Manchester United v Crystal Palace - Premier League - Source: Getty
Manchester United v Crystal Palace - Premier League - Source: Getty
Benjamin Sesko is starting to find his footing at Manchester United, but behind the scenes are measures that the striker took to spark his current fine form at Old Trafford.
Sesko joined Manchester United from RB Leipzig last summer in a deal worth €85 million. However, the 22-year-old failed to hit the ground running at United, as he was without a goal in his first five league matches. While he did find the net in each of his subsequent two league games, he went on another goal-scoring drought, failing to score in nine consecutive league matches.
However, since Michael Carrick replaced Ruben Amorim at the helm, Sesko has been a different breed, making his impact felt in the team mostly from the bench. The Slovenia international has scored seven goals in his last eight games and was Manchester United’s hero in the last two league matches, scoring the winning goals.
According to The Sun, Sesko took drastic measures to spark his recent superb form. The striker lives near Manchester Airport, but he has had double-glazing windows fitted at his home to reduce noise levels and aid his sleep. He also wears a wellness ring that helps to measure sleep and found out that his night-time rests were not at the usual level.
In addition, Sesko uses a virtual reality (VR) headset that recreates scenarios from games he has played to improve his scanning. Additional training away from United’s Carrington has also helped, as he has a gym, sauna, and a specially designed football pitch at his house, where he does extra work. To crown it all, he consults a mental coach and practices meditation.
Manchester United boss Michael Carrick hails ‘fantastic’ Sesko after scoring winner against Crystal Palace
Carrick was delighted with Sesko’s performance in Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday. The former Leipzig man scored the winning goal to give the Red Devils a crucial three points.
Palace took a surprise lead after four minutes through Maxence Lacroix, but the defender went from hero to villain status after he was shown a red card for a last-man tackle in the box. Bruno Fernandes converted the resulting spot kick before Sesko scored the go-ahead goal eight minutes later.
“Ben is here to score goals and he has done enough of that lately,” Carrick said post-match. “He is going to be an important player and will be even more important as he progresses. Him getting his start today wasn’t a big drama, it was a natural decision. I have said it before it is not a headache, it is great to have choice to rotate and change things which we can do depending on different teams. He scored a fantastic header which will do him the world of good.”
So far, Sesko has scored nine goals in 25 appearances across all competitions this season.