“I know we won but he’s my man of the match…None of my teammates were able to stop him despite a strong warning from our coach, I’m lucky to be awarded Man of the Match because I know he deserves it better”: Brighton’s superstar hails ONE Man United’s player who was unstoppable for his teammates as he claims the star deserves the Man of the Match than him

Joao Pedro played a nice but speculative ball into the box, and Harry Maguire and Noussair Mazraoui both had opportunities to stop the initial cross and the next deep pass from Kaoru Mitoma that Danny Welbeck snagged with his studs to put in the net.

The TV cameras naturally focused on Maguire and his characteristically perplexed appearance, and naturally, he took the brunt of the backlash on social media from supporters who insisted that Eric Dier’s backup sitting on the bench is the solution. Matthijs de Ligt later demonstrated that he might not be the target if awareness, leadership, and proactive defence are what they’re pursuing.

Mitoma’s low cross caught Maguire off guard, primarily because the Moroccan let the ball go between his legs. Mazraoui had an opportunity to clear it as well.

When Welbeck turned the ball in, there were two Manchester United defenders and three Brighton forwards. Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo were the only ones who failed to see the danger, and Lisandro Martinez, one of the two, decided, for some reason, that Yankuba Minteh posed a bigger threat than Welbeck, who was unmarked right in the middle of the goal. Overall, the defence was awful.

The only player to defend with any semblance of the necessary authority was Diogo Dalot. The Portugal international handled Minteh’s direct running brilliantly, and in the first half, the left-back was arguably United’s most creative outlet, producing some incredible crosses and cross-field passes, frequently with his weaker left foot.

The goal went in the opposite direction of the flow of play, but Mason Mount was the driving force behind United’s strong first-half performance. He led the press, skilfully executed his Willing Runner bit, and forged strong connections with fellow false nine Bruno Fernandes, who spun in behind the defence to feed the Red Devils captain. Even though he was outstanding and perhaps United’s best player, he was nonetheless the one to be sacrificed at halftime.

Erik ten Hag should be commended for benching Mount; it was undoubtedly the right decision. Rather, we hold him accountable for signing a player who, even at his peak, has no place on the squad. It simply isn’t effective.

Bruno Fernandes won’t be taken off by Ten Hag. It makes sense that he is attempting to play Marcus Rashford into form because once he gets hot, there’s no stopping him. Even though Amad wasn’t playing well, it was a wise move to keep him in the game as he came on to equalise in the second half. And even though Joshua Zirkzee’s massive body kept United from taking the lead, they needed the focal point he offered.

The unfortunate one. In a week, from hero to evil. Alejandro Garnacho’s attempt was diverted inadvertently by Zirkzee, who was attempting to slide onto the end of Fernandes’ cross but was unable to do so. This occurred on the goal line, offside. He realised right away that he had ruined what could have been a brilliantly executed goal, with all the clinical elements aside from that last-minute interference. The way Fernandes overlapped Amad was quite creative.

Without Mount, United was more dangerous, but Brighton was also a threat. Ten Hag will likely be forced to choose between solidity and expansiveness, typically going with the latter, as it will become increasingly unacceptably for Manchester United to play without a striker if they aren’t winning games.

They once again failed to defend the second phase of play, which is why they lost this one. When Simon Adingra’s cross was expertly dinked to the back post for Pedro to nod in, De Ligt and Scott McTominay were drawn to the ball like schoolboys. Joao Pedro, who was outstanding throughout, scored the goal, but he had two teammates lining up behind him and none of the nine Red Devils players in the box were anywhere close to them.

Luckily for Ten Hag, there is a highly coachable solution. In one training session, he could and should have reminded his players that this is football, not American football, and that one phase leads to another. It does, however, raise the question of why it hasn’t been done before. The issue is with Manchester United, not with Maguire.

It’s clear why adding Mount to the lineup would be a good idea, but it’s unclear how Ten Hag will manage to include a striker as well, given that United has shown in its first two games of the season that they would be unable to score many goals on attack without one.