“He made a terrible mistake” – Stewart Robson names Manchester United player who shouldn’t play in role he was given against Brighton if Ten Hag wants to deploy preferred system

Former Arsenal star Stewart Robson has advised Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag against playing Fred as a holding midfielder. According to Robson, Fred does not possess the qualities required to do what the role demands in Ten Hag’s system.

Manchester United welcomed Brighton & Hove Albion to Old Trafford for their 2022-23 Premier League opener on Sunday, August 7. The Red Devils were humbled by the energetic visitors, succumbing to a 2-1 defeat in front of their fans. Pascal Gross scored twice to help Brighton to their first-ever win at the iconic stadium.

While no United player managed to cover themselves in glory, Robson singled out Fred for his substandard showing against the Seagulls.

Robson claimed that Fred, although energetic, does not have what it takes to be Ten Hag’s holding midfielder. Speaking on ESPN, he said:

“If you want to play out from the back as Ten Hag wanted Maguire and Martinez to do you can't have Fred as the holding midfielder, who is going to link everything up.

“He made a terrible mistake when the ball was played into him from De Gea, and Brighton should have scored. That's why when you put Eriksen back there in the second half, they looked slightly better, but Eriksen can't defend in 1v1 situations and people are going to run beyond him so he's got a lot of things to fix.”

Robson added:

“McTominay and Fred while they're energetic and decent players, they're not up to the level needed at Manchester United at the moment.”

United will next take on Brentford in an away Premier League fixture on Saturday, August 13.

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David de Gea produces a nervy performance in Manchester United defeat

One of the most senior members of the team, David de Gea, was way below his brilliant best against Brighton.

The Spanish goalkeeper conceded twice in a span of nine minutes and could have done better on both occasions.

In the 30th minute, his former United teammate Danny Welbeck put in a low cross across the face of the goal for Gross to tap in. Given his experience, the Manchester United No. 1 could have at least tried to keep the cross from reaching its target.

Nine minutes later, he got down quickly to keep Solly March from scoring, but his parry was weak and fell directly onto Gross’ path, who made no mistake slotting home.

A disappointing display from the Spain international.

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