A straw poll on who Manchester United fans believe has been their best player during this rather unsteady start to the season will likely see **Bryan Mbeumo**’s name crop up more often than not.
The Cameroon forward may have scored just twice in his first six games since arriving this summer but he has brought pace, power and a deft first touch to a forward line that has been refreshed by Ruben Amorim.
Mbuemo returns to Brentford on Saturday for the first time since his £71 million move and he will likely receive a warm reception from the home supporters who watched him develop during his six seasons at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The 26-year-old will also be one of the players that Keith Andrews’ side focus on and try to limit the impact he is able to have.
Mbeumo’s only Premier League goal came in United’s 3-2 win at home against Burnley last month and there is no doubt that he needs to rediscover the goalscoring touch that led to his summer move. But he has still been United’s best attacker.
He and fellow new signing Matheus Cunha were lively in the narrow opening day defeat to Arsenal, and the derby defeat to Manchester City saw the former Brentford striker come close to scoring a venomous volley had it not been for a tremendous save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Getty: Oli Scarff
Yet, Mbeumo’s best display came last week when United registered their second league win of the campaign with a 2-1 home victory over Chelsea which included the forward extracting a last-man challenge from Robert Sanchez that saw the visitors’ goalkeeper sent off after just four minutes.
That was just one example of him living up to his reputation of being a workhorse forward who fights for every ball. His relentless running powered United’s dominant first-half performance last weekend and is something that Amorim has noted in the early weeks of the season.
“*It’s impressive how he stretches the team, the quality that he has in his first touch,” Amorim said after the Burnley match. “You can feel that we are a different team because when we win the ball we have one guy stretching the team. Last season we struggled a bit with that.*”
Mbeumo needs support to restart goalscoring
With **Benjamin Sesko**and Cunha also being new additions and, alongside Mbeumo, forming a new forward line for United, it was always going to take time for them to gel and build chemistry as an attacking trio.
Cunha’s start to the season has been interrupted by injury while Sesko is still being introduced slowly and is getting up to speed with the pace of the new league having moved from RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga.
Chelsea were the first team to face United’s new attack from the outset and, yet, there were signs of combinations forming between the three forwards; including Sesko’s flicked header that released Mbeumo for that Sanchez challenge.
For Mbeumo to fully hit his stride, though, it will require more from the midfield behind him. United have scored just six goals across their opening five league outings and although there has been greater creativity compared to last season, more of a thrust is still desperately needed.
Getty: Ryan Pierse
Mbeumo benefitted from having strong support around him during his time with Brentford. Firstly, there were Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma, then Ivan Tony and, finally, Yoane Wissa.
Last season, in what was his most fruitful campaign, Mbeumo scored 20 goals and racked up seven assists. Those — along with Wissa’s 19 goals and four assists — helped Brentford to a tenth-placed finish.
Getting the ball into Mbeumo early so he could run in behind the opposition defence was a key trait for **Thomas Frank**’s side, but United often find themselves trying to break down deeper rearguards and don’t always have the space to break into that Brentford were afforded.
A large onus is placed on Bruno Fernandes and his ability to craft a pass, but given how Amorim is currently setting up his team — with the captain positioned deeper in a double pivot — it is not as easy for him to be the launchpad for rapier attacks.
With the jury still out on whether Amorim is the right head coach long term for United, improvements in both penalty areas are very much required. Having Mbeumo kick on further, starting in familiar surroundings this weekend, will certainly help their cause.