Erin ten Hag was given a stark reminder of the difficulties he will face in trying to convert this current Manchester United incarnation into anything more than a mediocre football team this season.
Many in attendance at Old Trafford were left stunned to see the Red Devils head into the half-time break 2-0 down, although the reality is they shouldn’t be. While it’s been a summer of change off the pitch at United, things looked all so familiar on it.
The starting XI housed a midfield duo of Fred and Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire was still club captain operating at the heart of the defence and all of that was made worse by a lack of viable options in attack. In fact, with Cristiano Ronaldo still lacking match sharpness, new recruit Christian Eriksen was given the unenviable job of starting the game as the team’s false nine.
Brighton, in contrast, are a well-oiled machine under Graham Potter and Sunday’s win was a reminder of the stellar work he’s doing down on the south coast. He deploys tactics that see the Seagulls mirror how the best sides across Europe play; things such as dominating the ball and pressing high up the pitch are both staples of his team’s core tactics.
There was more of the latter than the former on display at Old Trafford from the visitors, yet caused United major problems, especially when it came to the team trying to play out from the back.
It’s no secret Ten Hag is eager to have his team build from deep, meaning David de Gea is being instructed to go short and centre-backs are expected to open up in order to receive the ball. Their intention to play this way were clear from the outset in Sunday’s game.
In the opening 15 minutes, De Gea played all three of his passes short and the defence was visibly opening up in order to get into positions in which they could receive the ball.
However, De Gea’s third pass was played into the feet of Fred who was being heavily pressed by Brighton’s front line. He gave the ball away in a dangerous area that nearly led to a goal for the visitors.
This had an almost instant negative impact on United, and more specifically, De Gea’s belief in playing out. Rather than sticking to what should be their principles, he and the team started reverting to going longer and more direct.
Firstly, this is not in line with Ten Hag’s philosophy, but secondly, it’s also a recipe for disaster, especially in the first half due to the lack of focal point United had in their front line to hold the ball up.
Over the next 15 minutes, De Gea made three passes again, however with two of them, he opted to avoid playing short and instead go long. Distribution has never been the 31-year-old’s best asset and his first long pass went straight out for a throw, while the second saw the ball turned over in the middle of the pitch, and 30 seconds later Brighton had countered and taken the lead.
There’s no doubt Brighton are a well-organised outfit and they can be an intimating team to try and play out against. After all, in terms of PPDA - which is a metric to quantify high press intensity - Brighton last season ranked third behind only Liverpool and Manchester City.
However, the speed at which United reverted to old habits will be a frustration for Ten Hahich ultimately sealed the win for the visitors. Ten Hag has to instil more belief in the side if they’re to truly adopt his footballing philosophies fully going forward.
