Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag makes bizarre substitution claim after humbling Brighton

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By Martin Graham | 14th Aug 2022

Erik Ten Hag was so disappointed in his side that he wanted to substitute the whole team at half-time.

The rot at Manchester United becomes ever glaring with one shambolic performance after another. According to Ralf Rangnick, the problem before he left Old Trafford required open heart surgery. The forthrightness of the German, like Mourinho, cost him his job, yet there is still no solution.

The big question is how to solve a problem like Manchester United. Despite the Premier League going into week two, the Red Devils are still in the market for players with little success. Recent results should galvanize any serious club into making drastic changes to correct the anomalies at the club, but it is Manchester United, where nothing seems to be urgent.

Manchester United started the season on a dour note after a poor outing against Brighton & Hove Albion that saw them lose 1-2 at Old Trafford. Perhaps it should have gotten the alarm bells ringing, but they followed it up with a disastrous performance away to Brentford on Saturday. The Bees were 4-0 winners over Manchester United.

Ten Hag was dissatisfied with the starting lineup

There have been many complaints about the quality and performance of Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford, yet Ten Hag has kept faith in them. He started the trio against Brentford on Saturday afternoon, and the result was again catastrophic. The Bees humiliated the Red Devils in a 4-0 win at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Erik Ten Hag tried to hide his disgust at the shambolic display by his wards, but it came to the fore after the game. The Dutch manager said he wanted to substitute all the players in the starting eleven at the break as they went 4-0 down to Brentford. It took Brentford 35 minutes to breach the Manchester United defence led by Harry Maguire.

The second half saw the introduction of Raphael Varane, Scott McTominay and Tyrell Malacia for Lisandro Martinez, Fred and Luke Shaw. There were later introductions of Anthony Elanga and Donny van de Beek for Jadon Sancho and Christian Eriksen.

I could have substituted the whole team – Ten Hag

With Manchester United comfortably at the bottom of the log, Ten Hag voiced out his frustrations about the first-half performance of his wards. The loss made him the first manager to lose his first two competitive games since John Chapman in 1921.

Angry at the performance of his boys, Ten Hag said he could have changed them all at halftime. Continuing on the dismal performance, Ten Hag opined that Brentford showed more hunger. He said Manchester United had to question the desire of the team. Ten Hag alludes to a good plan by his side.

As to the tactical approach to the game following the second Brentford goal that caught his side trying to pass from the back, Ten Hag held nothing back.

The Dutch tactician was unabashed when he suggested that he would not change his style, claiming his side was naive. No Manchester United player is yet to get on the scoresheet this season as the Red Devils have conceded six goals in two games. Erik Ten Hag will have to find answers to the problems that bedevil the team as they search for their first win this term.