Ten Hag must look at his own tactical flaws

IT has taken Erik ten Hag just two games to be presented with his first United crisis. Bottom of the league, beaten by two mid-table sides and with confidence at an alarming low, the Dutchman already has work on his hands to turn this team around.

He took the decision to scrap Sunday’s planned day off and instead put the players through a gruelling session in temperatures of more than 30 degrees.

It’s rare for a manager to be using such tactics what is essentially nine days into his competitive reign at the club.

Ten Hag might hope the players react to his ruthlessness, but the defeats to Brighton and Brentford won’t be fixed by doing a bit of running in the sunshine. There are tactical problems that need assessing before Liverpool visit Old Trafford on Monday.

Alarmingly for Ten Hag and his coaching staff, Brighton and Brentford have exploited similar weaknesses to claim their victories against his team. It cannot remain so easy for teams to come up with a tactical plan against United.

Last weekend Ten Hag said he was surprised that a passing team like Brighton had gone long instead.

David de Gea admits his mistakes cost United on Saturday

When he’s fielding a 5ft 9ins centreback in Lisandro Martinez it’s an approach he should get used to.

Brentford did exactly the same at the weekend, as several of the players revealed post-match.

Martinez has now been bullied by Danny Welbeck and Ivan Toney and, after being hooked at half-time on Saturday, it is going to be interesting to see where he goes from here.

Liverpool have a 6ft 2ins forward in their ranks now and letting Martinez try and deal with Darwin Nunez could be a risk. The idea of him trying to stop Erling Haaland is already terrifying for some.

The diminutive central defender might yet improve and adapt to the Premier League and Toney did praise his effective work on the ground after the game, but other teams must have seen the joy Brighton and Brentford have had and already be readying the bombardment if the Argentine keeps his place in the side.

The success for the Bees was two-pronged. As well as getting Toney up against Martinez, they also set pressing traps as United tried to play out from the back. Speaking after the game, Toney said of the game plan: “Just working hard, pressing them high and they could not cope with our pressure all over the pitch.

“We were getting bodies around certain players and we got the ball high up and created chances for the team.”

David de Gea admitted he should have gone long when it became clear Brentford were pressing so aggressively and attempts to continue playing out from the back led to the second goal. Brighton didn’t press as aggressively, but Toney’s comments suggest Brentford’s analysts had worked out the weak link when United play from the back.

There remains a suspicion De Gea isn’t comfortable with the tactic and United haven’t yet got the structure right to give him options.

Liverpool have a 6ft 2ins forward in their ranks now and letting Martinez deal with Nunez could be a risk