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Manchester United suffered a late heartbreak against Brighton and Hove Albion as Joao Pedro struck in added time to down the visitors 1-2 at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.
The Seagulls have emerged as some sort of a bogey team for the Red Devils ever since Erik ten Hag took over with United losing five of the last six Premier League meetings between the clubs.
While the team from the South Coast seem to have Ten Hag’s number, what was disheartening to watch this time around was the fact that for the most part, United were decent.
They had control of the ball and the game and looked comfortable in possession while looking much improved when it came to pressing from the front and playing out from the back.
United look flat in this false-nine system
But the style lacked penetration as nobody ran in behind to pose a threat to the Brighton backline which remained high as most United stars wanted the ball played to feet.
The false-nine system employed by the Dutchman has its merits but these flaws meant United, while having more of the ball, had fewer shots.
This style is the polar opposite of last season’s show where United either attacked fast or got counter-attacked at will. There is no middle ground with Ten Hag’s United as of now.
Not to mention the same defensive lapses. There remains far too much space behind the midfield while the defence still struggles to squeeze up, due to the lack of pace on offer from Harry Maguire.
6 – Since 2022-23, Manchester United have lost more Premier League games thanks to goals scored in the 90th minute (+ stoppage time) than any other side (6); they’d only lost two such games in the first 30 campaigns in the competition combined. Asleep. #BHAMUN pic.twitter.com/F6JXEWUHti
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 24, 2024
While the first goal conceded was as a result of the Englishman being slow to react and Lisandro Martinez losing his man, the second goal was something that has been affecting the 20-time English league champions a lot recently.
Once known for their ability to conjure up winners in added time, under the former Ajax coach, this trend has been turned on its head with United conceding six stoppage time winners in the last two seasons, after conceding just two in the preceding 30 years.
Shocking record
That was partly due to the shocking decision to take off Bruno Fernandes, the team’s talisman, which handed the Seagulls the confidence to throw the kitchen sink at the Old Trafford side at the death.
Such deflating numbers stuff should give Ten Hag nightmares but after two seasons, he should have worked on this in the training ground by now.
Remember last season against Brentford, when Aaron Wan-Bissaka switched off while playing as the left-back which allowed the Bees to equalise after United had crawled themselves back into the contest?
Playing without a specialist left-back really hurt once again as Diogo Dalot chose to cover the right with Noussair Mazraoui standing right behind him during that fateful attack.
During set-pieces, United continue to look vulnerable as most players do not understand the zonal system properly despite spending so much time on the training ground, or at least that is what fans would like to think.
When will these problems be solved, nobody knows. Ten Hag is already feeling the heat and it is just two games into the new season. Liverpool are up next and it almost feels like squeaky bum time for the manager.
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