Manchester United finished a tumultuous season of Premier League action with a low-key 2-0 win against Brighton and Hove Albion that was more notable for the number of injuries both sides carried.
Key players such as Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Harry Maguire, Lewis Dunk, Jan Paul van Hecke and Kaoru Mitoma were all missing from the contest due to injury, and it was a distinctly different game from when the sides met at Old Trafford back in September 2023 as a result.
While Brighton had their chances, it was the injection of quality from the bench by Erik ten Hag that swung the contest, with Rasmus Hojlund coming on to score the decisive second goal after Diogo Dalot’s 73rd-minute opener.
As Roberto De Zerbi managed his last Premier League game for Brighton, Adam Lallana waved goodbye to the Seagulls and a number of United players felt like being on their way out too, it was an emotional afternoon.
Still, there was much to learn about both sides as some chapters closed and new ones opened.
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United have plenty of hunger
The consensus around Manchester United this season is that they have regressed under the management of ten Hag, but that injuries have been a mitigating factor.
Both points are true, and if United fail to win the FA Cup Final against Manchester City, it seems impossible that ten Hag keeps his job at Old Trafford.
However, for all the defensive frailties, swings of confidence and lack of impact in big matches, United do have some positives to take out of this season.
Primarily, the development of the club’s youngsters has been huge.
Alejandro Garnacho has become an undroppable fixture on the wing, with his conditioning being very impressive to survive as many hits as he has taken this season, while his will to fight never dies.
Kobbie Mainoo has been one of the most impressive young players in the Premier League, with his positioning, strength in the tackle and dynamism between the boxes occasionally doing the work of two midfielders.
Willy Kambwala put in a couple of impressive shifts, albeit mixed with some naivety that has recently seen him kept on the bench while Casemiro plays a heart-jittering centre-back role.
Credit must also go to Scott McTominay and Dalot for their development into senior players; at 27 and 25 years of age respectively, they have shown the will to carry the team through some tough moments.
Dalot of course notched United’s opener at the Amex, demonstrating bizarre positioning but great finishing to drive past Jason Steele after Igor Julio’s error.
Hojlund also played superbly after being introduced, and after shelling out £64 million for the Danish striker rather than a potential £100 million or more for the likes of Harry Kane, Victor Osimhen or Randal Kolo Muani last summer, seeing the 21-year-old finally bag his 10th Premier League goal of the season represented a decent start to an initial five-year deal for United.
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Brighton are better off without De Zerbi
It may seem harsh to express relief that Roberto De Zerbi’s time at Brighton is over, but when observing the culmination of his time in Sussex, it should not be a surprise.
In 2024, Brighton have managed just four Premier League wins in 19 matches, along with six draws and just 17 goals in their favour.
This has been bottom-half, almost relegation form, and coupled with a drab FA Cup exit to Wolves and Europa League thrashing in Rome, the tide has turned against De Zerbi after his excellent first 12 months in charge.
On this occasion, against a vulnerable United team who started without a recognised striker, had two defensive midfielders who had barely started together all season and had Casemiro playing alongside Lisandro Martinez in central defence on the Argentine’s full return from a three-month injury lay-off, the tale for Brighton was a familiar one.
Of course, the Seagulls dominated possession. They had 54.8 per cent of it, in fact.
Of course, they had more shots; 17, to United’s 11.
And naturally, they piled in way more crosses than United. None came to fruition, though.
The divergence between what De Zerbi was espoused to be, and what he really has been, is within the finer details.
He is stubborn, like many of the best managers are, and demands a certain process of play that has drawn comparison to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City team.
But he has not allowed for flexibility in the decisive moments; when Guardiola might change things for a big game, De Zerbi has kept things rigid, even in the face of a decimation by injury.
His final game seemed to be a culmination of all of this; to keep playing individuals unsuited to width out wide in Adam Lallana and Danny Welbeck, to force Pascal Gross to play right-back, to drop goalkeeper Bart Vebruggen for no apparent reason.
De Zerbi pushed his luck too far in the end, and it has left his legacy questioned by many fans as he goes through the exit doors.
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Ten Hag can mix things up
In contrast to De Zerbi, opposite number ten Hag showed an appreciation of the task in front of him at the Amex.
Needing a result to boost confidence ahead of the FA Cup Final and maintain what veneer of job stability he is still projecting, the Dutchman opted not to stack his team full of jaded big names.
Raphael Varane, Marcus Rashford and Christian Eriksen all took up residence on the bench while Martinez, McTominay and Sofyan Amrabat played instead, and the combative nature of United’s approach disrupted Brighton at times.
The added energy ten Hag had on his bench was the game’s decisive factor, but he had built a resilient team for the first half that packed the box and put their bodies on the line whenever Brighton drove forward.
With Valentin Barco, Joao Pedro and Adam Lallana all being put off by some heel-nipping defending when chances came their way, this approach paid off.
United’s ability to counter was always going to work well against Brighton’s often-exposed backline too, and it was no surprise that Dalot and Hojlund grabbed their goals when United swept quick passes forward.
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Seagulls need a rebuild
As far as this game went, the 2023-24 season ended on a real damp squib for Brighton.
Their best players have finished the season on the sidelines, their manager and his backroom staff are departing, and there will be change in the dressing room too as Adam Lallana and Ansu Fati depart, possibly followed by Mahmoud Dahoud and Deniz Undav, amongst others.
It is a tricky time for owner Tony Bloom and chief executive Paul Barber, who must choose the best path to follow for a long-term project which has been thoroughly successful for the last 15 years.
Their place in the transfer market is precarious, as they have money in the bank – posting the highest profit of any club in Premier League history for the last financial year – but their feeder clubs are increasingly aware of this.
On the pitch, it is clear Brighton need a fresh set of ideas.
Between Chris Hughton, Graham Potter and De Zerbi – Brighton’s three Premier League-era managers – the side has transformed in three phases; consolidation, variation and high-level thinking.
Their squad has never had a complete overhaul in that time, instead building gradually and almost organically as players are signed at young ages, sent out on loan elsewhere and then emerge as match-ready hatchlings.
Their next prodigies might be Carl Rushworth, who would be ready if Verbruggen moved on, Yasin Ayari – who has had a tougher season in the Championship – and Abdallah Sima, who has garnered plenty of attention at Rangers.
With De Zerbi’s rigid approach departing as well, there may be optimism for more fringe players to get their chances and be developed by a coach who works superbly with youth, such as odds-on favourite for the Seagulls job, current Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna.
However things pan out, Brighton will hope to put performances like their second-half deflation against United behind them.
There is an air of tremendous opportunity around the Amex, and it is there for the right man to seize it.
