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Manchester United had a game to forget against Brighton yesterday as they were hammered 2-3 by a relatively small team. After a promising start against Leicester City last week, United were handed a reality check this weekend.
The repercussions of their weak and inefficient transfer business were quite visible against Brighton yesterday. Without Alexis Sanchez, there was no spark in the attack and hence the wingers looked quite lacklustre.
The midfield consisting of Pereira, Pogba, and Fred were extremely sloppy in distribution and couldn't tread passes to the strikers. They were all over the place during Brighton's attacks and gave away possession too easily in dangerous areas.
The central defence consisting of Lindelof and Bailly was reactive instead of being proactive and hence allowed Murray to run behind them.
Lindelof was responsible for the first goal as he couldn't mark Murray strongly in order to stop him from tapping the ball into the net. On the other hand, Bailly reckless challenge inside the box helped Brighton from the penalty spot to extend their lead to 3-1.
Hence, a serious introspection is needed from the players and the manager in order to not repeat the same mistakes again. Let us have a look at the 3 players who should be dropped from the Red Devils' starting line-up.
#3 Juan Mata
Juan Mata gave one of his most horrible displays in the game yesterday. Being played as a right winger, he looked extremely out of position due to lack of pace and the inability to help out the defence.
He was completely lacklustre while attacking, gave away possession too cheaply, couldn't create any chances for the attackers and hence was hardly visible on the pitch when his team was on the offensive.
Due to lack of pace, he was unable to take on the left-back, his playmaking ability was easily thwarted by the opposition defence and was extremely ineffective yesterday.
Mata also abdicated his defensive responsibilities as he was slow in coming back, gave too much pace for Brighton's left-back to run on the wing and hence was responsible for Brighton's first goal as he didn't press the left-back and allowed him the freedom to give a easy pass to the winger who easily crossed the ball into the Manchester United penalty area for Murray to tap in.
Hence, Mata was rightly substituted by Mourinho at half-time. The Manchester United manager should either give Mata a central role in the next game or drop him.
#2 Eric Bailly
Eric Bailly had a night to forget yesterday. Being sidelined for most of the last season due to a knee injury, he wanted to prove his fitness and show his defensive capabilities to the fans this season. Unfortunately, Bailly was a disaster yesterday, was extremely sloppy and slow to react during opposition's attack.
Bailly, with his defensive partner Lindelof, looked to play the Brighton strikers offside and hence were out of position and all over the play during the opposition's attack. Despite having good pace at his disposal, it was surprising to see Bailly looking to catch up with Murray who was always ahead of him.
He needlessly gave away a penalty in the 43rd minute by sliding into an opponent who wasn't likely to score due to the presence of De Gea in United's goal. In this case, Bailly was out of position and hence was the main reason for giving away the penalty cheaply.
Bailly should deeply introspect about his performance or consider giving way to Jones or Smalling who are waiting patiently for their opportunity this season.
#1 Anthony Martial
Anthony Martial was extremely disappointing and inefficient for Manchester United in their game against Brighton yesterday. Despite Mourinho looking to off-load in the summer transfer window, he was provided a place in the starting line-up yesterday and miserably failed to justify that his selection.
He gave away the ball quite often, was not able to penetrate Brighton's defence and provided inaccurate crosses in the penalty area for Lukaku. In his defensive duties, he was rash in tackling and gave away possession in critical situations. Hence, he was a bad partner for Luke Shaw in the wing and was correctly substituted.
In most likelihood, he will sit on the bench in the next game and Rashford will start the proceedings in his place.
