After an epic late winner over those fools Loserpool, the energy and joy of such a victory has remained and indeed, will continue to remain until the end of time.
Or until Brighton beat us, at least 😅.
Hey, you know how inconsistent we are 🤷♂️.
It is unfortunate that we feel this way about our team in that they can pick up an unlikely win over the great enemy yet we have no idea whether we can perform in the next match.
This is why this game against Brighton is the true test to judge whether this side has turned a corner or whether they will revert to default settings.
Predicted Lineup
I know that the team last week performed really well and got the deserved victory. However, when looking at it, it's not one that's for the future. It felt very much like it was selected specifically for Liverpool which is kind of what Amorim said pre-match ("It's to try and choose the best starting XI to win the game") but I'm not a fan of this. I don't like picking an XI for specific games. I prefer you have a set team all the time and make the odd change if necessary (injuries, suspensions).
Last week's XI featured players that I don't think should be at the club anymore let alone being first-team regulars. Shaw, Maguire and Casemiro aren't players that I think we should be depending on. Bruno is another because we know how hit and miss he can be just as he was with his performance at Anfield.
I'd rather we be looking towards the future and I would like to see Yoro, Dorgu and Sesko all come back into the side.
(Forgot to put Maguire in there 🤦♂️)
The same defense. As much as I would like the baby Rolls Royce start, after his performance and late winner, Amorim will keep Maguire at the back.
Amad is another who can't be dropped as he was contender for MOTM before his substitution. He stays on the right but as Dalot is one of the manager's favourites, I wouldn't be surprised if he were to remain as left wing-back. However, I have brought Dorgu back in simply because it's an easier opponent (on paper) and we're at home. We also don't need to be as defensive as last week.
Casemiro went off with an injury just before the hour mark at Anfield so we'll have to wait and see if he's available. Knowing how little Amorim thinks of both Ugarte and Mainoo, if Casemiro is 25% fit, he'll start instead. In the chance the Brazilian is 100% unfit, I believe it will be his South American compatriot next to the captain.
I can also see Sesko making a return to the front three. After being dropped last week, the Slovenian will come back into the side allowing us to see that new attack play together once again and after another top Mbeumo performance and one where we saw Cunha arrive at United, this might be the perfect time for the 22-year-old to start up top.
Approach
We can't be going long ball and defend and counter at home to Brighton. Despite them being a good footballing side and giving us trouble over the years, these are the sort of games where we want to see the real Man Utd. Amorim's Man Utd.
Those boring and simple tactics are okay when going to the toughest ground of them all but play that sort of stuff in this match, and Amorim will be facing a lot of backlash.
This is why his starting lineup is important because it may indicate how he is going to approach the game.
If Maguire does start, then that high line will either not be there or will be of massive risk to our team considering that Brighton are a good counter-attacking side. Having seen what leaving the match-winner at Anfield as the last man can do, I would try and avoid this.
Having Maguire in the team and wanting to play a high line may at times create huge gaps between the defense and the rest of the team for fear of the Englishman not having that recovery pace.
If we do want to play something akin to what we saw against Arsenal which I believe was our best performance of the season, we need to have better players. Yoro is better than Harry and can allow us to play further forward. He also has that height and strength in the air similar to the former captain so that long ball tactic especially in the dying minutes, can remain.
One player who didn't feature from the start in that opening day defeat was Amad. Dalot was preferred instead however, considering how dominant United were, Amorim subbed the Portuguese on 55 minutes for Amad who certainly gave us something on that right flank.
I feel as though we need to be attacking down at least one if not both flanks. With Dalot and Dorgu, we have no threat down the wings. As the wing-back positions are of utmost importance in this system, Amad will have to play to give us that attacking edge.
With Dorgu down the left, I find that we do tend to use that side a bit more whenever the Dane is playing there compared to Dalot. This will mean we are not so lopsided and aren't wholly reliant on Amad to create from the right.
On the other hand, Dalot has been pretty good with his long throw-ins which has become an apparent tactic of Amorim's. Dorgu isn't as good and I'm not sure whether the manager will want to remove this from his style of play.
It's not ideal to be looking at long throw-ins and long balls as a tactic but one cannot deny that they have been effective for us. The concern I have with them is that we may become to dependent on those simple tactics to get us goals rather than creating chances through proper football.
We also have to be careful of Brighton's ability to suck teams in when they build up from the back. They are 14th in the table for most long balls indicating that they like to keep the ball on the ground. The side at the top? Man Utd with a staggering 481 long balls.
This is why we have to be weary when pressing from the front and could be a reason to start Mount who is arguably our best player when it comes to the high press.
Should the Seagulls manage to break through that high press though, they then like to work things quickly out wide as their wingers are key in a lot of what they do going forward.
