Manchester United might need the transfer window to solve growing second half problem

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