Before we delve deeper into Manchester United’s third defeat in four Premier League games and the unfolding crisis at Old Trafford, first a little context.
Brighton’s entire starting XI cost around £17 million which, put another way, is less than a quarter of what United paid for their exiled winger Jadon Sancho, who spent part of his Saturday watching the club’s Under-18 team at Carrington before the senior team served up this collective shambles.
Roberto De Zerbi did not even have access to a lot of his best players either as Brighton – who had been the last team to win at Old Trafford domestically 13 months ago – bookended that victory with a fourth successive league triumph over United.
Julio Enciso, Solly March and Pervis Estupinan were missing and Evan Ferguson, scorer of a hat-trick against Newcastle before the international break, was only fit enough for a place on the bench. Brighton’s entire central midfield, let us not forget, was ripped out in the summer. Mahmoud Dahoud was the only player who started that De Zerbi had signed.
Sure, De Zerbi took over a functioning team and club when he replaced Graham Potter 12 months ago on Monday, and not the toxic mess Erik ten Hag inherited in Manchester.
But the Italian’s work on the south coast in double-quick time and on a fraction of the budget Ten Hag has enjoyed at Old Trafford is startling. And, if the Italian can draw such cohesion and class from a bunch of bargain buys and free transfers, then is it too much to think United’s manager should be doing a lot more with what he has at his disposal after 17 months at the helm?
Ten Hag tried to claim Brighton had also spent money but it is not an argument that washes, certainly not when compared to the vast sums lavished on this malfunctioning United team.
In the first sign of dissent from fans towards the Dutchman, Ten Hag’s decision to substitute home debutant Rasmus Hojlund in the 64th minute and bring on the lamentable Anthony Martial in his place was roundly booed. There was good reason to remove Hojlund – the Denmark striker is not yet fit enough to finish a game – and the boos seemed to say as much about how that misfit Martial is regarded these days, but it was still a bad look and the jeers were in keeping with the darkening mood around the club at this moment.
At the same time, it was the least of the manager’s problems on a day when Brighton gorged on United’s weaknesses technically, tactically and mentally. Bayern Munich and Harry Kane will watch this and lick their lips at the prospect of United’s visit to the Allianz Arena in the Champions League on Wednesday.
With Sancho and Antony, who is on paid leave while he fights allegations against him by three women, both unavailable, Ten Hag deployed a midfield diamond, with Marcus Rashford partnering Hojlund in attack. It did not work, much as Ten Hag tried to claim his team played well.
Yes, they started brightly and, yes, they managed to get Rashford one on one against defenders enough to create chances to score, but they were also alarmingly easy to play against going the other way. Casemiro looked like he has aged five years in the space of the summer, Lisandro Martinez is playing more like Marcos Rojo at the moment, so many others looked lost and the less said about Victor Lindelof the better. If Raphael Varane is not back for the Munich game, Kane vs Lindelof has the makings of a horrid mismatch.
By the end, United carried a desperate look and that was reflected in Ten Hag’s substitutes, which served only to amplify the disorganisation. Brighton could have scored five or six, with Andre Onana – who should have done better for the third scored by Joao Pedro – denying Kaoru Mitoma, Ferguson and Ansu Fati, making his debut on loan from Barcelona. “Can we play you every week,” sang the Brighton fans.
Brighton are a beautiful construct: permanently unflustered in possession and always, it seems, with an outlet. United, by contrast, are a strange, fitful team, capable of hurting opponents in bursts but the endgame is hard to discern.
United thought they had cancelled out Danny Welbeck’s opener when Rashford pulled the ball back from the left byline for Hojlund to score shortly after the 40th minute but a Var check determined that the ball had gone out of play – just – before the cross was played. Rashford was his team’s brightest spark but missed far too many chances and United had few other ideas. Brighton, however, were full of them.
Their first goal, scored by a player they signed on a free transfer who left United nine years ago, followed a sumptuous passage of play when they passed their opponents to death before pouncing. Welbeck sprayed the ball out wide to Simon Adingra, whose cross was dummied by Adam Lallana for Welbeck to provide the finish.
No one loves playing against United as much as Pascal Gross it seems. His fourth goal in his last three outings against United put Brighton 2-0 up, the ball moved from right to left then shifted from Mitoma to the impressive Tariq Lamptey to Gross, who feinted then shot low into the bottom corner. Lindelof and Martinez’s defending in the process was comical. Then Pedro swept home the third before Hannibal Mejbri pulled one back for United.
It was scant consolation. United are sinking and they need to stop the rot.
