Gary Neville believes the pressure is already building on Erik ten Hag (Image: GETTY)
Gary Neville believes the pressure is already building on Erik ten Hag after Manchester United fell to a 'depressing' defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion FC. The Seagulls grabbed all three points in the dying seconds, with Joao Pedro heading home from close range to send the home fans into a frenzy.
United went behind in the first half when former Red Devils striker Danny Welbeck poked the ball over the line. Amad Diallo equalised on the hour mark before Alejandro Garnacho had a goal ruled out by VAR with Joshua Zirkzee interfering with play from an offside position.
Pedro left it late to snatch a famous victory for the hosts, powering a close-range header past Andre Onana and into the back of the net. Neville was left unimpressed by what he saw from United and suggested after the final whistle that Ten Hag would be feeling the pressure.
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"Really depressing end to the game," he told NBC Sports. "I thought a draw would’ve been half acceptable but to lose the game, it puts an awful lot of pressure, I think, on Erik ten Hag and on towards the game next week against Liverpool.
"I think the first half of the game, I don’t think any of us were surprised. It’s very difficult to play football without a centre-forward. The lads in the studio will tell you, you need a focal point up front. He corrected that at half-time by bringing Zirkzee on, but you’ve already wasted 45 minutes in the match and that’s a real problem.
"Then in the second half, the first goal as well was poor defensively, that last goal, I’ve just watched it then coming up to the gantry. When you clear from a corner, you’ve got to still defend as you’re defending the second phase of a corner.
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"I think particularly if you watch Casemiro, it looks to me, I’ve only watched it once back on the reply, it looks like he leaves his position at that back post and runs back towards central midfield.
"But then it leaves an acre of space in that back zone where there are three Brighton players queuing up."
It remains to be seen whether United will be able to put things right when they welcome Liverpool to Old Trafford next weekend. Ten Hag will be hoping to relieve the pressure on his shoulders by leading the Red Devils to victory over their greatest rivals.
The Dutchman only signed a new contract in July but already seems to be facing questions over his future in the United dugout. Only time will tell if he can silence his doubters by steering clear of further avoidable defeats over the coming weeks.
