A win for Manchester United, but really the FA Cup will now define their season. Photo: Getty Images/Michael Steele
The Brighton fans were on point at the final whistle.
“Just like Brighton,” they sang to their visitors from Manchester. “Your city is blue.”
It was a dismissal that is becoming increasingly difficult to argue against. Unlike the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson's era, Manchester United's victory here on the south coast had absolutely no bearing on the direction of the championship or even who would play in Europe next season. The main decisions have been discussed elsewhere. Eighth place, their lowest league position since 1989–90, leaves them with an unlikely victory over the new champions in next weekend's FA Cup final to even qualify for the Europa League. This is not a case that deserves to paint the town red.
That's about to change in Brighton. Roberto De Zerbi was in charge of his last game at the Amex. He was warmly serenaded from the stands by fans grateful for what he had achieved in his two years on the touchline, and the reasons for his departure were clear in his speech from the field at the end of the game.
“I'm sad [ leave], but I know what I would like to do in life,” he said. And it's clear that what he'd like to do with his life doesn't include running Brighton.
Roberto De Zerbi leaves Brighton Photo: Reuters/David Klein
Outgoing Amex managers rarely derailed the process. Given his track record, it's safe to assume that chairman Tony Bloom and his team of statisticians have already identified Brighton's next five managers. At Manchester United, where no one can accuse the Glazer regime of clever planning, Ten Hag remains at the helm. Only. At the end, the United fans gave him a loud ovation, chanting about their anticipation of Wembley next Saturday. But how many of them seriously believe he has a chance to derail City's advance with another double that could become the title of Lee Mack's quiz: The 1 Percent Club.
However, this was a slightly more cohesive and organized performance from Ten Hag than many others this season. After that dismal 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, the United manager abandoned his beloved 4-3-3 formation, which had so often failed, swarming the midfield and using Bruno Fernandes as a false number nine. It didn't generate much excitement here, requiring clearances from Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez, but at least it kept De Zerbi's ambitious side largely at bay.
And aside from providing some defensive cover, the main effect of this tactic was the incentive it gave Rasmus Hoylund. Apparently driven by the disdain of being dropped when he arrived from the bench, he showed the kind of drive and energy that had been completely absent from United's lackluster effort to that point. After Diogo Dalot opened the scoring, the Dane scored a fine solo goal, an effort that exuded the kind of confidence and determination that could prove very useful at Wembley. However, when asked whether his performance could have been good enough to secure a place in the starting line-up for the Cup final, Ten Hag insisted: “You don't just need eleven players, you also need a bench. Before adding that his problems with choice were “not a dilemma – I think it's a luxury problem.”
Rasmus Hoylund the bench came off to score on the Amex. Photo: Getty Images/Glyn Kirk
How long he will have to deal with such luxury problems will likely be a question of the summer. De Zerbi, even though he insisted his departure from Brighton was not due to an offer from another club, said he wanted to start again at another club as soon as possible. No attempt to impose any rationality after years of Glazer's neglect, if Sir Jim Ratcliffe were inclined to make changes after next week's finale, many will believe the Italian's verve, charisma and tactical adventurism would be the ideal replacement.
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