Manchester United suffered a 3-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford last Sunday, January 19. Bruno Fernandes scored the only United goal from a penalty to equalize after Brighton had scored first.
Manchester United’s defence showed familiar frailties in the second half to concede a defeat that pushed them further back in the league table. The Red Devils are now 13th in the league table with 26 points from 22 matches.
Lack of Defensive Discipline
United pressed high really well in the first half, with Joshua Zirkzee impressing with his hold-up play and sustained pressure on the Brighton defence, with Amad Diallo, Kobbie Mainoo and Fernandes also joining It.
However, as Mainoo went forward to press high, there was a void in the central midfield that was bound to be created when a team playing with a 3-4-2-1 presses high in numbers.
Manuel Ugarte struggled at times to deal with the long balls played by Brighton into the United half, as there were not enough men inside United’s half to help him out.
Noussair Mazraoui overlapped more frequently but struggled to send in crosses to the opposition penalty box. Diogo Dalot managed to send in a few of them, but they proved to be ineffective mostly.
Moreover, Bruno Fernandes’ tendency to veer towards the left when the formation became 3-4-3 was yet another factor in reducing Manchester United’s creativity in the middle of the pitch.
Brighton on the other hand have a couple of really dangerous wingers in Karou Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh, who provided for each other in their win on Sunday.
Ruben Amorim’s decision to leave Alejandro Garnacho out was a questionable one, as playing Fernandes in the Argentine’s position affected their width in attack.
This has been a familiar problem for United since Amorim came in.
What has also been familiar is Andre Onana’s tendency to commit big mistakes. His inability to hold on to the ball gifted Brighton their third goal of the day.
Altay Bayındır, who starred in Manchester United’s victory over Arsenal at the FA Cup last weekend, must have done enough to make a claim of starting in the goal for the Red Devils.
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Easier Fixtures to Come
Amorim’s men will take on Fulham and Crystal Palace in their next two Premier League matches. They will also take on Rangers and FSCB in their next two Europa League matches within the next few weeks.
None of those matches can be called very difficult for a team of Manchester United’s stature. However, the defeat against Brighton should force Amorim to make some alterations to his playing XI.
Zirkzee, despite being industrious and eager to contribute, does not pose a potent goal-scoring threat that a top No. 9 should. Neither is Rasmus Hojlund among the players to boost United’s attack.
In such a scenario, playing Fernandes as a false nine to accommodate Garnacho seems to be the only feasible option available to Amorim.
The young Portuguese manager has improved his team in terms of their passing and pressing high up the pitch, but the lack of creativity among players aside from Fernandes remains painfully evident.