Manchester United season at risk of falling apart ahead of Brighton FA Cup semi-final | Football News

After Manchester United’s disastrous Europa League exit to Sevilla, it leaves their season hinging on Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Brighton.

United ended their six-year trophy drought by beating Newcastle to win the Carabao Cup in February leading to talk that Erik ten Hag’s side were going for a quadruple of trophies.

However, that dream quickly disintegrated after a 7-0 humiliation against Liverpool at Anfield as United produced a calamitous performance reminiscent of seasons gone by. It wasn’t long before United fell back on old habits again as they were torn apart by top-four rivals Newcastle at St James’ Park and lucky to lose 2-0.

Thursday’s embarrassing 3-0 defeat at Sevilla, who sit 13th in LaLiga, was another example of Ten Hag’s side crumbling away from Old Trafford, where United are unbeaten since September.

But, in spite of this tendency to collapse, United are still in a strong position to secure a return to the Champions League and are in with a shout of winning another trophy as they fight on in the FA Cup.

Here, the Sky Sports football writers examine the key problems at United ahead of a pivotal weekend for their season and assess whether they can redeem themselves at Wembley…

Time up for De Gea at Man Utd?

The time may have come for Manchester United to finally admit what has long been obvious – that David De Gea isn’t what he was, and nor is he capable of meeting the demands of a goalkeeper in Ten Hag’s team.

De Gea’s place in United’s history is secure. He’s been at Old Trafford for 12 years, won five major trophies and claimed the most clean sheets by a goalkeeper in the club’s history.

But modern goalkeeping is about more than history and clean sheets. It only takes a glance at the list of the game’s leading players in that position – Ederson, Alisson and Manuel Neuer, for example – to see what they all have in common. It’s not just the ability to make great saves, but also the capacity to help their team retain possession and build up from the back.

De Gea doesn’t fit that mould, and Ten Hag knows it. United play around their goalkeeper’s limitations, as shown by the fact he ranks 12th for passing accuracy and 18th for touches per 90 minutes among ‘keepers in the Premier League this season.

Ten Hag doesn’t want De Gea having to deal with the ball at his feet because he’s liable to make back-breaking errors, as he did with his slapstick efforts for Sevilla’s third goal on Thursday night.

The 32-year-old also made a high-profile mistake in the 4-0 mauling at Brentford back in August when trying to play out from the back. In fact, no Premier League player has made more errors leading to opposition goals in all competitions than De Gea since the start of last season, with his total of five matched only by Hugo Lloris.

De Gea’s inability to contribute effectively with the ball at his feet is not a new phenomenon. He has largely been able to avoid scrutiny for it up to now for two reasons – the fact he has mostly played under United managers that haven’t prioritised having a goalkeeper that can play out from the back, and that he has excelled at his primary job of keeping the ball out of the net with his hands.

But that is no longer the case. Ten Hag had Andre Onana, a goalkeeper very comfortable in possession, for much of his time at Ajax, and you sense he would like someone similar at United.

Meanwhile, De Gea has stopped being the difference-maker he once was when it comes to shot-stopping – with the bizarre goal he conceded against Everton in the FA Cup earlier this year a fine example.

Now is the time for United to make a decision on De Gea. His contract expires at the end of the season and offering him a new one – with the hefty wages that would entail – would tie him to United’s No. 1 shirt for the foreseeable future.

That’s not a scenario that makes sense for United – not if they want to stop making the ill-informed personnel decisions that have hampered their squad-building in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, and not if they want to fully embrace the Ten Hag experience.
Joe Shread

Why Brighton are favourites at Wembley

Would Brighton beating Man Utd be an FA Cup shock? No, they are favourites.

Brighton are no longer the team that just tickle the elite. Tottenham know. Chelsea know. And Manchester United are about to find that out on Sunday at Wembley.

They have put down the feather dusters used under Graham Potter and replaced them with battering rams under Roberto De Zerbi.

There is a ruthlessness and drive about what Brighton are doing.

It is exciting. It is courageous.

Teams do not know how to stop them. Declan Rice said chasing Brighton’s midfield when 4-0 down earlier this season was “demoralising” and “embarrassing”. That domination is usually something we associate with Manchester City.

It might sound fanciful, but Brighton are not far away from that type of level.

Like Newcastle, Brighton’s place among the elite is one to take very seriously.

A simple look at the betting odds for Sunday’s clash at Wembley shows that. At a neutral venue, Brighton are favourites to reach the final with Sky Bet offering 4/5 whilst Manchester United are 10/11. When converting that into percentage chance for probability purposes, the numbers suggest Brighton stand a three per cent better chance than United of winning the tie.
Lewis Jones

No case for the defence of Maguire

The court of public opinion long handed down judgment on Harry Maguire’s suitability to Manchester United but his calamitous cameos against Sevilla in the Europa League have surely sealed his fate.

