Man Utd training ground fight explained as Erik ten Hag prepares for Brighton clash

The last time Manchester United visited Brighton, they were humiliated 4-0 at the Amex Stadium. Ralf Rangnick was in command for that clash, and to make matters worse, two of his senior players were involved in a training ground brawl. However, it is clear that Erik ten Hag deserves credit for completely transforming the club.

Manchester United were a shambles last season, with both Rangnick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer experiencing dreadful seasons.

There were several low times during that season, from crushing defeats at home and away to humiliating defeats at the hands of Manchester City, Wolves, and Leicester.

However, their 4-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton was arguably the worst of the bunch.

United was especially bad on that day, with goals from Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, Pascal Gross, and Leandro Trossard handing Graham Potter’s team the win.

Then, a few days later, there was word of a training ground brawl.

According to the Sun, two senior players were pulled apart as tempers flared at the club’s Carrington training site.

The brawl had such a negative impact on morale that Rangnick had to cut the training session short.

According to the article, the two ‘went at it,’ and even those who were used to team-mate brawls were stunned by what happened.

Rangnick had given his team four days off following the Brighton setback, which the German had called ‘unacceptable.’

“First and foremost, we must apologize to our supporters who traveled all the way from Manchester to Brighton,” he remarked in the immediate wake of the outcome.

“We simply weren’t good enough from start to finish.” Not only was the performance terrible, but it was exceedingly poor.”

“The problem for me is how to defend as a team,” he said, “and in this league, if you play against good teams, and Brighton is a good team, if you do not defend properly, if you just let them play and give them all the space and time in the world, this is the result.”

“It was a humiliating defeat today, especially for a team like Manchester United; it was the second-highest defeat in my entire 35-year coaching career.”

“But it’s not just that you lost 4-0; it’s the way we played, which is simply unacceptable and very difficult to deal with and cope with.”

“I take full responsibility for the performance, but it’s difficult, really difficult to explain why we played like we did against Brentford on Monday and like we did today.”

Ten Hag, on the other hand, has worked his magic to put his dressing room back together.

United are a fighting squad these days, as seen by their 1-0 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday.

The Dutchman’s tenure began with a 2-1 loss to Brighton at Old Trafford on the first day of the season.

After a 4-0 loss away at Brentford, things went from bad to worse, with some even calling for Ten Hag to be fired that day.

United, on the other hand, has been on a roll ever since.

They were able to avenge their recent defeats to Brighton last month by defeating the Seagulls in the FA Cup semi-finals.

And United are on the verge of returning to the Champions League despite missing out this season.

A year ago, the Red Devils appeared unsteady, unconvincing, and unconcerned.

Things are different these days, and they’ll be confident of putting Brighton to the sword when the game goes off on Thursday.