Losing against Brighton in his first official game as Manchester United manager wasn’t Erik ten Hag’s ideal opening scenario, but neither was Oxford United’s league debut defeat Alex Ferguson is 36 years old. The question now, apart from whether he can overcome the rot at the heart of Manchester United during the Glazers’ ownership, is whether the disappointment of Ten Hag’s debut will resemble that of Ferguson or his compatriot Louis van Gaal, the game whose opening at Old Trafford. it was a 2-1 defeat to Swansea City.
Forced into an unfamiliar system last week by the absence of a centre-forward, United worked and hid a couple of the usual suspects, allowing Fred, who at least shows the ball at all times, to camp the major part of the anti-attack. Today he should have Cristiano Ronaldo available from the start against a Brentford side who bounced back brilliantly at the end of Leicester last week to earn a draw and a side Manchester United beat twice last season.
Brentford manager Thomas Frank believes Ten Hag is a fantastic appointment and will finally set things right at Old Trafford. “Overall, I don’t think it’s a perfect situation to play them or a bad situation to play them,” he said.
“But one thing’s for sure, they’ve got a new manager, a brilliant manager, I think he’s done a fantastic job in his previous jobs, so they’re very keen to do everything they can to make it a success with the players.
“They lost the first game, so if you lose a game, the most common response [is] really want to improve and do well. So it will be very difficult.
“I think there’s no doubt that Manchester United are favourites, they can’t afford not to beat us tomorrow.
Asked about reuniting with Christian Eriksen, Frank betrayed no bitterness over the Denmark captain’s decision to move north at the end of a wonderful six-month spell at Kew Bridge.
“I can’t wait to see him again,” Frank said. “I’m looking forward to giving him a hug and asking him how his family is, then I’m looking forward to competing against him on the pitch and then hopefully we get three points and he gets zero, but we’ll see.
“I think without a doubt with his qualities, you could see it in the last game as well, I know he was used in two different positions during the game.
“Obviously his quality on the ball is key and we know we can’t give him too much time because he can see the ball between the lines, he can see the ball behind and he has the quality to put it on a string for any player.”