Disappointed — but no crisis here, says boss

ERIK TEN HAG denied that Manchester United are in crisis after his side’s dismal start to the season continued with another defeat at the hands of Brighton at Old Trafford.

The latest setback came at the end of a week in which United put Brazil winger Antony on paid leave to fight allegations — which he denies — that he assaulted three women, and Ten Hag banished Jadon Sancho from first-team training.

The United boss responded to a suggestion that the club is now in crisis by saying: ‘No, but we have to be disappointed and we have to be very annoyed with ourselves because at United the demand is you win games.’

Asked if he is worried by the poor start, he added: ‘Definitely, that is something that bothers me. But finally it’s about character and now we have to see how strong we are and how the team sticks together and which players stand up and lead the team. We need character, belief, resilience and determination absolutely.’

Ten Hag was roundly booed by United fans over his decision to take off new £72million signing Rasmus Hojlund in the second half, but claimed that the reaction was a ‘positive’ for the Dane on his full debut.

Yesterday’s result came as no surprise to Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi, however.

Asked how a club with Brighton’s limited budget can keep beating United, De Zerbi said: ‘Football is nice because the small team can win in every moment. I think Brighton is becoming not a big team, but it is not a surprise.

‘The quality of the players and organisation of Brighton is very high. I don’t know the problems of Manchester United, but I can explain my team. We are used to working in our style, we are playing with courage, we defended at Old Trafford man to man and we kept the ball in every situation.’