Erik ten Hag believes Manchester United looked better when Cristiano Ronaldo came on, although the Portuguese icon could not inspire his side to a point against Brighton in their Premier League 1-2 defeat on Sunday.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag feels Cristiano Ronaldo improved the Red Devils' appearance when he entered their Premier League opener at Old Trafford against Brighton, even though the forward could not lead his team to a point. Although there were several run-ins throughout the summer, there was a lot of pregame discussion about whether the Portuguese icon would be in the Dutchman's starting XI.
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The 37-year-old talisman reportedly wants to leave Manchester United to play in the Champions League and was absent for most of the preseason due to family reasons. Ronaldo played 40 minutes against Rayo Vallecano in a friendly last weekend, but Ten Hag felt it "unacceptable" that he left the game early. On Sunday, the Portugal forward was named on the bench for the start of the match, being introduced in the 53rd minute with his side 2-0 behind Brighton thanks to a Pascal Gross double.
Ten Hag claims his team looked better with Ronaldo on the pitch as Christian Eriksen sank deeper despite losing the game, in which a scrappy Alexis Mac Allister's own goal saw the Red Devils cut the lead to 2-1. When asked if Ronaldo had the desired impact after the defeat, Ten Hag said, "I think so. It was clear to see that the second half, we were better in midfield with Eriksen down and Ronaldo up. Then we created and Rashford had two really good chances. It's a pity we didn't score them for 2-2."
"It [Ronaldo's fitness] takes time, you cannot force it. He has had one week of training so is a little bit more and he has to do more to get fit. This game will help him with 35/40 minutes. Now we have one week and he will be better next week," the Manchester United boss added.
While Ronaldo may have improved Man Utd in certain areas, there was plenty for Ten Hag to be concerned about as he lost his first Premier League game. "It is definitely a setback, a real disappointment, but we have to deal with it. I knew from the start that it wouldn't be easy, it's a process and takes time, but we don't have time. We have to win games and we should have done better," Ten Hag explained.
"It was unnecessary. We gave too many easy balls away and the organisation was a big mistake. It was not the way we made it out, we made it clear how to deal with certain situations when we drop in. But that happens, we have to analyse and take the lessons from it. It [the challenges this season] are the same. I knew before it would not be easy to construct it, to build it, develop it and it takes time. I know we don't have time, we have to deliver and we are aware of this situation," the Manchester United boss added.
"I said it in the dressing room that I saw it [togetherness] in the game. In the action in the second half, we were acting as one team, battling for a better result. It's not that we didn't battle or we didn't have the right attitude, we made mistakes on the ball, passing mistakes, organisational mistakes and in defending. We have to [fix the mistakes quickly], but we also have to take the lessons and learn quickly from it," the Dutchman concluded.
Meanwhile, Manchester United captain Harry Maguire described the defeat to Brighton as a "nightmare start", pointing to their first goal from Pascal Gross as the turning point. He told Sky Sports, "It's disappointing. It's the worst possible start to be 2-0 down at half-time at Old Trafford. It's not good enough."