We then have to look at things like starting off well, getting an early goal and putting pressure onto the Seagulls. The crowd will obviously be up for it but there will be that added excitement after last week's win. That will also come with added expectation though, and can our players handle the pressure? This is something that Amorim himself admitted as being a stumbling block for his side.
Brighton have taken the lead in their last three visits to Old Trafford and have gone on to win all of them which shows how important that opening goal can be. Onana also cocked up in last season's game so with Lammens in goal, I feel confident that this won't happen again.
Much of that same team spirit we saw at Anfield will need to be present again because we do look a decent side when we play as one.
I would also like to se us remove that sloppiness from our game. We had too many moments where we lost control of the ball, gave possession away cheaply in dangerous areas and afforded the opposition too much time and space on the ball. Against a good side like Brighton, it could cost us.
Form
Back-to-back league wins ✅.
Beating LFC at Anfield in 9 years ✅
Only manager to win at the Emptihad and Anfield in last five years ✅
Amorim is well and truly cooking 🔥.
Beating Liverpool pushed us to 9th in the table which still isn't good enough but at least it also meant being just 2 points behind our great rivals in 4th. Now that isn't actually too bad even more so considering all the shit we've had to receive.
That game didn't do too much else in terms of goals scored and goal difference but just winning it could make a world of difference.
That record against the big 6 doesn't look so terrible now as we've won two of the four played so far.
And at home, we do boast one of the stronger records as well.
With 9 points from a possible 12, United sit 6th just 1 point behind Arsenal at the top. Our 7 scored is only bettered by Arsenal, Sunderland, City and Liverpool. Our only clean sheet kept this season came in our last home game (2-0 win over Sunderland).
Speaking of which, that was our third-straight victory at Old Trafford after Burnley and Chelsea. Three home wins on the bounce and back-to-back league triumphs. We're moving up lads 🙌😅.
However, our recent history against the Seagulls is actually quite atrocious. In the last seven encounters, United have won just once while losing the other six. Brighton have done the double over us twice in the last three seasons and have won on all three of their previous visits to Old Trafford including two straight 3-1 triumphs.
The overall record reads 16 games played, eight United wins, eight Brighton wins, zero draws.
This is why I was more concerned about this game than Liverpool before we went to Anfield. That match would take care of itself but given this recent record, Brighton really do have our number.
Then again, this is another one of those monkeys for Amorim to get off of his back.
Brighton
The Seagulls are having a bit of a hit and miss campaign thus far. They sit just one spot and 1 point behind United in 10th with three wins, three draws and two losses with a GD of 1, which is better than ours (-1).
Those three wins? Newcastle, Chelsea and Man City 😳, yet they dropped points to the likes of Bournemouth, Fulham, Everton and Wolves 🙃. They actually haven't lost in any of their last four games with their most recent defeat coming at the hands of high-flying Bournemouth on matchday 4.
See, hit and miss.
Brighton have also not kept a clean sheet whereas we have just the one which was in our last home game.
From what we know of them, they are a good side but clearly, they perform against the better teams and don't against the lesser ones. Where you would put United is up to you which could make this game interesting.
Old United player Danny Welbeck has the joint 5th-most goals with 4 while Yankuba Minteh has 2 assists, both are more than any United player.
It will be interesting to see how MUFC target Carlos Baleba will play (if he plays at all). Before being linked to him and prior to the window closing, he looked to be the next Moises Caicedo with all United fans more than happy to see him come to our club.
Since then, his career has taken a 180 as his performances have dropped severely with manager Fabian Hurzeler hooking him off before the hour mark on quite a few occasions.
Maybe if he did play, he will show us why we wanted him in the first place.
Prediction
United have this stupid habit of dropping their quality in these 'lesser' matches. We play well against the heavy hitters only to go back to being shite in the next match. We are very similar to Brighton.
These are the inconsistencies that Amorim needs to remove. It's his next challenge.
I've said many times that I don't trust this team simply because of their mentality. When the pressure is off like it was at Liverpool, we can perform. When the heat is on, we tend to get cooked.
This happened at the start of the season albeit in a different manner. We performed brilliantly but lost to Arsenal yet couldn't follow that performance up at Fulham where we got a flat draw.
I don't want to be a Debby downer but I feel like we will face another one of those games. I'm going for a disappointing 1-1 stalemate.
Hopefully United can surprise me but I've yet to be convinced. This is the final step and why I say it is more important than Liverpool: have we have truly turned a corner, or not.
What are your thoughts ahead of another all-important clash?
Benjamin Sesko | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)
Danny Welbeck | Image via Brighton official X (@OfficialBHAFC)
Old Trafford | Photo by Nat Callaghan on Unsplash