Man Utd slammed for 'shambolic' defending as Erik ten Hag's team are overpowered by Crystal Palace in miserable first half

Young, briefly club captain in 2019, was a guest on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football coverage of the game at Selhurst Park and gave his view on the defending that led to Michael Olise's opening goal. The Palace winger received the ball near the halfway line and easily danced his way past Casemiro, who was forced to play centre-back again due to the ongoing defensive injury crisis at United, before driving towards the goal and finishing without being closed down.

Young said: "It's crazy the way they're set up. Crystal Palace have got a throw-in in their own half. Let Palace go backwards instead of forwards. It’s just one run from Olise – he sees the space and just walks into it. It’s shambolic, to be honest. Casemiro…I don't know what he's thinking. Maybe he thinks that Olise is going to go backwards. But Olise sees that he's going to come out [of the back four] and try to make a challenge…he literally just walks past him. It's so easy."

Ex-Liverpool defender and regular Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher was also on the show. "This has got nothing to do with [Casemiro] playing out of position," he said of Olise's goal. "You could be in a holding midfield role, but that [attempted tackle] is embarrassing. They need to bring him off, he needs to come off the pitch. Nothing can be worst than Casemiro playing centre-back in the second half for Manchester United."

Erik ten Hag's team found themselves 2-0 down by half-time as Jean-Philippe Mateta doubled Palace's lead. United did have a goal ruled out, perhaps harshly so, for an apprent foul from Rasmus Hojlund as he jumped with Eagles goalkeeper Dean Henderson. Casemiro was also flagged offside when he put the ball in the net early in the second half, before Palace then went on to further extend their lead through Tyrick Mitchell and Olise.

With only two more league games left against Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton, things look bleak for United. The Red Devils have never placed lower than seventh in the post-1992 era but are currently eighth, level on points with seventh-placed Chelsea, having played the same number of games but with a vastly inferior goal difference.