Rio Ferdinand explains “surprise” Erik ten Hag decision that cost Manchester United vs Brighton

Rio Ferdinand revealed that one of Erik ten Hag’s decisions surprised him and may have cost Manchester United against Brighton.

After beating Fulham on the opening day of the season, Manchester United suffered a shock defeat against Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

The tie started evenly, but it was the Seagulls who broke the deadlock after 30 minutes as Danny Welbeck scored beyond Erik ten Hag‘s defence to hand them the lead. Marcus Rashford answered immediately but was ruled out for offside.

Read More: Erik ten Hag delivers Mason Mount injury news after Manchester United’s loss vs Brighton

In the second half, Amad Diallo was able to run through and cut inside to score an equaliser, and Alejandro Garnacho then knocked in a second, but the goal was ruled out for offside as the ball touched Joshua Zirkzee as it sailed into the back of the net.

Finally, with the two teams locking horns as the tie drew to a close, Joao Pedro found plenty of space at the back post to head in the winning goal with just moments left on the clock.

After the game, Rio Ferdinand explained on TNT Sports that he was surprised by the decision to substitute Harry Maguire for Matthijs de Ligt with 10 minutes to play.

“Yeah, but I actually thought Harry Maguire grew into the game and played very well,” the ex-United centre-back said. “I think he was the best defender for Manchester United, or best centre-back, definitely today, as the game grew on defensively.”

Further, Ferdinand explained that the decision to substitute Maguire may be the one that cost them the win.

“And I was a bit surprised when he got brought off, actually. And we were talking, I think, if he had been on the pitch, maybe he had been the one maybe leading and vocalising to people to get into positions on that second phase from the set-piece. Who knows?

“But it’s, yeah, when centre-halfs are being brought off in the game and it’s not injury-related, this didn’t happen in our era, it does baffle you a little bit. But at the end of the day, the manager’s got to shuffle the pack, he’s got a lot of players to make sure he keeps happy, the lit’s in there.

“He looked comfortable when he came on, to be honest with you. But I wouldn’t say that Harry Maguire had a bad game. I think he was very solid in most parts of that game.”

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