Adam Lord has his say on a nightmare day for Erik Ten Hag and Man United at Old Trafford as they lose 3-1 against Brighton.
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00:00 A 3-1 defeat against Brighton continues a really worrying start to the season.
00:15 Several talking points today. The main one I think we've come out of the press conference talking about is the fact that 64 minutes into the day United 2-0 down against Brighton, R8 ten hard took the decision to replace Rasmus Hoyland in for his first start today after his £72m move from Atalanta.
00:34 And shut down Andy Martial and with United 2-0 down and Martial's recent form, the booing was beyond deafening at Old Trafford. So just a few minutes ago we got the chance to sit down with R8 ten hard and we asked him directly, we the press, the Royal Weaver, several people asked him questions about what he thought of that.
00:57 The slight puzzling response that came out of his mouth was that he was positive about the booing that was heard as Hoyland came off and Martial came on. Basically trying to deflect it and say that it was a really good sign for Hoyland that United fans wanted to see him stay on the pitch, that he got a great reception in his first game in charge.
01:14 It was then pointed out to him by another member of the media that maybe it was a reflection on Andy Martial's form. Ten hard dismissed this, said that last season he performed well for United and that currently he wasn't at top fitness and when he was, he was sure he would contribute. Martial came on at 2-0 down, in truth had little to no impact on the game but he wasn't the only one today in all fairness.
01:38 United losing 3-1 to an impressive Brighton side who in truth didn't have to work very hard for the three points today. Ten hard was asked directly by somebody in the press conference whether this constituted a crisis, he said absolutely not, he said we should be angry, we should be concerned but it was not a crisis.
02:01 He was pleased with aspects of the performance, another thing that I think will raise a few eyebrows among United fans but he did say he was happy with some of what he saw today. The game itself, the thing was it started so positively early for United, they flew out of the box after the first ten minutes. Hoyland in for his first start, Sergio Riguillon from Tottenham on loan at the end, left back in for his first start, he flew in for a few challenges early on and really showed plenty of endeavour today but maybe a little lacking in quality but did no worse than some.
02:29 But yeah, plenty of opportunities in the first ten minutes, Rashford went close, Hoyland nearly got on the end of a Rashford cross but it started to unravel really 20 minutes in. Danny Welbeck, remember him, Danny Welbeck put Brighton in front, he put a very impressive display leading the line for Roberto Di Zerbi's side today and yeah, Welbeck put Brighton in front.
02:49 United thought they were level five minutes before the interval, now it's a bit controversial, I must admit we had monitors in front of us in the press box, I was pretty confident the ball had gone out of play, I see reading online that some other people think very differently to that. I personally thought it had gone out so Rashford's cross, Hoyland converted but VAR took a pretty lengthy look and decided that the goal should be ruled out.
03:12 So United thought they were level just before the break, they weren't. They came out for the second half really, really flat which was a surprise and then Pascal Grosso was allowed to stroll into the United area and make it 2-0 with about 53 minutes on the clock. And then ten minutes after that came the change, Martial on for Hoyland, a loud, loud, loud booze.
03:30 Hannibal also came on, he looked really bright but before he could have his impact, João Pedro made it 3-0 to Brighton again with a really quite soft goal, Tarek Lamsley giving all the room for Old Trafford to run down the left-hand square for him to score. And Juan André Hernandez whose distribution today was iffy at best, maybe should have done better with that third goal, he certainly got a hand to it but couldn't keep it out.
03:53 And then Hannibal had his moment, scored a nice goal, showed plenty of endeavour, the youngsters you'd expect for a prospect getting a big chance at Old Trafford but in truth really he was the only bright spot today. Loud booze at the final whistle as well. This is a concerning start to say Ten Hag disputed any notion of a crisis.
04:10 The problem Eric Ten Hag has got is that they go to Bayern Munich in midweek and things ain't going to get any easier in a hurry. He's obviously had a torrid international break with all the off the field issues and would really, really, really have hoped that the football today would have done the talking at the end of the 90 minutes. The frank truth in here is it hasn't, it was another really poor display from United who got out of jail over the end of its forest last time I was here, got beaten by Arsenal and now they've lost to Brighton as well.
04:36 So the problems are mounting here. Obviously transfer window shut. There were several players absent today by the directors box. There was a row that had Luke Shaw, Mason Mount and Sofian Ambro that sat on. Now they will definitely strengthen it. No word on when they will return. Munich looks a bit too soon. Maybe Burnley, we might see some of those involved. Not sure, I don't think it's short- or longer-term.
04:54 But yeah, problems for Eric Ten Hag and I don't think that response in the press conference around the booing will have helped him. It's clearly his opinion or it's the way he wants to manage things. But having taken the strong line with Jadon Sancho, he now needs some results on the pitch as well. But on that evidence today, they look a little way off.