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Manchester United Executive Vice President Ed Woodward should have been on the phone to push for a deal for Alex Telles and line up a play for a central defender before the full-time whistle sounded today at the Amex. Once again, United’s defensive weaknesses were in the open on the South Coast despite an inspiring performance from Marcus Rashford in the second half.
Despite last week’s shocking loss to Crystal Palace, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer resisted the urge to bring in Eric Bailly and took Victor Lindelof in his place.
It was a decision that was greeted with anger by United supporters on social media.
The Swede was affected by Brighton striker Neal Maupay, especially in the first half, and the Frenchman made a conscious effort to target the former Benfica player.
Lindelof lacks pace and is pushed off the ball far too often for a United center-back.
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Luke Shaw had a tough afternoon against Seagulls flying right-back Tariq Lamptey, who isn’t hurting his chances for England in every game he plays.
United is reportedly hoping to secure a deal for Telles, but is trying to cut Porto’s sale price, which currently stands at around £ 18m.
United legend Rio Ferdinand made his feelings about his old team’s transfer needs clear before starting at Brighton.
Ferdinand said improving defense is much more important than adding another attacker like Jadon Sancho.
“I want Jadon Sancho to come to Man United, he is a generational talent, he is someone who will get the fans out of their seats, a Man United player,” Ferdinand said on BT Sport.
“But does it solve the fundamental problems that I see happening with this team?
“Yes, they had a fantastic record for goals against last season, but there are moments in games, or even before games.
“Are you looking down the tunnel through that line thinking ‘I’m going to have to do my best to get a shot at this Manchester United team’?
“I don’t think so, and that’s a problem for me.”
Ferdinand is right. United don’t need Sancho, certainly no more than they need new defensive recruits.
They were extremely fortunate not to concede more at the Amex, with Brighton hitting the wood on four separate occasions.
Solskjaer has to build from behind and already has a solid right back in Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
But the club’s captain, Harry Maguire, needs help from both sides to make his strengths prosper as they did in Leicester.
And Lindelof and Shaw have shown that they are not the players to do that.
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