Erik ten Hag reveals instruction he told Manchester United players, they ignored it vs Brighton

Erik ten Hag has revealed an instruction he gave the Manchester United players that they ultimately ignored, which cost them three points against Brighton.

Following a win over Fulham in their season opener, Manchester United experienced an unexpected defeat against Brighton on Saturday afternoon.

The game started with both teams evenly matched, but Brighton broke the deadlock in the 30th minute when Danny Welbeck found the net past Erik ten Hag’s defence. Marcus Rashford quickly responded with a goal, only to see it disallowed for offside.

Read More: Owen Hargreaves criticises two “unbelievable” mistakes from Erik ten Hag in Man United defeat vs Brighton

In the second half, Amad Diallo scored a lovely equaliser, but Alejandro Garnacho’s follow-up goal was disallowed due to an offside call. The ball had touched Joshua Zirkzee before crossing the line.

As the match neared its conclusion, Joao Pedro capitalised on a moment of space at the back post to head in the winning goal with just moments remaining.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Ten Hag explained that he had told his players previously that Simon Adingra, who cut inside on his right foot and clipped the ball up for Pedro to score.

“We didn’t stop the cross,” Ten Hag explained to journalists when asked about Brighton’s winning goal to secure all three points.

“There were three players. [Adingra is a] right-footed player… send him down the line, send him wide instead of letting him come in and let the cross. We have, of course, to talk about this.”

This is an instruction that United players ignored or, even worse, forgot. Adingra was on his left foot moments before he cut inside, and the angle was not on for him to cross.

Had United players listened to Ten Hag, the score may have ended up 1-1, or the Reds may have been able to push for a late winner themselves.

It must be said that Diogo Dalot was fantastic at left-back. He showed Yankuba Minteh down the line on almost every occasion and locked the creative and quick 20-year-old up all game, but otherwise is where the instruction fell apart.

Next up, United will face Liverpool on Sunday, 1 September, in their final game before the international break.

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Thursday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.