"Forget the manager, forget the club, look at the players!" - Lee Dixon slams 'disgraceful' Manchester United stars for falling flat against 'brilliant' Brentford 

Former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon has slammed Manchester United's players after the Red Devils' embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.

United received heavy criticism in the transfer window as well. Despite their desperate need for reinforcements, they have signed only three players and have failed to acquire top targets.

Dutch tactician Erik ten Hag took some flak after United's 2-1 defeat to Brighton in their Premier League opener last weekend. However, Dixon believes the players must take the blame for their loss to Thomas Frank's side. A poor effort from goalkeeper David de Gea helped Brentford take the lead in the tenth minute. Subsequently, the Spaniard's poor distribution gifted the Bees their second goal just eight minutes later.

Manchester United's inability to clear the ball out of their box resulted in Ben Mee scoring Brentford's third on the 30' mark before Bryan Mbeumo scored his side's fourth just five minutes later.

Ten Hag's side defended well in the second half but were unable to score a goal despite creating some half-chances. Dixon lashed out at the players for their 'disgraceful performance.'

"You don't play for Manchester United out of luck. You get recruited, you get through the system, you get the opportunity to play for one of the biggest teams in the world. And with that opportunity you have to take it," Dixon told NBC as per The Daily Mail.

Dixon further added:

"We all play badly, we all have bad games. But to start looking at Ten Hag now and asking how's he gonna fix this, forget him for a minute, forget the club for a minute, you've got to look at the players, you've got to look at them individually and what's going on out there."

"These mistakes that are going on, the lack of effort that's going on. They're not doing their jobs. You look at the positions they get themselves into, effectively terrible. No organization." [sic]

Manchester United have conceded six goals in their opening two Premier League games against Brighton and Brentford, teams they were supposed to dominate. The club have also scored just one goal from open play, which was an own goal scored by Brighton midfielder Alexis Mac Allister.

Manchester United could struggle to sign their top targets before the end of the transfer window

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According to The Guardian, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has admitted that the club must make some notable additions to their squad before the close of the summer transfer window on September 1.

As per The Daily Mail, the Red Devils are interested in signing Adrien Rabiot, Cody Gakpo, and Frenkie de Jong. The 13-time Premier League champions could, however, struggle to sign their transfer targets due to their dismal start to the 2022-23 campaign and the uncertainty surrounding their future.

The aforementioned surging players are unlikely to join a club that is on the decline and are seemingly unlikely to compete for a place in the top four of the Premier League this season. Unless there is a massive turnaround in their performances, United looks set to sit out the next year's Champions league as well.