Ole Gunnar Solskjaer likens Manchester United’s defeat to Watford as a testimonial match

Manchester United suffered their fourth loss of the Premier League campaign when they fell to a disappointing 0-2 loss to bottom-side Watford, handing the Hornets only their 2^nd win of the campaign.

A horrible mistake from goalkeeper David De Gea handed the hosts a fortunate lead after the half-time, and a penalty from Troy Deeney afterwards sealed a crucial win for Nigel Pearson’s side.

While Paul Pogba did put on quite the spectacle making his return after more than two months of being on the shelves, even the Frenchman couldn’t salvage anything for the Red Devils.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was understandably bemused at what he had seen transpire at Vicarage Road and explained how a lack of energy made it seemed like it was his testimonial game going on instead.

He said, “I’m very disappointed. You have to come to these stadiums and get more points, but there was no intent or urgency to make us win this game. The first half it could easily have been my testimonial. It was very subdued, slow, no tempo, and in the end we gave them two goals.”

While he was left disappointed at how they conceded the first goal because of De Gea’s howler, the Norwegian suggested that perhaps it was his desperation to lodge a quick counter-attack which caused the error.

Solskjaer explained, “He might have been thinking about where he was going to go from there because one of the things we are looking for now is that, when he catches it, we are looking to go quickly forward. Maybe he was thinking about the next action.”

However, the Red Devils could’ve taken the lead after the half-hour when Jesse Lingard was through on goal, but he questionably decided to try and chip Ben Foster, ending up wasting his opportunity.

Ole stated that he would’ve preferred if he had taken a different style to try and score it, but defender Lingard on being somewhat unlucky.

He expressed, “Well, Ben stood up so I don’t think a chip was the right option but then I wasn’t on the pitch. That was Jesse’s [decision]. It was a good run, we could have been one up at half-time but that happens. Sometimes you miss the target, sometimes you score.”

But Solskjaer also insisted that his side are looking forward to the game against Newcastle United on Boxing Day, urging them to come up with a better reaction.

He explained, “Yes, definitely, you want to get back to Old Trafford and win because that’s not good enough. We know we have a tough spell, loads of games coming up, but that’s what they [the players] want and I’m sure they’ll… well, we have to see a reaction.”

With the loss, United fell 7 points behind fourth-place Chelsea and fallen all the way down to 8^th place. They’re just ahead of 9^th place Newcastle on goal difference and need a big win to regain confidence before a tough period ahead.