Manchester United suffered defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion in the club's season-opening match, with the hopes of improvement under new manager Erik ten Hag dashed from the start.
It took Pascal Gross just a half-hour to find the opener, and then the German doubled the lead nine minutes later to send United into the halftime break down a pair.
While an own-goal created by Diogo Dalot saw the Red Devils pull a goal back in the 68th minute, it wasn't enough to secure points at home. It left Ten Hag tasting defeat in his Premier League managerial debut, and the Dutchman was forced to explain the Old Trafford failure to fans and media.
In his post-match press conference, Ten Hag discussed his thoughts on the game, how he thought maligned striker Cristiano Ronaldo performed off the bench, and if he believes new players are required to turn things around.
1 - Erik ten Hag is the first Manchester United manager to lose his first Premier League game in charge since Louis van Gaal in August 2014 against Swansea City. Setback. pic.twitter.com/hOXpr8wRdm
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 7, 2022
MORE: Relive the minute-by-minute commentary from the Man United defeat to Brighton
What did Erik ten Hag say about Man United loss to Brighton?
Ten Hag made a point to right away criticize his team's organisation in the defeat.
"Of course, [it is] definitely a setback and a real disappointment," Ten Hag said, as quoted by Shamoon Hafez of the BBC. "I knew from the start it would not be easy. We gave two easy balls away and it was not good in the organisation.
"I am not satisfied, totally not. We lost and it was not necessary. We should do better."
Ten Hag continued, reiterating that the players did not perform tactically and were error-prone while on the ball. "We made mistakes on the ball and organisation mistakes in defending. We have to take the lessons and learn quickly from it," he said.
"Brighton are a decent team, all the compliments, but I look to my team and we should not give two easy goals away."
However, Ten Hag took positives from the team's mentality after going 2-0 down in the first half. "I saw a team who stuck together and battled," he said. "At least we created chances and the first chance of the game with Bruno Fernandes."
The Dutchman knows he has a big task ahead. "It is a hell of a job," he said. "We have to work really hard, analyse, then move forward."
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What did Erik ten Hag say about Cristiano Ronaldo?
With rumors of his discontent continuing to pour in, Ronaldo started the match on the bench. Ten Hag opted instead for a formation lacking a true striker, with Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes alternating as a kind of double false nine.
Early in the second half, with the team 2-0 down, the United boss brought Ronaldo on, sacrificing struggling midfielder Fred and moving Eriksen deeper. The Portuguese superstar provided little danger in front of goal, but the team overall looked more of a threat with a more traditional lineup now deployed.
"It is clear to see the second half we were better in midfield with Eriksen down and Ronaldo up," Ten Hag said after the match. "We created and [Marcus] Rashford had two good chances. It is a shame we did not score."
Whether that improvement was down to Ronaldo himself being on the field, or instead simply the general tactical switch to a more traditional formation, is up for debate. Still, it was clear that Ten Hag had made a mistake with his initial lineup and the early second-half change had a positive effect.
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Will Man United react in transfer market?
It was clear that the players currently at Manchester United were extremely poor throughout the season-opening match, but while rumors swirl of players the team are targeting, Ten Hag would not be drawn on the need for additions.
When asked if the squad could use an injection of new talent, Ten Hag fired back: "We could do better with the players we had."
MORE: Full roundup of latest Man United transfer news for 2022 summer window
Harry Maguire calls loss "nightmare start" to season
The Man United boss wasn't the only one to speak after the loss.
Defender Harry Maguire, who has become a popular scapegoat for Man United's struggles since his arrival from Leicester City in 2019, met with Sky Sports after the match to describe his feelings after the opening 90 minutes of the season.
"I think we actually started the game pretty well, we started on the front foot," Maguire said, "but we conceded a first goal, which knocked us back really badly and we stopped playing from then. They got a lot of control in the game, so we need to look at not letting the first goal set us back as much as we did.
"We've got to be better on the ball. We gave the ball away too much in that first half, especially after the first goal. We gave them encouragement to come forward with attackers. It was a nightmare start to be 2-0 down at halftime."
🗣️ "It was a nightmare start"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 7, 2022
Harry Maguire reacts to Man Utd's opening weekend defeat to Brighton... pic.twitter.com/E3oXxdk3ps
Premier League 2022/23 TV channels, live streams
| UK | USA | Canada | Australia | |
| TV channel | Sky Sports, BT Sport | USA Network, Telemundo, Universo | — | — |
| Streaming | NOW TV, Sky Go, Amazon Prime | fuboTV, Peacock | fuboTV | Optus Sport |
UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and BT Sport streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.
USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on fuboTV. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.
Canada: Every Premier League game streams live and on demand exclusively via fuboTV.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream matches live and on demand on Optus Sport.