Owen Hargreaves has pulled no punches towards Manchester United in his scathing assessment of the “dreadful” performance of Ruben Amorim’s men against Brighton on Sunday.
The Red Devils secured a dramatic late comeback win against Southampton at Old Trafford last week before hosting Brighton at the Theatre of Dreams on Sunday.
Amad Diallo’s hat-trick sealed all three points in the 3-1 win over Southampton, but not even the in-form Red Devils winger could bail his side out against Brighton.
Yankuba Minteh broke the deadlock for Fabian Hurzeler’s men in only the fifth minute before Bruno Fernandes scored a penalty for Manchester United.
Brighton reasserted their lead over United in the second half after Kaoru Mitoma found the back of the net for the Seagulls from close range.
Georginio Rutter then slammed home the Seagulls’ third after a reckless Andre Onana error and Fabian Hurzeler’s side secured all three Premier League points.
Hargreaves on Man Utd performance vs Brighton
Manchester United have now tasted their first defeat of 2025 after winning two of their first three matches across all competitions since the start of the year.
Ruben Amorim’s men languish in 13th place in the Premier League table and the Red Devils have only managed seven wins in 22 league matches in the current campaign.
United are 10 points clear of the relegation zone and United are 12 points adrift from the Premier League top four amid a woeful season for the Red Devils.
Speaking on Premier League Productions, Owen Hargreaves insisted that United “never looked like scoring” against Brighton outside of Bruno Fernandes’ penalty.
“Dreadful, just dreadful, honestly,” he said, as per Metro.
“We saw it against Southampton, who were brilliant and probably deserved something from the game. They’re just so easy to play against.
“Defensively, the goalkeeper, struggling to score goals, United have so many problems it’s crazy.
“They are late to everything. Ruben Amorim even said that after the Southampton game, they’re so reactive.
“They never looked like scoring. They scored from a penalty, that was it. Brighton scored three and had numerous other chances.”
Hargreaves on his concern for Amorim
United will now shift their attention to the Europa League on Thursday evening, with the Red Devils hosting Scottish side Rangers at Old Trafford.
Hargreaves has now admitted that former Sporting CP boss Amorim needs to find “results” for United amid the Red Devils’ sporadic run of form this season.
The former Red Devils and England midfielder added that his big “worry” for the United manager is that he lacks the players needed for his tactical system.
“The worry for Amorim is the style of play doesn’t suit the players don’t right, he’s got to find a way to get results,” Hargreaves added.
“I don’t think it’s an attitude thing or an effort thing.
“The recruitment has been a huge issue in recent years. Look at the Brighton team, they had six players who would start for Man United.
“That should never happen, never. With the utmost respect to Brighton, they shouldn’t have any players who would get in the United team, they shouldn’t have any that would get in the 18. Six of them would start.
“It goes back to recruitment. United need to get it right going forward. They need to be better in the market because it’s not been working for a while now.”
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