge on Bruno Fernandes and moments later, Che Adams’ strike took a deflection off Fred and the ball went past David De Gea.
Mason Greenwood scored United’s equaliser in the second half but Solskjaer says he is unhappy with his team’s attempt to get in front.
‘I think they started with a couple of set-plays and when we weathered that storm I thought we played some very good football. We should’ve scored a few,’ Solskjaer said after the 1-1 draw.
‘But when they scored we lost our heads a little bit. After half time I thought it was good again until we scored, then for another five minutes we played some decent football.
‘And then the last 15, 20 [minutes] we lost our momentum, lost our shape, got sloppy. ‘Maybe it’s fitness issues, maybe it’s other things.’
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When asked about their call for a foul on Fernandes in the build-up to the Saints’ goal, Solskjaer said: ‘It seems like football has gone from one extreme to the other – that’s a foul, definitely, 100 per cent.
‘But it happens in football that you don’t get every decision. We should’ve reacted better, of course.
‘It might be a little bit lucky it deflected off Fred but he shouldn’t have dangled his leg, he should’ve blocked that shot. So we need better reactions when we don’t get decisions.
‘I think it’s still early on in the season, fitness issues, we’re not 100 per cent fit. ‘Then there’s a couple of tactical issues to correct, but most of it was tiredness and sloppiness.’
When asked about United’s tactical problems, Solskjaer said: ‘Just stick with the plan and stay with what we’re doing. We’ll get there, don’t worry about that. We’ll improve from today.’
