There were times during Manchester United's 3-1 defeat by Crystal Palace that their defence resembled a jigsaw puzzle with several pieces missing.
Much of their problems stemmed from a lack of pace at centre-back, where Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof continued the partnership they formed last season.
Palace's front three of Jordan Ayew, Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend exploited them with relentless direct running and balls in behind the back four.
Harry Maguire and Socks private proxies (https://proxies123.com) Victor Lindelof are at the centre of a shaky Manchester United defence
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a big problem to fix at the back already this season
United were also masters of their own downfall.
Despite a solid display, Timothy Fosu-Mensah's selection ahead of Aaron Wan-Bissaka deprived United of a player who thrives against tricky, pacy wingers.
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer didn't offer an explanation for that decision and doesn't appear in a hurry to add another centre-back to his squad either after prioritising a new right winger and a back up left-back to deputise for Luke Shaw.
That decision is a puzzling one.
Despite boasting eight first-team centre-backs, who have cost a combined £173 million, United are desperately short of quality and pace at the heart of their back four.
The pace and direct running of Palace's front three gave United's centre-backs trouble
Much of the post-match criticism was aimed at Lindelof, who is yet to convince since his £30m arrival from Benfica in July 2017 during Jose Mourinho's time in charge.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS sport" data-version="2" id="mol-1a4b8300-fc24-11ea-8969-7539e127285d" website United have no defence for spending £182m on centre-backs