Scott Minto: Don't judge Manchester United after one poor performance

You won't find me at the front of the queue looking to give Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a kicking after last week's defeat to Crystal Palace.

It was a really poor performance and if anything the final outcome flattered United more than Palace. It was a disadvantage to go into the match cold but that is not enough of an excuse and the biggest disappointment was that they were unable to turn around the deficit once Palace got themselves in front.

However, it's one game. One poor game admittedly, but only one game and you don't judge any team, player or manager on 90 minutes. Some of the criticism has been so harsh and I just don't share the doom and gloom which has followed this opening defeat.

When Solskjaer was first appointed I said the bottom line is he won't be able to get United to the very top level.

That is probably still the case, but he has won me over with the long-term results he has achieved and despite what happened against Palace, United are heading in the right direction under Solskjaer, who knows what it means to represent the club.

Ed Woodward appointed big names in Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho and they spent a fortune but that clearly didn't work.

Solskjaer is slowly trying to turn the tide and it takes time. He won't replicate what Sir Alex Ferguson did at Old Trafford but who will?

At least there is a plan now. You can see why they wanted Aaron Wan Bissaka and Harry Maguire last year and I think more than a Jadon Sancho type they need a speedy centre-back alongside Maguire just to make them more solid for this campaign.

This is a team who went 14 matches unbeaten at the end of last season in the Premier League and really should have beaten Europa League kings Sevilla in the semi-final of that competition.

It wasn't Solskjaer's fault that game was lost and I think it is unrealistic to expect him and Frank Lampard to get above City and Liverpool this season.

Top four is a must for United and they have to narrow the gap which I expect them to have done once we are 15 games into the new season. They can start with a win at Brighton to quieten, if not silence, the Solskjaer critics.

Goals record could be down to a lack of pressure

It could well just have been a wonderful one-off last weekend when 44 goals were scored in the Premier League.

However, I do wonder whether it could have anything to do with fitness and the lack of crowds is an interesting one. I always felt under more pressure in a home game but I needed that edge to give me an extra couple of per cent.

Could it be that players are more relaxed? It's not a practice game but it feels like it and it's much easier to play a through ball or spray a 50-yard pass in training than it is in a proper match situation.

Liverpool's signings make sense

There were not many players who Liverpool could have afforded that would have improved the starting 11. Thiago is one of them and it's a wonderful signing as he showed at Stamford Bridge on his debut last week to boss the game.

Thiago is just a brilliant player and he will have lifted the levels of Liverpool's other midfielders already in training. They will want to show him just how good they are but overall this is about adding a new dimension to the champions.

Teams won't come at Liverpool. They will sit deep and therefore you need someone who can control the game and find a killer pass from deeper positions, which is exactly what Thiago does so well.

Selling Liverpool as an attractive proposition to an attacker would not have been easy so they have done well to get Diogo Jota.

No striker wants to be a back-up to Harry Kane at Spurs and realistically who will get ahead of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in Jurgen Klopp's first-choice front three?

It's almost derogatory to call him a great squad player but Jota looks a better fit than any of the other players in that Liverpool attacking rotation and his work ethic will definitely appeal to Klopp.

This brings Liverpool closer to City in terms of my title favourites but I still prefer Pep's men on the presumption a centre-back is signed.

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