Manchester United were swept aside by their neighbours in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
There’s no sugarcoating it: Ruben Amorim has some serious issues to overcome, and the whispers of yet another managerial change at Old Trafford are getting louder.
The Etihad Stadium is a tough ground for any club across the globe, and United have a good record on their rivals’ patch, but the manner of the 3-0 defeat to keep Amorim shackled to the lower levels of the Premier League has increased the pressure and then some. Chelsea, you will need no reminder, travel to the Theatre next weekend.
Benjamin Sesko blanked, but the blame cannot be placed solely upon the new striker, devoid of service and limited to seven touches. Sofascore record the Slovenian’s heat map to actually be rather deep, evidence of struggles within a barren final third.
But INEOS spent big on the 23-year-old goalscorer this summer, and the fact that thus far Amorim is failing to get a tune out of him and indeed the wider United system is hugely concerning.
Benjamin Sesko's performance vs City
Amorim doubled down post-match on his plan to maintain the tactical set-up which has proved such a troubling talking point over the turbulent duration of the Portuguese’s reign.
While Sesko was completely anonymous against Pep Guardiola’s outfit, he was indeed starved of support. Hemmed in United were not, but they were inefficient on the counter and struggled for purchase in the final third.
This was a tough maiden starting berth in the Premier League for a young and talented striker, one who opted for Old Trafford in spite of the vested interests of Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United last month.
Sesko wasn’t blameless. The former RB Leipzig man made a couple of heavy touches and should have made more of his chance against Gigi Donnarumma, chipping tamely toward the debutant goalkeeper.
Bought over from Germany for a £74m fee this summer to replace Rasmus Hojlund, there are perhaps concerns from some on the red side of Manchester that INEOS have just repeated the same mistake.
But it’s early days yet. And, in fact, there was another starting star on Sunday who might actually be shaping into Amorim’s next version of the Denmark centre-forward, who joined Napoli on loan before the transfer deadline several weeks back.
Amorim's new Hojlund at Man United
Without a doubt, Hojlund fell by the wayside at Manchester United. It was only two years ago that Erik ten Hag welcomed the young forward to England, signing him from Atalanta on a £72m deal.
The 22-year-old’s first term was solid if unspectacular, but he fell to a new low last year, ridiculed for his anonymity at number nine, scoring just four Premier League goals all season.
Sesko will be directly tied to his predecessor all year long, but it’s actually Patrick Dorgu who might be shaping into the new Hojlund.
Dorgu, 20, has been spun into a wing-back role in Amorim’s 3-5-2-1 formation, and it’s not working. For one, his crosses leave plenty to be desired, and he is proving ineffective despite operating within the exact tactical parameters Amorim demands of him.
To put that another way, the Danish wideman might not be the solution, which is rather damning given Amorim championed the £25m signing of the Lecce talent last January to help define the system he so firmly stresses will shape United for the duration of his tenure.
It wasn’t all bad in the derby; Dorgu was right in the thick of the action, but his crossing was woeful, and the Manchester Evening News branded him with a 4/10 match rating.
Patrick Dorgu
Man City
12
Bryan Mbeumo
Burnley
9
Joshua Zirkzee
Burnley
9
Bryan Mbeumo
Man City
9
Amad Diallo
Burnley
7
According to data platform Sofascore, Dorgu won 11 duels, created three key passes and won four tackles against Man City, but this wasn’t enough to disguise a pitiful attempt to inject creativity into Amorim’s ranks, with analyst Dharnish Iqbal remarking that he “hasn’t provided the crosses” despite being funnelled the ball with regularity.
Dorgu, let’s be clear, is a talented young player with the potential to succeed in the Premier League. Hojlund was the same, both arriving from Italian shores. But he seems to have taken on a talismanic role in Amorim’s system that he is unfit for, and so the Portuguese tactician falls ever closer toward the exit.
Given the seeming importance of Dorgu’s role – much like Hojlund’s limp displays last season came to the direct detriment of United’s wider system – it’s rather concerning that he doesn’t appear fit for the role, only completing one of five attempted dribbles against the Citizens as a further underscoring of that argument.
Sesko will often be scapegoated; this is the life of a forward. However, he’s a tall striker and won three aerial battles against City. Even so, Dorgu struggled to provide accurate crosses having been played into space, and that is an issue.
Hojlund, similarly, suffered more criticism than most last term, but he didn’t miss that many big chances, and United were culpable of a dried well of support toward the young man.
Dorgu has already shown this season an aptitude for the attacking side of the game, but so too has he proven himself unworthy of a nailed-on starting berth, and that is exactly what Amorim has entrusted him with, with this being the Dane’s third full 90 of the Premier League campaign already.
Might Amorim need to make an alteration? Wing-backs are instrumental in the manager’s machine working at full capacity, and so his reliance on Dorgu is understandable.
But it doesn’t appear to be working well enough, and if that is the case, and Amorim is unwilling to change, as has been his own declaration, then where do the Red Devils go from here?
