Manchester United’s defeat to Brighton on the opening weekend of the Premier League season has deflated many fans’ moods surrounding the club.
After a pre-season that included some great performances under Erik ten Hag, it felt a lot like the side slipped back into their old ways of missing chances, being uncoordinated in their movement and generally breaking play down too quickly.
Despite the introductions of Lisandro Martinez and Christian Eriksen to the XI, the club were once again unable to beat the side that thrashed them 4-0 in May of last season.
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One player who had a great pre-season but failed to live up to that standard was Diogo Dalot.
“I think everyone felt that this is a disappointing result,” the full-back explained.
“I think we started really badly in the first 45 minutes, in the second half we got better but it is still not enough to win a game like this.”
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“We knew that it was going to be tough. We need to keep our heads up and start working for the next game.”
When prompted on how he thinks United could have improved in their play, Dalot was quick to point out the defensive issues that Manchester United suffered from.
“I think we could (have) stopped a little bit more the counter attacks.
“We let them play freely a couple of times and they played in behind and we could stop them with a little bit more aggression.”
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After going 2-0 down in the first half, Dalot was heavily involved in the own goal from Mac Allister that somewhat brought United back into the game during the second half.
“We did better in the second half, we kept more of the ball, we had a few more chances, but not enough.
“We need to analyse what we didn’t do right and what we need to improve for the next game.”
Even though the match ended in defeat for the Red Devils, Dalot highlighted that there were some positives to take from the match.
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“We need to look at the positives because we still had a few in the second half, especially with some good plays, but we need to do this for the 90 minutes – not just for 45 and try to do that in the next game.”
With the stadium buzzing to get under way under Erik ten Hag, Dalot had a lot of praise for the way the crowd conducted themselves during the game.
“This [a good atmosphere] is what we need,” said Dalot.
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“The fans were always there for the 90 minutes, even when we were 2-0 down, but we knew if we scored a goal the crowd would come a little bit higher as well, and they did what they do all the time; the best that they could.
“We just need to push a little bit more and do better for the next game.”
Dalot also made it very clear that is it not even close to becoming a time to panic, due to the length and nature of the Premier League season.
“It’s the first game, we still have a long season to play.
“It’s a setback, (but) we need to keep together. I think that will not be an issue for us for the next games, but we for sure need to analyse what we did and what we did not do well and try to improve in the next game.”
Manchester United’s next fixture will see the club travel to London to face Eriksen’s former side Brentford, with Ten Hag no doubt looking to rectify the poor result witnessed in Manchester today.
Topics: Manchester United, Diogo Dalot, Erik Ten Hag, Brighton And Hove Albion, Premier League
Dylan Penketh