Matthijs de Ligt has revealed what he believes “the most important thing” for Rúben Amorim’s squad is after Manchester United’s embarrassing loss to Brentford.
Manchester United were looking to build on their momentum from beating Chelsea at Old Trafford last weekend. However, Keith Andrews’ Brentford side proved too much for Rúben Amorim’s players.
Bryan Mbeumo failed to make an impact against his former side, but Benjamin Šeško netted his first goal since making the move from RB Leipzig this summer. Matheus Cunha returned to the starting side after his injury, but struggled against the Bees’ defence.
While United were particularly exciting at either end of the pitch, the defensive frailties will concern Amorim. Harry Maguire – who started ahead of Leny Yoro – couldn’t keep out Igor Thiago, despite brilliant saves from Altay Bayindir.
Senne Lammens was forced to watch from the bench again, but the young Belgian wouldn’t have made a huge difference. Bayindir was one of United’s better players, although the last goal in the final minutes was poor.
De Ligt says United must stick together
Matthijs de Ligt started on the right side of the back three, struggling compared to his brilliant performance against Chelsea. After the game, he revealed how big a blow it was to lose against Brentford.
“Really disappointed,” de Ligt told MEN. “All week we were speaking about keeping the momentum going, getting another win under our belt and yeah, if you lose this game, it’s a big blow obviously.
“Not a nice feeling, obviously. Everybody is really disappointed. I think first of all, they are disappointed with themselves. The first thing you have to control is yourself. And if you can do that, you are first disappointed with yourself, and then also with the team and the whole result, so really disappointed.”
Despite the poor performance, de Ligt emphasised that the United squad must stick together in this tough spell in the Premier League. “It’s the most important thing, it’s the only thing we can do. As I said, it’s a lot of time the same song, but still we have to stick together.”
“We lost against City, we won against Chelsea, so for the next game we have to analyse what went wrong in this game because a lot of things went wrong. We need to be prepared for the next game.”
United must improve soon
United were poor last season. However, it was forgiven because Amorim was allowed time to embed his system at Old Trafford. This season, he will not be given as long to see improvements.
Amorim must improve soon if he wants to remain in charge, or Sir Jim Ratcliffe will have to consider dismissing his second United manager since acquiring a stake in the club.
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Some fans have already lost faith in the United system and are demanding a change before the Red Devils have to worry about another season in the bottom half of the Premier League.
As things stand, Amorim will not have long left.
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