Anybody who has spent any time watching Manchester United recently wouldn't have been surprised by the way their game with Brighton unfolded at the Amex Stadium.
An even and entertaining contest for 45 minutes subsided into one-way traffic in the second half, in which the only surprise was it took the home side until the 99th minute to finally break the deadlock. Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw had been excellent once again until Shaw's late aberration with a needless handball, but as the night wore on they had more and more work to do.
The stats tell the story. United had 10 shots to Brighton's seven in the first half, but in the second half the home side racked up 15 shots to United's six, and it's hard to remember many of those six. United looked a threat on the break in the first 45 minutes and were well set up to cope with an excellent Seagulls team, but that structure fell apart after half-time.
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That's nothing new for Erik ten Hag and the concern has to be how to change an increasingly prevalent pattern around his team. Good first half, bad second half isn't a sustainable strategy for success.
In the last seven games, United have scored once after the break and conceded seven times and the quality of their performance has nosedived in some of those matches. That run starts with the Sevilla game at Old Trafford, when Ten Hag's side were in total control before chucking the game, and ultimately the tie, away in the final few minutes.
The contrast between performances was most glaring at Tottenham a week ago. United led 2-0 at half-time and had been excellent, but by full-time they were a little fortunate to even be holding on to a point. They won the first half shot count 11 to 6 but lost it in the second half 12 to 6.
They were also worse in the second half of their FA Cup semi-final against Brighton at Wembley and then again on the south coast last night. It's a particularly clear pattern away from home, where United's record is poor this season.
They've won only one away game against the top 12 in the league and that came at Fulham in injury-time. Their record against the top nine is seven defeats and a draw. In their last five Premier League away games they have lost the second half four times, conceding 11 goals and scoring one. That is a wretched record.
The conundrum for Ten Hag to solve is why his team are currently so Jekyll and Hyde from one half to the next. It could certainly be tiredness. United's schedule has been relentless this season and next week is the first time since December that they won't have had a midweek feature.
But they're not the only side facing that scenario. Manchester City have had a similar schedule and they are playing as well as at any point in the season. Neither Pep Guardiola or Ten Hag has rotated much this season but on current form it's City who would be heavy favourites for the FA Cup final, especially after half-time.
Perhaps it's also a mentality issue. Since United's dismal collapse in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final in Seville, Ten Hag has been honest about his team's failings during a game and the way they can't cope when things start to go against them.
"We can’t deny it, it’s mental, definitely, we have to learn that you keep going, you carry on, this team what they can do very well is bounce back in between games, what they can do less is bounce back during a game to a setback. That is what we have to improve," Ten Hag said the day after the 3-0 defeat to Sevilla.
That comment was after a question that referenced some of United's most disastrous days this season. The 4-0 to Brentford, the 6-3 to Manchester City, the 7-0 to Liverpool, the 2-0 to Newcastle and then the 3-0 to Sevilla, games when United just lost all semblance of control.
What's happened more recently is a little different. United were in a good position at Tottenham last week and Brighton last night, but couldn't maintain that level. It wasn't a case of failing to respond to a setback, but it might be that they can't change the flow of a game once it starts to tilt.
Both Tottenham and Brighton started the second half well and that seemed to set the pattern for the entire half. United couldn't find a way to halt the tide coming towards their goal in both of those games.
Maybe that's a tactical issue that Ten Hag and the coaches need to asses, but there's also an argument the lack of squad depth is hindering his ability to change games in this state. At Tottenham he made a double substitution on the 61st minute and then again 10 minutes later, but all four changes seemed to make the performance worse.
On Thursday night the approach was different. United's threat was considerably reduced in the second half but Ten Hag didn't turn to his bench until the 76th minute. Marcel Sabitzer, Jadon Sancho and Wout Weghorst all came on but none of them made any kind of contribution.
There might be tweaks to be made to the set-up between now and the end of the season to make United better in the second half, to try and avoid the opposition taking control of games after the break, but after that Ten Hag might also feel he needs the transfer market to give him more depth to his squad and the greater ability to change games from the bench.
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