Benjamin Sesko was reportedly not among the chosen Manchester United penalty takers in their humiliating shootout defeat to Grimsby due to cramp. The Slovenian international, who joined this summer from RB Leipzig in a deal worth up to £74million, has faced serious criticism after being the last outfield player to take a penalty.
Sesko had previously made a couple of substitute appearances in United's first two Premier League matches but he was handed his first start against League Two side Grimsby at Blundell Park. Despite having six shots, two of which were on target, he failed to secure a win for the Red Devils, who ended up forcing a penalty shootout after trailing 2-0 at half-time. However, it was Sesko's position in the list of penalty takers that arguably drew more attention than his overall performance. BBC Sport has reported that he was listed as United's final outfield penalty taker due to suffering from cramp.
This marked the striker's first full match since scoring for Leipzig in a 1-1 draw with Holstein Kiel on April 19. Sesko converted United's 10th penalty to equalise the shootout at 9-9 before goalkeepers Andre Onana and Christy Pym also found the back of the net.
The sequence then restarted, with Grimsby eventually winning 12-11 on spot-kicks following Mbeumo's miss. The forward's cramp issues would clarify why Amorim was perhaps hesitant to depend on him to begin with.
However, defenders Harry Maguire, Diogo Dalot and Matthijs de Ligt all taking penalties ahead of the attacker did little to boost confidence surrounding Sesko at the beginning of his United career. Amorim has previously stated that he's still adjusting to English football following his arrival from Germany.
That's naturally not a problem for fellow new signings, Matheus Cunha and Mbeumo, who were acquired from Wolves and Brentford, respectively. Sesko's early performances have sparked mild concern amongst pundits, but Amorim has pleaded for patience from supporters.
"He needs time. It's not easy to come off the bench when the game is really fast," the United manager said after his side's draw with Fulham last weekend. "He is learning the game is faster than the Bundesliga, but he had some good connections with his team-mates."
When questioned why Sesko was named amongst the substitutes, Amorim added: "We tried to imagine what is going to happen during the game. Our team needs to be consistent in the way that we control the game and we need to have options to play a different game on the bench.
"Sesko has had two weeks for us, he is trying to understand everything. We need to wait a little bit to help the player. We just want to win the game and try to help all of our players."
United will be looking to bounce back from their Carabao Cup elimination when they welcome Burnley to Old Trafford on Saturday. Whether Sesko will retain his starting position in attack or find himself on the substitutes' bench for the Premier League clash remains unclear.
Aside from the Sesko saga, Amorim has been clear about his thoughts on the team's performance following United's shocking midweek defeat. "I know that the best team won, the only team that was on the pitch," he said post-match. "I think the team and the players spoke really loud today. So that's it.
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"We lost, the best team won. I think it was really clear for everybody what happened today. It's not just the space [we gave them], but the way we started the game without any intensity - we were completely lost.
"It's hard to explain. That's why I think they spoke really well. I think they gave the response on the pitch today. When you see something that, like today, it's hard to talk."