Erik ten Hag can be satisfied with an FA Cup final place but Brighton show how attractive, smart football is possible on a limited budget
emi-finals, famously, are not for playing but for winning. It doesn’t matter how you get to the final, just that you do so. Brighton will wonder how on earth they didn’t win a game they dominated for long periods, but it is Manchester United who will face Manchester City in the final on 3 June. They just have to hope spite and the desire to prevent City emulating their 1998-99 treble proves a better motivator thanThis was not a good United performance, nothing like one.
Injuries, of course, played their part. To be without three central defenders is unfortunate but the problem was less at the heart of the back four – although, of course, fears about what lay behind him may have had an impact on Casemiro’s positioning, which in turn affects everything else – and more in the forward line.
Neither Anthony Martial nor Antony could impose themselves, while Bruno Fernandes was in one of those moods where he was as likely to collapse clutching his face as play a devastating through-ball. Still, being captain, playmaker and referee’s assessor all at the same time is enough to leave anybody exhausted.Photograph: John Patrick Fletcher/Action Plus/Shutterstock
Every game Brighton play these days feels like a rebuke to their opponents. This is how you build a squad. This is how you source young talent. This is how you create a culture than can replicate even when key elements are hived off. It’s not just about blowing hundreds of millions of pounds in the transfer market. It’s certainly not about bringing in superannuated stars for some sort of misguided nostalgia trip.
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