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| Erik ten Hag embracing his Manchester United players after the loss to Brighton. |
Chelsea legend John Obi Mikel has picked on Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag for his role in the team’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion. Manchester United scrapped a 2-1 win over Fulham with a late Joshua Zirkzee goal on the Premier League’s opening day but could not get past usual nemesis Brighton. Erik ten Hag embracing his Manchester United players after the loss to Brighton. According to Squawka, the Red Devils have lost five of their last six matches against the Seagulls, which came under three managers in Graham Potter, Roberto De Zerbi and Fabian Hurzeler. . Mikel Obi criticises ten Hag Speaking on the Talking Mikel episode of his Obi One Podcast, Mikel Obi slammed United manager ten Hag for mostly not taking responsibility but blaming the players. “The manager [ten Hag], everytime I listen to him, there’s so much negativity coming from him, he’s always blaming somebody, it’s always someone else’s fault, every time I listen to Erik ten Hag it’s always the player’s fault,” he said. “He brought in Matthijs De Ligt when Harry Maguire was having a fantastic game. The way the game was going, taking out the centre-back was unnecessary. It was a strange decision and it felt like he had promised De Ligt he’s going to play.
“He didn’t have to bring him on because the team was solid after the first goal. The decision cut off the communication in the backline. The changes disrupted the structure and communication of the team. The players should take responsibility and also the manager for his substitution.” The Dutchman is in his third season, winning the Carabao and FA Cup in his first two seasons. There were calls for him to be sacked at the end of last season after finishing eighth. He was instead backed with two first-team managers as assistants in Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake. The club also signed Lenny Yoro, Matthijs De Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee to improve the squad. Mikel responds to Nicolas Jackson TUKO.co.ke reported that Mikel Obi responded to Nicolas Jackson after the Chelsea striker told him to shut up following his performance against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The club legend admitted he had not said anything bad about the striker but only wanted him to improve, and he would only shut up if he scores every week.
by Celine Nyambura