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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has pointed the finger at three of his players after the club’s late defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion.
Joao Pedro scored a late winner for Brighton to seal a 2-1 win for them at the Amex Stadium after Amad Diallo cancelled out Danny Welbeck’s opening goal.
While both Brighton’s goals came about as a result of some pitiful defending on United’s part, the second one was especially disappointing and left a lot to be desired.
Pedro found himself unmarked at the back post with plenty of space and time to pick his mark, and he made no mistake.
The forward easily headed in a cross from Simon Adingra to deny United a share of the points. According to Ten Hag, who spoke to the press after the final whistle, there were three players to blame even though he didn’t mention them by name.
Antony’s weak tackle enabled Adingra to find some space inside the danger area while the trio of Diogo Dalot, Kobbie Mainoo and Noussair Mazraoui stood off the player as he floated in a sumptuous cross to Pedro.
Lisandro Martinez’s positioning was also dubious while Alejandro Garnacho and Casemiro – who should have been providing cover on that side – were nowhere to be seen.
Ten Hag told reporters, “We didn’t stop the cross. There were three players. [Adingra is a] right-footed player, send him down the line, send him wide instead of letting him come in and let the cross.”
When asked how the three did not sense the danger, he replied, “We have, of course, to talk about this…how we act in that situation as a team. There was more than one mistake in that occasion and it has a big impact on the score.”
On how frustrating it is to concede another late winner during the new season, Ten Hag replied, “That’s very disappointing, yeah. Also in the Community Shield, we conceded just before time…so we should be more clinical in such situations, read the game and take the points if you can’t win.”
“I think we were very close to win this game but then definitely don’t lose.”
He added on United’s game management, “Often we did the right things and we’ve had success, for example when we’ve won trophies and many other big games when we’ve taken the points. But yeah, on this occasion and in the Community Shield we should do better.
“On many occasions, we’ve done well when we’ve brought the score over the line and taken the result.”
The United boss refused to be dragged into admitting whether or not Alejandro Garnacho’s goal should have stood. Instead, he highlighted the positives during that particular phase of play – that United had overloads when attacking.
Ten Hag noted that United didn’t seek to play purely as a counter-attacking side as they also had some good moments in possession.
On whether Harry Maguire should have done better for Welbeck’s goal, Ten Hag said, “I think we’re always looking for individuals to blame. Both goals are very soft goals and as a team, we should have done better…that’s for sure.”
Up next for United is the daunting task of facing Arne Slot’s Liverpool at Old Trafford.
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