Erik ten Hag believes Manchester United conceded ‘two easy goals’ in their loss to Brighton and ‘need to improve their performance’.

Erik ten Hag, the Manchester United manager, expressed his frustration following their defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion and called for his team to improve in future matches. The Seagulls secured a thrilling 2-1 victory in Fabian Hurzeler’s first home game in charge, with Joao Pedro scoring the winning goal in the 95th minute.

Amad Diallo had earlier equalized after Danny Welbeck opened the scoring, marking his 100th career goal and his fifth against his former club.

Speaking after the match, Ten Hag criticized his team for conceding two “soft” goals that could have been prevented. “It’s very disappointing,” said the deflated United boss. “Especially when for long parts of the game you have control. We controlled the game in possession and we were doing so well. We conceded two unnecessary goals, very avoidable.”

Ten Hag emphasized the need for better communication and teamwork in such situations. “We have to talk, we have to be aligned in such moments and know what to do. Everyone knows the job and as a team, we protect our goal.”

In contrast to Ten Hag’s assessment, former United center-back Rio Ferdinand had a more positive view of the team’s performance. Ferdinand, speaking on TNT Sports, noted that there was an improvement in the team’s shape and structure, with a greater sense of control and stability in defense.

“I think there’s definitely an improvement in the shape and the structure of the team,” Ferdinand said. “Man Utd don’t look like an open team. I was sitting here last season with my hands on my head at various moments in games where we were being sliced open at will and teams were just coming to Old Trafford and having 22 shots, 25 shots. That isn’t the case in the last two games. There’s more control, there’s a bit of stability but still room for improvement, obviously.”