In the first round of the 2022/23 Premier League season, Manchester United sat at home at Old Trafford against Brighton. The Seagulls' Pascal Gross scored twice in the first half, and although Diogu Dallow forced the opposing Oolong to return a goal in the second half, the Red Devils still lost 1-2, with Tenhag losing the first game.
The much-watched Cristiano Ronaldo failed to enter the starting lineup and sat on the bench. United's starting lines are: De Gea on goal, Diaugu Da luo, Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw form a defensive line, the back is still Fred and McTomine, and Bruno Fernandez, Sancho and Rashford are moving behind center Erickson.
Tenhag explains: "You mentioned that Cristiano (Ronaldo)'s pre-season preparations are too short. He only started training last week and only played 45 minutes of warm-up matches. He's not as physical as his teammates, and in the Premier League, we've seen through Friday and yesterday's games that the opponents are really struggling to cope, with high intensity, high pushing, retreating defense, constant switching, you need physical fitness to do it."
As for the starters of new signings Eriksen and Martinez, Tenhag said: "They are very experienced and will be ready. Eriksen and Martinez strengthened the team, but the key was the performance of the whole team on the field. We want to play as a whole and work together." Tenhag confirmed that Eriksen will make a cameo appearance in No. 9: "Who played Ronaldo in the position? Bruno (Fernandez) is possible, but most of the time it will be Eriksen, who plays very well in that position."
Manchester United boss Avram Glazer, legendary boss Sir Alex and celebrity Stam all came to Old Trafford to watch. But Brighton finished the shot at the beginning, Dallow made a mistake in possession of the ball, Trousar broke the ball and shot from a small angle, and the ball hit the side net. In the 7th minute, United wasted a good chance to score, McTomine inserted the post, was blocked by the opponent and flew in front of B Fee, but he burst the ball and flew away.
United's Fred and McTomine were questioned before the game, and they each had a low-level pass error, and Tenhag's desire to strengthen the midfield was understandable. New centre-back Martinez also made a defensive mistake, thanks to the Red Devils' veteran Welbeck slipping inside the penalty area. United's most threatening thing was to counter-attack, a quick free kick from the back to form a quick attack, B Fei directly into Eriksen, but the Danish midfielder slipped at his feet, and the final shot was weak, and goalkeeper Sanchez easily caught it.
In the 30th minute, Brighton scored first. McTomine's midfield dribble was cut off and Kecedo passed to Trosar on the left, who headed straight for Welbeck, Heibei's under-the-line cross, the ball flew to the back post, Gross pushed into the empty net, and United fell behind 1-0.
Tenghag's pseudo-No. 9 tactics completely failed in the first half, there was no fulcrum, the side attack could not be played, and the camera was aimed at C Ronaldo on the bench.
In the 39th minute, United conceded another goal. Trousar's heel pass from the back of the field instigated a counter-attack, Brighton tapped into the right rib of the Manchester United penalty area, Solly March's low shot was saved by De Gea, but Gross, who caught up on the left, did not make up for the shot into the net, and Manchester United made it 0-2 Brighton. Gross has scored in Brighton's last three wins over Manchester United, his sixth goal and a Red Devils nemesis.
At half-time, Tenhag and the United players were booed by home fans on their way to the locker room. Brighton fans chanted: "Can you play with Manchester United in every round?" You'll be downgraded with Crystal Palace!"
Easy side to fight again, Manchester United did not make a substitution, Rashford stopped the ball and made a mistake to go out of bounds, C Ronaldo came to the sidelines to warm up. Tenhag arranged more players to press forward, and the attack improved slightly, but Brighton's counter-attack was also sharp, and Welbeck's header was high. Eriksen's cross from the right crossed the goal and the United player failed to grab the drop spot.
Brighton's Lallana accidentally handballed the ball after stopping the ball in the penalty area, but according to the rules, the penalty was not awarded in this case, and the referee did not award a penalty. In the 53rd minute, Tenhag replaced Ronaldo, Fred left the field, and Eriksen retreated. Martinez knocked down Welbeck inside the penalty area, and the referee likewise did not show it.
In the 60th minute, United squandered the opportunity again, C Ronaldo crossed from the right, but Rashford hit the ball on the goalkeeper, and the referee finally seemed to award the ball offside. Then Master La hit B Fei's right cross and spit out the cake continuously.
