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United fans' hopes that the off-season would mark a turning
point have faded, with the club failing to make major moves yet
in the transfer market and there was a grim familiarity to the
club's opening match.
The former Ajax coach witnessed a performance that was every bit
as disjointed as those produced under his predecessors Ralf
Rangnick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last season.
The sense that this was a continuation of last year's decline
began before kick-off where there were yet more loud and angry
protests against United's owners, the American Glazer family,
under the South Stand
If that felt familiar, then the sight of Scott McTominay and
Fred in midfield as United laboured against Graham Potter's
superbly drilled side was verging on deja vu.
United had been shambolic in their 4-0 loss at Brighton in May
and, even with debuts for defender Lisandro Martinez and
midfielder Christian Eriksen, little felt new or changed about
the performance.
Brighton took the lead on the half-hour with Leandro Trossard
finding former United forward Danny Welbeck who squared the ball
to the back post for Gross to slot home.
Nine minutes later, Gross doubled the lead, with his sixth
career goal against United, after David De Gea had poorly pushed
out a Solly March drive right into the path of the German who
again made no mistake.
United went in at the break to the sound of booing from their
own supporters -- once a rare occurrence but increasingly part
of the experience at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag introduced Cristiano Ronaldo in the 53rd minute and the
Portugal forward, who is reported to want to leave the club,
provided the spark for United's attempted comeback.
The home side gave themselves a foothold in the 68th minute when
a goalmouth scramble ended with Alexis Mac Allister turning the
ball into his own net but Brighton held on for a second straight
win against United and their first ever at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag said he had no illusions of the scale of the task ahead
of him.
"I was aware of it before, this game doesn't change that. It is
a hell of a job. We have to work really hard, analyse then move
forward," he said.
"Of course definitely a setback and real disappointment. I knew
from the start it would not be easy. We gave two easy balls away
and it was not good in the organisation."
Brighton boss Graham Potter was full of praise for his team.
“It was a fantastic effort from the players and we deserved the
win over the course of the game,” he said. “It’s a historic win
for us so it’s something to be happy about.
“We had an idea about how to attack and then, when we could, we
tried to press and put them under pressure. We were brave in
what we did," he added.
(Reporting by Simon Evans, editing by Clare Fallon and Pritha
Sarkar)
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