Aaron Wan-BIssaka Man United
Aaron Wan-BIssaka, Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, Fred Man United

While the other top six sides had more or less a smooth opening to the new Premier League season, Man United fell flat on their face on Sunday.

Man United suffered an embarrassing 1-2 loss to Brighton at home and within a flash, all of their pre-season work has been undone. Almost every area of the pitch was problematic but after the match, it was the defenders who have come under the scanner.

Yes, the likes of Dalot and Martinez were found wanting a couple of times, but Erik ten Hag has come to admit the real cause of concern actually lies somewhere else.

He said after the defeat(h/t Fotmob): “It wasn’t the defending. We defend as a team and we made passing mistakes that were unnecessary in the midfield, then they took over.

“We have to be better at organisation because we have made appointments and they have to do the job which we talked about, which they have been appointed to do. That is not what we did and then we got punished.

“The same with the second goal, it was totally unnecessary from a ball that was loose in the corner on the other side. It is not good that you then go on and concede a goal.”

Man United needs to bring in midfielders: ASAP

Lisandro Martinez did not have the best of games but this was his first appearance in the Premier League. He will obviously need some time to adjust to life in England but it McFred who need replacement at the next given opportunity.

Both these players have a tremendous work rate but right now what Manchester United need is a creative central midfielder who can control the tempo of games and is not found wanting at every given opportunity.

This pair is very much average and if Erik ten Hag seriously wants to bring back the glory days at the club then he needs to sign a world-class central midfielder.

Man United are still after Frenkie de Jong but with deadline day soon approaching, they need to activate their backup targets or else they will be stuck with McTominay and Fred for the rest of the season.

Both these players have been at the heart of midfield for two or three seasons but this has mainly been because no manager has been able to sign an apt replacement.

It’s high time, this problem is solved in the next three weeks because, without a player like De Jong or Ruben Neves, there’s no way Man United can get back into the Champions League.

Arsenal and Spurs have both patched up their problematic areas this summer and if Man United cannot solve their midfield woes then even they might have to play in the Conference League very soon.

Read: Manchester United could make their first panic buy in the form of this ex-West Ham forward.