Aside from his increasingly ceremonial role as club captain, or sparse first-team appearance when Erik ten Hag has his hands tied behind his back, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to pinpoint what Maguire does for United, other than emitting a crippling sense of anxiety through the team.

One week on from reviving Sevilla’s Europa League hopes with a costly late own goal as United surrendered a two-goal first-leg at Old Trafford, Maguire withered in the cauldron of the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, where an all too familiar nightmare for Ten Hag’s side was set in motion by his misreading of the task in hand.

With a raucous home crowd baying for blood, cool heads were required but Maguire’s early blunder, which was ruthlessly punished by Youssef En-Nesyri, gave Sevilla the lead in the tie, and the crowd what they were after. United never recovered.

At first glance goalkeeper De Gea appeared at fault for playing the pass which led to Maguire being hounded by Sevilla forwards on the edge of the United area, but with replays revealing the centre-back had demanded the ball before choosing not to allow it to run across his body into space, his aptness in high-pressure situations was thrust further into the spotlight.

You have to question how much of the nervousness exhibited by De Gea, which culminated in his shocking error gifting Sevilla their third, was borne out of the absence of the very players Maguire was deputising for, the injured Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane.

On paper Manchester United have depth at centre-back, namely the world’s most-expensive defender Maguire. But this latest disaster has only strengthened calls for the experiment to end, for the sake of both player and club.
Jack Wilkinson

Does unbeaten midfield trio offer glimpse of hope?

Hope is short on supply at Old Trafford after yet another collapse. But there is a light at the end of this tunnel.

Now Christian Eriksen is back to full fitness and Bruno Fernandes has served his European suspension, Ten Hag has his first-choice midfield back.

The trio of Casemiro, Eriksen and Fernandes has worked wonders for United this season, turning a problem area into a strength. In fact, they’ve never lost when the trio has started together.

That record stretches back 17 games, with just two draws in that time and an impressive 15 victories.

Ten Hag will be hoping Eriksen is able to start again on Sunday against Brighton for what would be his third match in seven days after more than three months out injured. His presence has tended to give United more control, which will be vital against De Zerbi’s Brighton.

Although, if United replicate their performance in Spain, not even this trio can stay unbeaten.
Zinny Boswell

City’s looming treble threat

If reaching an FA Cup final wasn’t motivation enough, there’s another aspect at play for United on Sunday. Cross-city rivals Manchester City, who play Championship high-flyers Sheffield United in the other semi on Saturday, are still on to win the treble this season.

United, of course, are the only English side to achieve that feat before and seeing their ‘Noisy Neighbours’ join them in that elite club would certainly be a tough pill to swallow.

They don’t have a say in stopping City winning the Premier League or the Champions League, giving the FA Cup even greater importance for United.

Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, the Sky Sports pundit admitted he was getting nervous about a potential City treble, saying: “It is ominous. The treble was mentioned last week – it’s definitely on. They can win the European Cup, FA Cup and the Premier League. Far too close for comfort.”

City’s shortcomings in Europe are one of the few things United have had over their rivals since the power shift in Manchester took place a decade ago.

Even if United fans are happy with a cup and top-four finish, Man City potentially taking the shine off Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest achievement would be sure to dampen the mood at Old Trafford.
Zinny Boswell

Homesick Man Utd must step up on the road

Manchester United are their own biggest enemy.

Brighton may be one of the most in-form teams in the Premier League but the biggest challenge for Ten Hag’s unreliable bunch on Sunday will be coping with playing away from Old Trafford.

At home, United boast one of the best records in the Premier League behind Arsenal and Manchester City. They’ve only been beaten twice at Old Trafford this season in all competitions, one of those being Brighton in the opening game of the campaign.

On the road, however, it is a completely different story. Seven defeats in 22 games, conceding at least three goals in six of those matches, paints a picture of a team that can’t cope when the going gets tough.

Whether Wembley and an evenly-split crowd will have the same impact on United’s performance remains to be seen. They delivered a defensively-solid performance in February to see off Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final at the same venue.

However, when considering the wider picture for United and their push to secure Champions League qualification, their four remaining away games against Tottenham, Brighton, West Ham and Bournemouth represent a tough challenge.

Should the race for the top-four take a turn for the worse, it doesn’t look like Ten Hag can rely on his fragile squad to dig deep and pick up points away from home.
Zinny Boswell