Manchester United once again failed to make it back-to-back Premier League wins as Brighton cruised to a 1-3 victory against the Reds away from home, as Ruben Amorim's side continue to struggle to find any consistent run of form.
Brighton opened the scoring early on as a ball over the top split the United defence allowing Kaoru Mitoma to square a perfect ball for Yankuba Minteh to tap away.
United levelled the game with a nicely converted penalty from Bruno Fernandes after Joshua Zirkzee held up play well to win the spot kick after a rash challenge by Carlos Baleba saw the striker go down.
The Seagulls took the lead once again after Mitoma found himself on the end of a great cross by Minteh, who repaid the Japanese international following the assist for his first -half finish.
Shortly after, Brighton put the game to bed with their third of the match as a big mistake by Andre Onana allowed new signing, Georginio Rutter, to tap the ball into an empty net.
Another defeat for the Red Devils left plenty of talking points after the game.
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Investment is needed
Since the appointment of Ruben Amorim from Sporting CP in November it is clear to see he arrived at Old Trafford with a set idea and style of play. This is one of the reasons for his appointment.
However, Amorim had many transfer windows to shape and mould his squad to best suit his intense and creative type of football in Portugal.
In his first couple of months in charge at Old Trafford it is evident to see not all of the players in the squad have the capability to adapt to his high-intensity demands resulting in sides, such as Brighton today, being able to easily exploit the Reds' weaknesses.
This is why the United boss needs backing in the foreseeable windows. Positions such as a number nine, a box-to-box midfielder and attacking wing backs are a must to allow Amorim's side to express itself in the way it clearly did in Portugal.
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Mazaroui and Dalot as a wingback pair limits the team offensively
Manchester United did not manage to execute one single shot on target from open play today due to a real lack of creativity within the squad. Any threat that United caused Brighton was due to Amad Diallo acting alone which Brighton recognised early on and made it a priority to deal with.
A key component of the Ruben Amorim system is the width and attacking presence his wingbacks create to not only deploy a higher press but become an extra body in the final third, freeing up one of the two wide number 10’s.
This is missing when the wingback pair consists of two more defensive minded players who aren't comfortable with the level of attacking play required of them and often lack the ability to create when they reach these advanced positions.
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Zirkzee over Hojlund?
Over the last few games, since the Newcastle defeat, Joshua Zirkzee has been used as an impact sub and has impressed the United fanbase, especially after his contribution in United's late comeback against the Saints.
He was rewarded today with a start in place of Rasmus Hojlund and although he didn't get on the scoresheet he was arguably one of the teams better players, holding the ball up well, linking play and winning the penalty to equalise the game.
He showed a lot more quality than Hojlund has over the past month and surely done enough to keep his place in the starting XI for the upcoming fixtures against Rangers in Europe and Fulham in the league.
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Is it time to drop Onana?
Man United have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 12 games and have seen a big drop off in form from keeper, Andre Onana, since his excellent start to the season.
The blame isn't all to be put on the goalkeeper, however, mistakes from the Cameroonian, including todays handling error against Brighton, have started to become a more frequent occurrence of recent, leaving the question of if backup keeper, Altay Bayindir, deserves a chance between the sticks.
Last time we saw the Turkish keeper in action was his outstanding display against Arsenal in the FA Cup where he saved two penalties to help United advance to the next round of the competition. Is it time for Amorim to switch things up or is his best option to stick and have faith with his number one?
