Eriksen: 'Man Utd needs to look at itself'
"This is a heavy defeat. We have to look at ourselves. We changed some things and now we are very disappointed," Eriksen said after the match at Old Trafford. "In the first half, Man Utd controlled well and had a lot of moments. Brighton had a lot of possession but didn't have many chances. They scored at the first chance, and played with a system that could keep the ball a lot, forcing We have to chase the ball away. But we still have a chance to come back."
Two weeks after the defeat against Arsenal, coach Erik ten Hag tested the 4-4-2 scheme. In particular, Eriksen plays to the left, while captain Bruno Fernandes plays behind striker duo Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund. But this change does not improve the effectiveness of Man Utd's attack. Although they created many opportunities in the first half, they were not successful once. On the contrary, the home defense system gradually faltered, allowing the away team to score three goals in just the first seven shots, thanks to Danny Welbeck, Pascal Gross and Joao Pedro respectively.
Man Utd is also unlucky. After rookie Rasmus Hojlund scored a goal for the away team in the 40th minute, VAR stepped in and determined that before passing to his teammate, Rashford let the ball drift across the line with a very small distance.
This is the first time Man Utd has suffered defeat in the Premier League at Old Trafford, since losing 0-2 to Brighton in round 1 of the 2022-2023 season. This is also the first time in history that they lost three of their first five matches in the Premier League. Previously, the "Red Devils" collapsed as guests of Arsenal and Tottenham.
However, Eriksen affirmed that Man Utd was just unlucky at decisive times and did not have serious problems. The Danish midfielder pointed out that Alejandro Garnacho was denied a goal when the score was 1-1 at the end of the loss to Arsenal, and Hojlund's equalizer was also disallowed against Brighton. "Man Utd is missing the little things and a bit of luck to overcome the limit and achieve something from the whole team's effort," Eriksen added. "The first matches of the season are very important, regardless of the opponent. We focused on winning, but we lost three matches and had to change that."
Man Utd's bright spot against Brighton was a great long-range shot by 20-year-old midfielder Hannibal Mejbri, shortening the score to 1-3. Eriksen praised Mejbri for his hard work, and regretted that the junior scored his first goal in a Man Utd shirt in the loss. "If Man Utd wins, it will be a very different feeling for Mejbri and the whole team," the 31-year-old midfielder expressed.
On September 20, Eriksen and his teammates marched to Bayern's field for the first round of Group A of the Champions League, before playing Burnley as a guest in round 6 of the Premier League.
