Gary Neville blames one Man Utd star for Brighton as ‘wasted time’ under Ten Hag creates ‘real problem’

Gary Neville is “really depressed” having seen Manchester United lose in stoppage time to Brighton and pointed the finger of blame at one Red Devils star as Erik ten Hag is under “an awful lot of pressure”.

Danny Welbeck gave Brighton the lead in the first half after some ropey United defending and Ten Hag’s side were again lax at the back as Joao Pedro was found unmarked at the back post by Simon Adingra in the 95th minute to hand Fabian Hurzeler his second win in two games in charge.

Amad Diallo had drawn United level on the break and Alejandro Garnacho thought he had given his side the lead having turned Bruno Fernandes’ cross towards goal, only to be denied by his own player as Joshua Zirkzee inadvertently deflected the Argentinian’s shot in from an offside position.

There were positive for United, but Neville claims Ten Hag created a “real problem” for his team before the game had even kicked off and reckons the Dutchman is under “an awful lot of pressure” ahead of their clash with Liverpool next Sunday.

“Really depressing end to the game,” Neville told NBC Sports. “I thought a draw would’ve been half acceptable but to lose the game, it puts an awful lot of pressure, I think, on Erik ten Hag and on towards the game next week against Liverpool.

“I think the first half of the game, I don’t think any of us were surprised. It’s very difficult to play football without a centre-forward. The lads in the studio will tell you, you need a focal point up front. He corrected that at half-time by bringing Zirkzee on, but you’ve already wasted 45 minutes in the match and that’s a real problem.

“Then in the second half, the first goal as well was poor defensively, that last goal, I’ve just watched it then coming up to the gantry. When you clear from a corner, you’ve got to still defend as you’re defending the second phase of a corner.

“I think particularly if you watch Casemiro, it looks to me, I’ve only watched it once back on the reply, it looks like he leaves his position at that back post and runs back towards central midfield.

“But then it leaves an acre of space in that back zone where there are three Brighton players queuing up.”

MORE ON MAN UTD’S DEFEAT TO BRIGHTON
👉 Mason Mount a sacrifice at his best as Ten Hag to blame for De Ligt’s Maguire impression
👉 Ten Hag blames Man Utd trio for Brighton defeat as Red Devils boss launches ‘trophies’ defence

Ten Hag claimed three of his players were to blame for Brighton’s late winner.

“We didn’t stop the cross,” Ten Hag lamented. “There were three players, [Adingra is a] right-footed player. Send him down the line, send him wide instead of letting him come in and let the cross.

“We have of course to talk about this, how we act in that situation as a team. There were more than one mistake on that occasion and it has a big impact on the score.

“That (conceding in added time)’s very disappointing, yeah. Because in the Community Shield we concede just before time, we should be more clinical in such situations, read the game, take the point if you can’t win any more. We were close to winning this game but definitely don’t lose the game.”