There were blue skies above Old Trafford, which was warm with hope as the players emerged from the tunnel before kick-off. In the 39th minute, boos echoed around the pitch as Pascal Gross put Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 up. As the whistle blew for half-time and again for the final, there were more murmurs of displeasure from the stands – dismay at a familiar story playing out. Erik ten Hag is the new face in the dugout, but his lineup was proof that the problems faced by his predecessors remain. United’s recruitment process is undermined by indecision and negotiations are hampered by rigidity. Pursuits are too often reactive rather than proactive. Manchester City won the title and signed Erling Haaland. Liverpool came second and brought in Darwin Nunez. United finished sixth in their worst season in Premier League history and are trying to sign 33-year-old Marko Arnautovic. It feels like a scam. Ten Haag worked with Arnautovic at FC Twente and is influencing the move, which the club see as a low-cost way to complement their attack. An offer of €8 million (£6.8 million, $8.1 million) has been submitted. Arnautovic is seen as carrying the confidence that United’s dressing room demands, and 14 Serie A goals for Bologna last season suggest he still has the scoring ability. However, this is a player who spent two years in China after leaving West Ham United in 2019, a desert where not even United’s vast army of scouts travel. Odion Ighalo, the last player United signed with such a record, was supposed to be a unique case of an emergency. Here United are again though. Austria striker Arnautovic, left, is 33 but worked with Ten Haag at FC Twente (Photo: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images) That’s before you get to the testimonials from people at Arnautovic’s former clubs, who suggest his famous confidence has come at the cost of team harmony. There is something to be said for supporting a manager’s judgement, but it may be that Ten Haag, as with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, is pushing for a signing he believes is relatively straightforward due to a diminished belief in the club’s structure for identifying and securing targets; Ten Hag selected Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and of course Frenkie de Jong. Where are the recommendations from the hiring department? Is there a lack of trust in the system or the people there? These are questions for John Murtough, who led the overhaul under Ed Woodward and appointed Steve Brown as head of recruitment. CEO Richard Arnold may also weigh in on the matter. After the game, Kees Vos, one of Ten Hag’s agents, was chatting with David Gill, the former United chief executive. Gill was invited to lunch at Carrington last week with Arnold and Murtough, along with Sir Alex Ferguson and Bryan Robson. Murtough watched that game from a seat in front of Avram Glazer, who had made the trip from the United States to watch a game at Old Trafford for just the third time in three years. Glazer’s presence coincided with a protest march organized by the team The 1958, which involved several hundred fans and culminated in the forced closing of the megastore before the game. The loudest fans then aligned with Brighton. They stayed to salute their team and in particular Graham Potter, who has reshuffled his squad amid the loss of two of his most important players in Yves Bissouma and Marc Cucurella. United refused to consider Potter in the hunt to succeed Solskjaer because of his lack of Champions League experience, it can be revealed. United also opted out of signing Moises Caicedo, who instead moved to Brighton in February 2021 for £4.5m from Ecuador’s Independiente del Valle. The 20-year-old was excellent in midfield at Old Trafford. Danny Welbeck, sold by Louis van Gaal, gave a great display at centre-forward. United started Eriksen up top. This may seem trivial given that Anthony Martial is injured and Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench. But neither situation is satisfactory. In his last two seasons, Martial has scored five goals in 39 league games, partly due to muscle problems, and Ronaldo wants to leave for a Champions League side, an attitude that has been shown as United’s season has collapsed. If United officials had foreseen the looming issue surrounding Ronaldo in April, they could have moved ahead with talks to sign Nunes from Benfica or another striker. They are just now negotiating for Red Bull Salzburg’s Benjamin Cesko, with the club’s sellers set to use United’s defeat to Brighton as leverage on the price. United have lost eight players from their squad last season and have brought in three replacements so far. Martinez struggled in the first half (Photo: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images) Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s importance to the team is growing at a time when his commitment is not absolute. Ten Haag said Ronaldo’s 10 days of training with the team was not enough to get him started. Circumstances may force him into the next match against Brentford, with Martial remaining a doubt. Ronaldo’s overconfidence unsettled the dressing room last season and former members of the coaching staff believe that, deep down, some players believe they are not up to the standard required for a team of United’s ambitions, breeding insecurity. After the game, Ten Haag’s comments were along similar lines. “It was a good start but then we dropped a level, we fell below our belief,” he said. “We made mistakes and the opponent punished us. That can’t happen, always believe in yourself, stay as a team together, always be confident on the pitch, that’s why we’re here.” Martinez had a difficult first half, finishing with a yellow card for bringing down Solly March after giving the ball away. He responded after the break and showed his talent in possession. Eriksen had the same trajectory of play – he looked much better after the break when playing deep and driving balls into the front line. Malacia, the other Ten Hag signing, was introduced late and had to see Tariq Lamptey go past him before conceding a foul. Potter and Ten Haag emphasized how the smoothness with which Brighton play is the result of three years of work — in coaching and recruiting. They were smart and bold. Ten Hag is confident of his abilities if he can get the signings to match. (Top photo: Ian Hodgson/PA Images via Getty Images)
