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‘It was a NIGHTMARE start’: Harry Maguire concedes Erik ten Hag’s Man United reign couldn’t have began any worse than it did after falling 2-0 behind to Brighton before half-time… as captain admits Red Devils are ‘far too open’
- Harry Maguire admitted Manchester United were ‘far too open’ against Brighton
- The Red Devils lost 2-1 to the Seagulls during Erik ten Hag’s first match in charge
- Maguire admitted that United needed to be more creative in the second-half
- The captain insisted: ‘It’s something we need to address or it’ll keep happening’
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Harry Maguire admitted that Manchester United suffered a nightmare start to the season as manager Erik ten Hag lost his first Premier League game in charge.
United were shocked 2-1 by Brighton, who celebrated their first win at Old Trafford thanks to two first-half goals from Pascal Gross.
Wantaway Cristiano Ronaldo came on in the second-half and the Red Devils clawed one back through an Alexis Mac Allister own goal in the 68th minute, but Ten Hag’s side were ultimately unable to break Brighton down again and find an equaliser.
Harry Maguire admitted that Man United ‘looked far too open’ in their 2-1 defeat to Brighton
It was a nightmare start for Erik ten Hag as Man United found themselves 2-0 down at half-time
Maguire was disappointed that the team could not hand the new Dutch manager his first win at Old Trafford, especially considering their poor form last campaign.
‘Everyone knew the task,’ he said. ‘We had a bad season last season. We’ve got a new manager trying to put his philosophy on the team but when we don’t get it right we look far too open.
‘It’s great to have Lisandro Martinez at the club. We have competition for places at centre-back. We’ve not played much together and in that first period we weren’t on the same wavelength.
The Red Devils found themselves 2-0 down at half-time after two goals from Pascal Gross
‘Centre-back partnerships are built over time and we will get a lot better and keep clean sheets.’
He added: ‘We went into the game positive, we had a good pre-season and it was the worst possible start to be 2-0 down at half-time at Old Trafford.
The England star was booked for his skirmish with Leandro Trossard after the break
‘We got a goal back but we huffed and puffed a bit and it’s a bad start for us.
‘We started pretty well and on the front foot and as a team we had control. Then we conceded the first goal and that knocked us badly.
‘We need to look at not letting that first goal set us back as much as it did. It was a nightmare start to be 2-0 down at half-time.’
Unlocking Brighton’s defence in the second-half proved a real challenge for United and Maguire admitted the team needed to be more creative in fashioning goal scoring opportunities.
He said: ‘We spoke about getting the next goal [at half-time]. I think in the second half you saw good parts to our game but overall we didn’t do enough.
‘We had a lot of pressure and a lot of ball but we need to be a bit more creative and we need to improve on that.
‘It’s something we need to address or it’ll keep happening. The first goal felt like a big blow to all 11 of our players.’