Eriksen's long-range shot forced the goalkeeper to get out of hand, but unfortunately United had no one to make up for it. In this corner attack, Manchester United scored a goal, B Fei opened a corner, when Dalo tangled with the goalkeeper, the ball fell behind him and flew to the goal, McAllister collided with Sanchez to form a oolong, VAR confirmed that the goal was valid, Manchester United 1-2 Brighton.
United's morale was boosted when Darrow switched to the left and cut inside to shoot and the goalkeeper saved the ball. Tenhag replaced Van der Beek with McTomine and continued to strengthen the attack. Martinez picked up his foot after receiving a corner kick, but was unfortunately left behind by Dunk's sliding shovel. In the last minute of the game, Manchester United suddenly replaced three people, With Eranga, Terrell Malaysia and Alejandro Ganacgio coming off the bench, but they were unable to return, and Manchester United eventually lost 1-2 at home.
This is the first time United have faced Brighton in the Premier League opener, with the Seagulls losing six of their last seven Premier League games against the Red Devils, but the most recent one has won 4-0. After winning the battle, Brighton ended a record of 14 visits to Old Trafford without a single win (2 draws and 12 defeats), and finally conquered the Theatre of Dreams after 8 consecutive defeats. United failed to avenge last season's rout, and Tenhag suffered a humiliating result in his first official game.
In fact, Brighton's previous 10 Premier League games in Manchester, including five against Manchester United and five against Manchester City, all lost, and this time against the much-anticipated new Red Devils coach Ten haag, coach Graham Bohr finally raised his eyebrows. Brighton also continued the strength of 5 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss in the last nine rounds of the Premier League last season, they have always been particularly good at playing away from home, last season's record of 7 wins, 8 draws and 4 losses ranked fifth in the league, and the first game of the new season was also won.
Tenhag is the eighth manager in nine years since his retirement in 2013, and six of the last seven new Manchester United managers have won their first game. But Tenhag failed to continue his glory, and instead followed in the footsteps of his compatriot Louis van Gaal and became another Dutch manager in charge of Manchester United.
It is worth mentioning that Tenhag is not "alone", the nearly 6 Dutch coaches who have coached in the Premier League have lost their first game, and the only one who has made a start is 2009 Hiddink, who led Chelsea to victory over Aston Villa.
But Tenghag has nothing to say about losing, because the club certainly has negative factors such as poor transfer and reinforcements, but the wrong tactics and starting candidates are the choices of the new Manchester United manager. In addition to the complete failure of arranging Eriksen's cameo center, the Dutchman's excessive trust in players such as Rashford, Fred and McTomine is also an important reason for the loss. At the last moment, Tenhag's substitution was also inexplicable.
The data shows that McTomine's pass success rate in this game is only 67.9% of the team's bottom, Fred is only 80%, and the "McFred" combination is completely unable to control the midfield. After struggling to create opportunities, England star Marcus Rashford wasted scoring opportunities one by one because of his low shooting ability, and he had the highest score in the team in the 3 shots of the game, but none of them were on target, completely betraying Tenhag's trust in him from preseason to the present.
In the second half, Tenhag ventured to pile up attacking personnel, coupled with Brighton's shrinking defense after leading, Manchester United seemed to have improved in the scene, but they could only rely on a luck ball to close the score gap, and it was difficult to change the outcome of the loss. Glazer in the stands should realise that if he wants to make a difference this season and return to the Champions League, he must bring in the players he wants for Tenhag, such as Barca midfielder Frankie De Jong.
Even when United won back-to-back games in pre-season, sane fans knew they couldn't be seduced by the warm-up performances, and that the existing squad wasn't enough to support Tenhag's philosophy. The 52-year-old Dutch coach has a great record at Ajax, but he can't turn a stone into gold. Without the right people, Tenhag can't save United. As Keane said, if United's main midfielders are Fred and McTomine, don't want to compete for the title, maybe rashford needs to be added to this list.
Fans may also understand better why Ronaldo would rather be scolded and insist on leaving to play in the Champions League. Because Manchester United has never been determined to rebuild, small wealth is safe, no ambition, satisfied with a little achievement and complacent.