Erik ten Hag will begin his Manchester United tenure with a clash against Brighton and Hove Albion at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The fixture between the two sides comes just three months after the Seagulls thumped United, then led by Ralf Rangnick, 4-0 at the Amex. It came at a time when the Red Devils were on a sharp decline with their performance on the south coast copping huge criticism as the hosts scored all their goals within the hour.
It will be up to Ten Hag to prove that things are changing and he will be keen to avoid the mistakes made by his predecessor. Rangnick struggled to get a tune out of his squad for the majority of his interim spell, but the defeat at Brighton was a particular low point.
The German coach was never shy in giving a frank tactical analysis after games and pointed out several major issues with his side's performance. Ten Hag, like Rangnick, has a clear philosophy and will hope to enjoy far more success when it comes to embedding it.
United's former boss confessed that his tactical set-up presented too much of a "risk" - a decision that largely lies with the manager. However some of his other criticism was certainly aimed at his underperforming stars.
He told Sky Sports : "We gave them too much time, too much space. We couldn't get into a position to stop them playing through our lines. The game plan was completely different. We told the players to be as compact as possible and then to release pressure on them. We couldn't stop them. I don't think the players ignored the game plan but they weren't able to stop them. We gave them too much space and time. When you give technically good players this space, this is what can happen.
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"In the second half we took the risk to bring on Cavani to play as a second striker, but in hindsight it was too much of a risk to play in a 4-4-2 against them but we had to change the energy. Today we were second best."
Giving Brighton too much time, too much space, not having a good gameplan and taking a risk that backfired are all mistakes Ten Hag certainly won't be wanting his side to repeat.
Ten Hag enjoyed a largely promising pre-season, although they went winless in their final two pre-season games against Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano last weekend. The Dutchman has been keen to wipe the slate keen following a horrendous end to the last campaign.
He said: "Last season is last season, I'm not looking back, I'm looking forward to prepare the team for Sunday, for the future and that's it." He also added: "It's exciting as every season but of course when you are going into the season with a new club and a new team, I think we work really good but also tough in the last weeks to get a base and I think we have the confidence that we have that base, so I'm really looking forward to Sunday."
