After a heartbreaking injury-time defeat, Manchester United fans were again left scratching their heads wondering how we had not managed to pick up any points from a game where a win or a draw looked very achievable.
Brighton have been described as a bogey team in recent seasons with the Seagulls beating United in four out of the last six occasions in the Premier League. Our defensive performance last weekend and last season would suggest our poor performances against Brighton are more so down to their superior organisation and discipline in defence as opposed to blind luck
Take the second-half chaos that has crept into United’s playing style aside, most supporters recognise there is a distinct naivety within the team that needs to be addressed quickly, with Liverpool coming to Old Trafford next week. The solution to that problem lies with Matthijs De Ligt who has the attributes to fix United’s defensive woes.
Before his introduction on Saturday, De Ligt watched us go one behind after a defensive lapse which failed to stop the two separate crosses leading to an easy tap-in for former Red Danny Welbeck. On both occasions, we failed to defend the front post. The second goal was just as frustrating as De Ligt turned to see United had vacated the entire back post for Joáo Pedro to head home in the dying seconds of injury time.
The manner of the goals against Brighton is fixable but requires a commanding presence to resolve, otherwise, we are looking at a continuation of last season where we conceded 58 goals over the course of the league. De Ligt has the vital leadership and presence needed to get a hold of that back four and help us see out games when they become stretched. Add in Manuel Ugarte and we have a destroyer playing in front of the back four who can disrupt attacks and regain possession playing at 6 providing us with some much needed protection and the margins for turning these results into wins is very small.
Harry Maguire received the majority of the blame for Brighton’s first goal at the weekend and he will admit himself he should be defending our front post much better to stop the initial cross, but strangely André Onana seems to have escaped criticism for both goals. In a team that is desperate for leaders to help us get hold of games or steady the ship when we are under pressure, I wonder what happened the version of Onana that gave Maguire an earful in a 2022/23 pre-season friendly against Borussia Dortmund? We don’t see him doing this anymore, why is this? Are the players afraid to encourage and motivate each other? United fans want to see players barking at each other, getting the best out of their team mates and ultimately winning games.
This is fixable and we have the players to do it, but a change of mentality is needed. United fans will be hoping De Ligt can be the catalyst to get that back four working as an effective and disciplined defensive unit. Liverpool next week will be a tough first test should he start. Willy Kambwala’s performance in the same fixture last season is a good omen to start De Ligt and help get or defensive flaws addressed. Let’s hope De Ligt can be that communicator we so badly need to organise the team and make our back four a cohesive unit with a little help from Onana!
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It would be good to see De Ligt start in the Liverpool game . This a United team that is short of positive leadership which i hope that de Ligt can bring . Also hope fully he is quicker than Maguire and is not easily beaten on the turn. So yes it will be a baptism of fire . But truly great players thrive on such situations. WE will wait and see and hope fully De Ligt will come thru with flying colours