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The second weekend of the 2018/2019 Premier League season is over, and it delivered one of the shocks of the season, as Brighton and Hove Albion defeated Manchester United 3-2 at the Amex stadium.
Both teams posted different matchday one results, with United kicking the season with a narrow 2-1 victory over Leicester at home, while Brighton suffered a 2-0 defeat away to Watford at Vicarage Road.
With rivals Manchester City posting a comfortable 6-1 victory over Huddersfield town, the onus was on Manchester United to send a statement to the Premier League about their intentions by posting a win today, but they got their scripts horribly wrong.
The Red Devils found themselves behind on 25 minutes, after some horrible defending allowed Glen Murray to slot past De Gea, and their woes were compounded just two minutes later as Shane Duffy was on hand to score his first ever Premier League goal due to Manchester United failing to clear their lines from a corner.
Romelu Lukaku nodded home nine minutes before the break to half the deficit, but rash defending by Eric Bailly in the box offered an opportunity for Paschal Gross from 18 yards out, and it is one the German gobbled up, blasting into the roof of the net off David De Gea's leg. A penalty by Paul Pogba deep into stoppage time was nothing more than a mere consolation for United, as Mourinho's side dropped behind their rivals in the title race.
As with any defeat, there are always lessons to be learned, more so as the defeat came to an inferior opponent who Manchester United would have expected to beat. Here are four lessons from Manchester United's loss to Brighton.
#4 Fred might need some time to settle in
Manchester United signed Brazilian international Fred from Shaktar Donetsk for a fee believed to be in the region of £52m in June, and the 25-year-old was expected to provide steel and guile to the United midfield, allowing Paul Pogba the freedom to play to the best of his abilities.
Things have however not gone to plan for Fred, as he was guilty of being too rash and was lucky to escape receiving a red card after a number of rough tackles in his debut against Leicester City.
At Brighton, it was his unimpressive control over midfield from a poor De Gea pass which caught United out of shape and paved the way for Pashcal Gross to steal into the box and be fouled by Eric Bailly. Earlier, it was also his error which led to the corner kick from which Shane Duffy scored his first ever Premier League goal and Brighton's second.
While Fred is an undoubted talent (we witnessed that much at Shaktar Donetsk), however, on account of his performances in the red of Manchester United so far, fans at Old Trafford might have to wait a while to see the best of the Brazilian.
#3 The full-back roles are still problematic
A constant area of concern for Jose Mourinho during his first two seasons was the full-back positions, as he struggled to find suitable players to fill in the wide berths of defence.
Multiple players such as Danny Blind, Marcos Rojo, Matteo Darmian, Phil Jones all played in those positions at different points under Jose Mourinho to no avail, as all of them failed to perform well enough to nail down the starting spot.
Jose showed a distinct lack of trust in Luke Shaw's abilities, and constantly took out opportunities to criticize the left back in public, and substituted him off on multiple occasions due to perceived poor performances by the 23-year-old.
These problematic areas led to Mourinho converting former winger Ashley Young into a makeshift left-back, and the 33-year-old performed considerably well enough to earn a spot as England's starting left-back at the just concluded World Cup in Russia.
The opposite flank of Manchester United's defence is also manned by a converted winger, and while Antonio Valencia has held his own in the role for the best part of the last three seasons, at 33 years, age is no longer on the Ecuadorian's side, and injuries are beginning to take its toll.
Against Brighton, Young filled in for injured Valencia at right-back and was constantly running around and exposed far too easily by the Brighton attack. Luke Shaw started on the other flank, after impressing significantly against Leicester where he scored the first goal of his professional career but fell back into his old habits of not defending properly, with Brighton players constantly run in behind him as he failed to track their runs.
Effective full-backs are very much a key component of the modern game, and unlike Benjamin Mendy (who already has three assists this season) and Kyle Walker at Manchester City, Manchester United's full-backs haven't shown the necessary performance levels required at a top club, and this is a problem which could hinder United's title aspirations this season.
