Manchester United captain Harry Maguire feels he needs time to form a solid partnership with Lisandro Martinez
Harry Maguire feels he and Lisandro Martinez need time to form a solid partnership after the opening game defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion. The Manchester United captain started with the new Argentine signing at centre-back.
The Red Devils conceded two goals in the first half as Pascal Gross capitalised on the chances presented to him. The United defence was split open on both occasions by the Seagulls.
Speaking to Sky Sports at full-time (h/t Mirror), Maguire opened up on his understanding with Martinez on the pitch. The England international believes their collaboration will improve once they spend more time together on the pitch.
“It’s great to have Lisandro Martinez at the club. We have competition for places at centre-back. We’ve not played much together and in that first period we weren’t on the same wavelength. Centre-back partnerships are built over time and we will get a lot better and keep clean sheets.
“Everyone knew the task. We had a bad season last season. We’ve got a new manager trying to put his philosophy on the team but when we don’t get it right we look far too open.”
United crumbled under pressure
United started the opening period of the game with confidence. We looked good on the ball and created a few chances. The team worked well as a unit to keep hold of the ball.
But Brighton grew into the game and eventually started to overrun the Red Devils. The Manchester-based club failed to cope with the pressure being put by Graham Potter’s side.
We crumbled under pressure and Gross was able to slot the ball into the net for the first goal after United’s defence was split open. The second goal came after David de Gea parried a shot, with United unable to get the ball out of their own half.
The defensive duo of Maguire and Martinez looked shaky. Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw didn’t have the best of games either. Fred, who was playing in the holding midfield role, made a few errors in the opening half.
Brighton beat the Red Devils for the first time in their history at Old Trafford. Danny Welbeck seemed to turn the years back as he put in an excellent shift for the Seagulls.
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We face Brentford away next on 13 August. Hopefully, the problem with the centre-back pairing resolves itself by then.
