The Red Devils suffered a 2-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford on August 7 to kick off the new Premier League season. Ten Hag fielded a similar XI for their visit to Brentford on August 13, only bringing in Cristiano Ronaldo for Scott McTominay.
This, in turn, pushed Christian Eriksen into a deeper role. Meanwhile, Lisandro Martinez, who found himself in trouble in a few aerial battles against the Seagulls, was handed another start. Both players struggled, with Martinez even being subbed off at half-time as Brentford led 4-0.
After the match, Richards slammed Ten Hag for both those decisions while breaking down each of the goals Manchester United conceded.
He said on the BBC’s “Match of the Day” program about the Bees’ first goal (as quoted by the Mirror):
The former right-back called out both Martinez and Eriksen for their roles in the second goal conceded by Manchester United, scored by Mathias Jensen:
Richards added that Martinez struggled against the physicality brought to the table by Brentford’s Ivan Toney and Ben Mee. The latter jumped over the Argentine, whose height has been a talking point since he was linked with a move to England, to score his side’s third goal.
“Story of the first half” - Micah Richards criticizes Manchester United’s defending for 4th Brentford goal
Discussing the fourth and final goal of the game, scored by Bryan Mbuemo following a swift counter-attack, Richards said:
He added:
The harrowing 4-0 defeat at the hands of Brentford left Manchester United at the bottom of the Premier League after the matches played on August 13. The Red Devils next face a visit from arch-rivals Liverpool on August 22 in what could prove to be another lopsided contest.
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