Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson criticised his own players for failing to utilise Robin van Persie’s talents after they crashed to a surprise 1-0 defeat at Everton. Van Persie made his eagerly-anticipated United debut as a 68th minute substitute with his new side trailing to Marouane Fellaini’s second half goal at Goodison Park on Monday. But the Dutch striker was unable to inspire Ferguson’s team, who lost their opening game of the Premier League season for the first time since 2004. “We played around him too much, we didn’t show enough penetration and with Robin in your team you know you want to use his ability against centre-backs in situations he is very good at. But we didn’t use him enough,” Ferguson said. Ferguson explained his decision to start van Persie on the substitutes bench by insisting the striker hadn’t played enough during pre-season. “He’s not played any football, given the expectation of him playing at any given moment, it was better for him to start on the substitutes’ bench,” he said.