Eric ten Hag says Manchester United were better off with Cristiano Ronaldo despite Brighton's defeat.soccer news

Eric ten Hug believes Manchester United did better when Cristiano Ronaldo arrived, but he was unable to lead his side to a point against Brighton.

Despite a string of run-ins over the summer, there was much speculation before the game as to whether Ronaldo would participate in Ten Hug’s first Premier League XI.

The 37-year-old reportedly wants to leave the club in search of Champions League football and has missed most of pre-season due to family issues. played 40 minutes in a friendly match, but was found to have been sent off before the end of the match for a move that Ten Hag deemed “unacceptable”.

Ronaldo was eventually named to the bench at the start of the match and was introduced in the 53rd minute with Man United falling 2–0 behind Brighton thanks to a Pascal Gross double.

Despite continuing to lose the match – Manchester United saw half of the deficit 2-1, Alexis Mack Allister’s crappy own goal – Ten Hug, as Christian Eriksen fell deeper, Manchester United United say they’d rather have Ronaldo on the pitch

when asked by sky sports If Emma Sanders had the impact Ronaldo expected, Ten Hag said:

“Then we created and Rashford had two really good chances. It’s a shame we didn’t score 2-2.”

“this [Ronaldo’s fitness] It takes time and cannot be forced. He’s done his week of training, so he’s almost there and has more to do to get him in shape. This game helps him in 35/40 minutes. It’s been a week now, but he’ll be better next week.”

‘No need for Brighton defeat’

Ronaldo may have improved Manchester United in certain areas, but Ten Hag had a lot to worry about after losing their first match in the Premier League.

He explained: “It’s definitely a setback and I’m really disappointed, but I have to deal with it. I knew from the beginning it wouldn’t be easy. It’s a process, it takes time, but We don’t have time’ We had to win the game and should have done better.

“It was unnecessary. The organization made a big mistake by giving too many easy balls. That’s not how we ended up. We made it clear how to handle certain situations when we stopped. But it happens, you have to analyze it and take lessons from it.

“this [the challenges this season] It’s the same. We’ve always known that building, building, and developing it is not easy and takes time. I know you don’t have time. I need to deliver and am aware of this situation.

“I saw it in the dressing room and said [togetherness] in the game. In the second half of the action, the whole team worked together to achieve a better result.

“It’s not that we didn’t play or have the right attitude.

“we have to [fix the mistakes quickly], but we must take lessons and learn from them quickly. “

Maguire: A nightmare start

Manchester United captain Harry Maguire described the defeat to Brighton as a “nightmare start” and pointed to the first goal from Pascal Gros as the turning point.

He said sky sports“It’s a shame. Losing 2-0 at half-time at Old Trafford is a terrible start. It’s not enough.

“We got one back out of breath. We had a chance to equalize, but it was a bad start.”

“We actually got off to a good start and controlled the game and conceded the first goal and it was very devastating. From that point on we stopped playing. They had a lot of control in the game so I was very disappointed. We’ll have to wait and see.” That first goal didn’t set us back too far.

“But we have to handle the ball better. In the first half, especially after the first goal, we gave the ball too much. We encouraged them to come forward and attack us. It’s a nightmare. It was a start like

Potter: a well-deserved Brighton victory

Much of the focus has been on Manchester United’s defeat, but Brighton are clear of Old Trafford with three important points and a maiden win on the ground.

After an impressive 4-0 victory over Manchester United in May, manager Graham Potter is understandably pleased with his side’s performance.

“It was a great performance,” he said sky sports“It was a well-deserved win all round and a great start with a great effort from the players.

“We had an idea of ​​how we attacked, tried to press and pressure when we could. We were positive and brave in what we tried to do and the players gave it their all. Here. It’s a difficult place to come in.” Our performance in the first half was really strong.

“We managed it [the end of the game] no thanks. I thought they were trying to put pressure on you and we had a few chances to improve our attack to score the three, but in the end they came back.

“It’s a disappointing goal from our point of view, but the players managed to stay there and caused problems on the counterattack.I’m happy with the players and it’s a great start for us.

“We have a good group. They are ambitious and want to do their best. They are not perfect, but they want to do their best.

“It’s nice because we’re just enjoying the fact that it’s a historic win for us. It’s always difficult to get three points in the Premier League. We did well but only three points. I didn’t get it. It’s going to be a tough game next weekend.”

Brighton will understandably be frustrated that a penalty was not awarded in the second half after United debutant Lisandro Martinez fouled Danny Welbeck inside the area, but Potter was quick to respond. did not complain about

He added: teeth.

“I can’t complain too much. That’s the margin we need. We had plenty of headroom today and I’m happy with that.”