If ever you wanted to see a masterclass in how to cock up a football match as a manager, that was it.
It's very rare that I completely blame Erik ten Hag for performances and results of the team but holy fuck! It looked like he was asking for the sack!
Many had their doubts about his starting lineup but due to the fact that it was a winning team that played relatively well in its first game, that allowed for some leeway.
Even still, that performance wasn't amazing, it was at home and we were up against a worse side, with all due respect to Fulham.
Away from home against a good side is not a time to be risking trying something that hasn't truly worked whenever it's been used. On the odd occasion against a Fulham, sure. At Brighton, you're kind of asking for it.
In saying that, United actually started off the game very well and looked quite confident on the ball. Playing out from the back, quick passes through the midfield, were things we all liked to see.
That high press that we all praised from the first game was there again and did cause a usually confident side in passing out from defence in Brighton, some problems.
The only issue was United's failure to create any clear opportunities which was the problem in game one. Amad did have a decent chance after some good work by Diogo Dalot on the left but other than that, we created nothing of note.
And then a familiar pattern played out, a story we've all seen before.
United do relatively well, create nothing, keep the opposition quiet and then concede a pretty stupid goal.
Nobody stopping the original cross in, Harry Maguire not clearing the ball when he should have, not stopping the second cross in and then no one marking Danny Welbeast for a tap-in 6 yards out is M A D!
1-0 down and the game changed.
The rest of the first half saw Brighton grow in confidence with United appearing the worse team.
Erik ten Hag made a change as hero from the first game Joshua Zirkzee was brought on for Mason Mount who apparently has a bit of a problem, according to the manager.
However, this change failed to make any impact as Brighton continued their dominance from the end of the first 45 in the second. The home side started to boss it and where they didn't make any opportunities in the first period, the second saw a flurry of chances within the first 15 minutes.
Welbeck close with his and Brighton's second after his header came off the bar as well as Diogo Dalot having to clear a ball off the line after a James Milner effort.
Erik ten Hag then brought on Alejandro Garnacho (another player many couldn't understand why he wasn't starting) for Marcus Rashford on the hour.
Much like with MUFC though, the team that was on top (Brighton) didn't take advantage of their ascendency and ended up being sucker punched at the other end.
Amad getting the equalizer after he was played through by Noussair Mazraoui which saw the Ivorian's shot deflect into the net to get United back in the game. It was touch-and-go whether he was offside or not - which wouldn't have been surprising because United were off around 36 times, or so - but luckily for us all, he was just on and the goal stood.
It was a real surprise to see Amad play at all after the sad news of the passing of his step mother.
Then we saw United go on top as Alejandro Garnacho started to make things happen, just as he always does.
United win the ball back in their half and play a classic counter out on the right flank. Amad and Bruno combining before the captain plays a cross that finds it's way to Garnacho after it passed a sliding Zirkzee looking for his second in two games.
Garnacho managed to put the ball in the net but unfortunately for the Red Devils, it struck Zirkzee who was in an offside position before the ball made it's way to the goal.
Goal ruled out. It stays at 1-1.
The match then went into basketball mode as both teams were on the attack and one could see that the players were tiring and changes needed to be made. Erik ten Hag only decided to shake things up again with 10 mnutes of normal time to go.
His substitutions though...
As much as I wanted to see Matthijs De Ligt play, bringing him on with 10 minutes left when you're 1-1 and looking for a winner made no sense. At that point, just leave Maguire on.
Scott McTominay isn't a player that I rate highly but he can make a difference up top but taking off Bruno Fernandes for him?!
He NEVER takes Bruno off and while that can be quite frustrating, there are occasions where you need a player of his quality on. This was one of them.
With that little time left, the game being more stretched, Bruno is the ideal player for this situation.
Taking him off meant we didn't have that creativity in the final third or the counter when we needed it most. This was probably the moment we truly lost the game.
He did then bring on Antony in the 90th minute and what's he going to do then?
It was clear that Amad was running on empty and that he needed to be taken off yesterday. Fresh legs could've helped but it was too little, too late.
With 7 minutes added on, there was still enough time for someone to become the hero.
The Seagulls found that hero with Joao Pedro as he had the simplest of headers from 6-8 yards out. Why there was no one marking him and another Brighton player on the back post makes no sense. Everyone got drawn into the player on the ball on the other end and we still couldn't stop the cross.
The defence on both goals was absolutely diabolical.
Erik ten Hag only has himself to blame as not one of his decisions today were correct. He also doesn't have the excuse of not having the players he wants or everybody being injured.
I really don't know what he was playing at this afternoon and it appeared as neither did he.
Team selection off, substitutions wrong, tactics that didn't really work. He was seriously off it today and for it to be so early on in the season as well, could be a problem.
Liverpool next 🙃.
Ratings:
Onana - 6.5
Mazraoui - 6
Maguire - 5
Martinez - 5.5
Dalot - 6
Casemiro - 5.5
Mainoo - 6
Amad - 6 MOTM
Bruno - 6
Rashford - 5
Mount - 6
Zirkzee - 6
Garnacho - 6
McTominay - 6
De Ligt - 6
Antony - 5
Erik ten Hag - 3
Final Thoughts
Utter shite. Weekend ruined. We've been down this road before.
Really disappointed with that. Not angry but more annoyed because I don't think we were terrible but neither were we good enough. I'm not sure why the manager persisted with this false 9 thing and not starting Garnacho and De Ligt. I think we're better off with a striker and the other two in the side.
Unless Erik ten Hag changes things next week, I'm worried about him. I truly am.
Other than the high press and some neat play, we aren't that much different. We still don't create chances, we don't take those that we do, we play deeper than we should, we don't defend crosses well and we still have this habit of kicking the ball long. The only improvement is in the lack of shots for the opposition.
He's gotten in players that he wanted but is reluctant to use them for some stupid reason and he is benching arguably his best player in Garnacho.
As a backer of ten Hag's, when he does things like today, it makes it really tough to defend him. All those that are on his back will be out in full force and there's nowhere to hide.
This one was on him.
Background Image: Marcus Rashford | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)