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Gary Neville tried to make sense of Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon.
United’s Premier League opener win over Fulham kick-started their league campaign on a positive note, giving fans and pundits alike a number of positives to talk about.
However, the Seagulls handed the Red Devils an early blow on the road courtesy of a stoppage-time winner from João Pedro.
Ten Hag fielded the same starting XI that beat Fulham, and for large parts of the game, his players delivered a very similar performance. However, poor decision-making from United forwards and some questionable in-game changes from the gaffer himself largely contributed to a completely different result.
In particular, one of the changes that seemingly baffled Neville was Ten Hag taking off Harry Maguire for Matthijs de Ligt in the 79th minute when the scoreline was level.
Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, the United legend said: “He’s changing the back four again during the game. Taking centre-backs off again. Taking centre-backs off… that was a no-no back in the day.”
“He’s changing the back four again during the game…”
Gary Neville believes the balance of the Manchester United side is wrong ⚖️ pic.twitter.com/uCgdh58fF1
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 25, 2024
“You might take a full-back off if you are losing the game. But if you are drawing or winning the game, you don’t tend to take off a defender. You are tend to trust your back four.”
The Dutch tactician did not trust his back four and instead of finding a winning goal, he saw his side concede a header from an unmarked Pedro from close range.
The backline was all over the place in stoppage time, giving the Brighton man plenty of space and time to hit the back of the net and grab all three points for the host.
In a separate post-match show, Neville insisted a draw would have been “half acceptable” but a defeat heading into a crucial clash against Liverpool puts “an awful lot of pressure” on the United boss.
Further, the legendary full-back expects the ex-Ajax coach to change his system against Liverpool next weekend. “The balance isn’t right,” Neville said on The Gary Neville Podcast while talking about Ten Hag’s 4-2-2-2 formation.
Neville feels the front two of Marcus Rashford and Amad Diallo have been so wide that often United have lacked any focal point in the middle of the attack.
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2024-08-25 18:00:37
