Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko drew a blank as the Reds lost last time out to Newcastle
Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko
Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko struggled in the defeat to Newcastle(Image: George Wood/Getty Images)
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Not all heroes wear capes and in Manchester United's case, theirs has most recently been a 6ft5 attacker with a grade-one haircut. Since Michael Carrick's return, Benjamin Sesko has been the toast of the Stretford End. His goals have accounted for seven extra points in recent weeks.
Sesko has been dominant for United, often despite him starting on the bench. Given a chance, he has been clinical and proven to be an upgrade on Rasmus Hojlund. Unfortunately against Newcastle, the Slovenian proved he can have an off-day. It was an uncharacteristically quiet performance: Zero shots, zero chances created and only 24 touches of the ball.
His heat map was a worry, too, with the forward floating out to the left hand side to receive the ball as his teammates failed to bring him into the game. It was a replica performance of Hojlund at his worst..
However, like the Dane, Sesko was also living off scraps. It was unforgivable and while Hojlund and Sesko take a proportion of the blame for not making opportunities for themselves, it can also be shared with their teammates too.
One of the key improvements under Carrick has been United's return to wing play and getting the ball in the area. That is something Sesko laps up and if the Reds do that, they can be devastating. But this style deserted them at St James' Park.
Despite playing against ten men, they struggled to create chances. Joshua Zirkzee was restricted to a speculative long range effort while arguably the best chance for a second fell to Leny Yoro, who was denied by Aaron Ramsdale.
The defeat in the north east needs to be a wake up call for United. This loss had been coming.
United struggled to create chances in recent matches but were bailed out by Sesko coming to the rescue and scoring from nothing - like at West Ham. The Reds cannot rely on that happening every time though, especially when creative players such as Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Fernandes, aren't providing opportunities for their striker.
United were unlikely to go the remainder of the season unbeaten, but they don't need to be so blunt offensively in defeat.
Before the Newcastle game, Carrick hailed Sesko's re-discovered confidence. "I think it’s pretty clear [his confidence], we’ve all seen it," he said.
"He’s gradually building since he came to the club and over the season. That’s part of learning and developing and getting used to being around different environments.
"Confidence as a striker, scoring goals helps massively but his performances away from that and how he’s improving all the time is exactly what we’d hoped and what he hoped when he came to the club." Hojlund had confidence too before the goals dried up.
The best way to maintain Sesko's confidence will be to keep him scoring. However, if chances are not created, those goals will stop permanently, as we saw with his predecessor.
Newcastle was a warning for United and it will be up to both the creative players and Sesko to prove lessons have been learned.
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