#2 Anthony Martial didn't do his United standing any favours with his performance
After impressive performances with Monaco in Ligue 1, Anthony Martial became the most expensive teenager in football history after completing a potential £58m transfer to Manchester United, winning the 2015 edition of the prestigious Golden Boy award just few months later.
He starred heavily for United in his debut season under Louis Van Gaal, making 31 Premier League appearances, and scoring 11 goals. However, all that changed with the appointment of Jose Mourinho in 2016.
The 22-year-old started just 18 EPL matches in each of Mourinho's first two seasons in charge (compared to the 28 league matches he started under Van Gaal) as Mourinho preferred an attack comprising other players.
Constant criticism of Martial has also been witnessed, with the most recent being Mourinho's jibe at Martial for electing to spend time with his family instead of reporting to training with his teammates.
Martial's future was up in speculation for most of the transfer window, as the club sought to sell him to raise funds for its pursuit of Ivan Perisic, but with that deal not coming to fruition, it seems the Frenchman would be at Old Trafford for at least another five months.
Anthony Martial was handed a rare start by Mourinho in the absence of the injured Alexis Sanchez, and he failed to grab his opportunity, looking on as a bystander as United failed to impose their authority on the match until he was substituted by Marouane Fellaini in the 60th minute.
With competition for places in United's attack stiff, and Martial not having the trust of his manager, the Frenchman is expected to make the most of whatever opportunities come his way, but on evidence of his performance against Brighton, Martial has some way to go before being fully considered in the first team picture.
#1 Lack of defensive reinforcements
One of United's and Mourinho's major concerns coming into this season was their centre-back options. Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Danny Blind, Marcos Rojo and Victor Lindelof all struggled to impress last season, while Eric Bailly had fitness issues for most of the campaign.
These concerns led Mourinho to mount an all-out offensive to add defensive options to his squad, sanctioning the very serious pursuits of Toby Alderwireld at Tottenham, Harry Maguire from Leicester and even Diego Godin of Atletico Madrid on EPL transfer deadline day. However, all those speculations amounted to nothing, as United failed to get any of their central defensive targets.
Jose Mourinho was stuck with his options from last season, and due to injuries to some other players, he was left with no option but to start Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof.
Victor Lindelof was signed from Benfica at the start of last season in a £37m deal, but struggled in his pre-season fixtures and had to wait until September to make his Premier League debut.
Lindelof failed to convince on the few occasions while he was playing the last term, leading many to question the reason for his purchase.
Despite his troubles at United, however, the 24-year-old was called up by his nation for the World Cup and featured in all five matches of Sweden's quarter-final elimination.
Eric Bailly, on the other hand, was one of the first signings made by Jose Mourinho in 2016, and impressed significantly in his debut season, but had his second marred by fitness issues and injuries.
Both players started in United's opening day 2-1 victory over Leicester and put in solid displays, particularly Lindelof, leading many to suggest he might have a huge role to play this season.
Their performance against Brighton, however, was a far cry from the level expected of United defenders. They were constantly caught out of position by the Brighton attackers, and it was Lindelof's poor marking that led to Glen Murray's opener, as the Swede failed to spot the striker's run to the near post and allowed him an easy finish. His performance was roundly criticized by pundits, with one calling it 'crazy'.
Manchester United's defending was also in shambles for the second goal, as they repeatedly failed to clear their lines from a Brighton corner, and criminally left defender Shane Duffy unmarked ten yards from goal, where he stroked home into the net following Anthony Knockaert's cutback.
Eric Bailly was also at fault for the third goal conceded, after the Ivorien inexplicably went to ground and committed an unnecessary tackle on Paschal Gross for a penalty with the German already going away from goal.
Title winning teams are largely built on strong defenses, and with Manchester United's shambolic defensive showing at the Amex, this team is a far way off from being genuine title contenders.
