It didn’t take long for the optimism of the opening day sunshine under a new manager to be overshadowed by clouds of realism at Manchester United.
There were blue skies over Old Trafford, which were warm with hope as the players emerged from the tunnel before kick-off. In the 39th minute, boos echoed around the stadium as Pascal Gross put Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 up.
As the whistle blew for half-time and again for full-time, there were more rumblings of discontent from the stands – anguish over a familiar story being played out.
Erik ten Hag is the new face in the dugout, but his line-up showed that the problems encountered by his predecessors continue. United’s recruitment process is undermined by indecision and negotiations are bogged down by inflexibility. Activities are too often reactive rather than proactive.
Manchester City won the title and signed Erling Haaland. Liverpool finished second and brought in Darwin Núñez. United finished sixth in their worst ever Premier League campaign and are trying to sign 33-year-old Marko Arnautovic. It looks like a parody.
Ten Hag worked with Arnautovic at FC Twente and is influencing the move, which the club see as a cheap way to complement their attack. An offer of €8 million (£6.8 million, $8.1 million) has been submitted. Arnautovic looks to have the kind of self-belief that the United dressing room requires and 14 Serie A goals for Bologna last season show he still has his goalscoring touch.
Yet this is a player who spent two years in China after leaving West Ham United in 2019, a desert where United’s vast army of scouts don’t even travel. Odion Ighalo, the last player United signed on such a record, was supposed to be a one-off case for an emergency situation. Here we are again, however, United.
Austrian striker Arnautovic, left, is 33 but worked with Ten Hag at FC Twente (Photo: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images)
That’s before we get to the testimonies from people at Arnautovic’s former clubs, who suggest his famous self-confidence comes at the expense of team harmony.
The Athletic understands United are also working on a deal to sign Adrien Rabiot from Juventus. The 27-year-old France international, who is in the final 12 months of his contract, has emerged as a leading option for United, with Ten Hag looking to bolster their midfield options.
There is something to be said for backing a manager’s judgement, but it could be that Ten Hag, as with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, is pushing for a signing he believes is relatively straightforward due to waning faith in the club structure to identify and secure objectives?
Ten Hag have chosen Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and of course Frenkie de Jong. Where are the proposals from the procurement department? Is there a lack of trust in the system or in the people in it?
These are questions for John Murtough, who led the review under Ed Woodward and appointed Steve Brown as head of recruitment. Chief executive Richard Arnold can also weigh in on the matter.
After the game, Kees Vos, one of Ten Hag’s agents, was chatting with David Gill, United’s former chief executive. Gill was invited to lunch at Carrington last week with Arnold and Murtough, along with Sir Alex Ferguson and Bryan Robson.
Murtough watched this game from a seat opposite Avram Glazer, who had made the trip from the United States to watch a game at Old Trafford for only the third time in three years. Glazer’s presence coincided with a protest march organized by the group The 1958, which was attended by several hundred fans and culminated in the forced closure of the megastore before the game.
Afterwards, the loudest fans lined up in Brighton. They stayed to greet their team and especially Graham Potter, who has reshuffled his team amid the loss of two of his most important players, Yves Bissouma and Marc Cucurella.
It can be revealed that United refused to consider Potter in their search for Solskjaer’s successor due to his lack of Champions League experience.
United also walked away from signing Moises Caicedo, who moved to Brighton in February 2021 for £4.5m ($5.5m) from Ecuador’s Independiente del Valle. The 20-year-old was excellent in midfield at Old Trafford.
Danny Welbeck, sold by Louis van Gaal, put in a superb display at centre-forward. United started Eriksen up top.
It may seem like a trite comparison given Anthony Martial was injured and Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench, but neither situation is satisfactory.
In his last two seasons, Martial scored five goals in 39 league games, partly due to muscle problems, and Ronaldo wants to leave for a Champions League club, a position that was mooted as the 2021 season imploded- 22 from United.
Had United executives anticipated the looming problem surrounding Ronaldo in April, they could have moved ahead with talks to sign Núñez from Benfica or another striker. They are only now negotiating for Benjamin Sesko at Red Bull Salzburg at a time when selling clubs will use United’s loss to Brighton as price leverage.
United lost eight players from their squad last season and have brought in three replacements so far.
Martinez struggled in the first half (Photo: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s importance to the team is raised at a time when his commitment is not absolute. Ten Hag said that Ronaldo’s 10 days of training with the team was not enough to begin with. Circumstances may suggest he does so in the next game against Brentford, and Martial remains a doubt.
Ronaldo’s supreme confidence disrupted the dressing room last season and former members of the coaching staff believe, deep down, some players believe they are not up to the standards required for United’s club aspirations, generating insecurity
After the game, Ten Hag’s comments went the same way. “It was a good start, but then we went down a notch, we went down in belief,” he said. “We made a mistake and the opponent punished us. That can’t happen, always believe in yourself, stick together as a team, always be convinced on the field, that’s why we’re here.”
Martinez had a difficult first half, ending it with a yellow card for pulling Solly March after giving the ball away. He responded after the break and showed his talent in possession.
Eriksen had the same pattern of play – he looked much better after the break when playing deep and hitting balls in the front line.
Malacia, Ten Hag’s other signing, was brought on late and had to experience Tariq Lamptey jumping in front of him before being fouled.
Potter and Ten Hag highlighted how the smoothness with which Brighton plays is the result of three years of work, in training and recruitment. They have been smart and bold.
Ten Hag is confident of his abilities if he can get the signings to match.
(Top photo: Ian Hodgson/PA Images via Getty Images)