Man Utd are not in action this weekend, but Michael Carrick has a simple selection decision to make in the Reds’ next game.
Michael Carrick had not put a foot wrong as Manchester United head coach until he faced West Ham on Tuesday. Carrick showed he was human by getting his team selection wrong.
Despite scoring an injury-time winner against Fulham, Benjamin Sesko missed out on starting against Tottenham, but that was logical with a view to starting Sesko against West Ham.
It seemed Carrick would put his arm around Sesko before the Spurs game and explain that he would be his man a few days later against West Ham. United were set to play two games in four days, and Sesko deserved a reward for a string of strong performances. Starting him at the London Stadium made sense.
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However, Carrick picked an unchanged team for a third game in a row, sticking by the striker-less attack of Amad, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha. The 44-year-old thought ‘why change something if it’s not broken’, but every game is different and West Ham’s shape was difficult to penetrate.
Amad, Mbeumo and Cunha were hardly involved in the first half. Amad was the worst performer of the trio, and he was the obvious candidate to hook at the interval to introduce Sesko to the game.
Carrick wanted to give his starting XI more time and waited until the 69th minute to introduce Sesko, though. The Slovenian international sat on the bench without a coat – the only substitute to do so – from the beginning of the second half, but had to wait 24 minutes to get onto the pitch.
It was a surprise that it took so long for Sesko to be introduced. Casemiro played a lofted pass to Bruno Fernandes before the hour mark, the kind of ball only a striker can bring down, and perhaps that was the final straw.
Sesko’s spectacular finish in added time was vindication of the pre-game opinion that he should have started. The goal gets better every time you watch. The technique for the volley was exquisite.
Carrick heaped praise on Sesko, saying: “It’s an unbelievable finish from the angle to generate that, to get it on target, to finish it. It’s some goal from him. He’s capable of that, Ben.
“He’s done it over time. It’s not that he’s just suddenly burst on the scene. He’s been doing it, he’s proven that he can score goals as well. He’s been doing it in training for us as well.
“It’s not surprising, to be honest. I think that’s what he does, it’s what he’s good at. But certainly to actually do it and to feel it. He did it with the last one [against Tottenham], tonight, a little bit different with the emotion of the game, but certainly important and a big moment for him and us.”
One of the arguments for Sesko to start against West Ham was that he deserved a reward for his goals, as it would have been demoralising if he’d continued to score from the bench, only to be overlooked again.
Sesko cannot be overlooked when United play Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on February 23. He has genuine momentum – five goals in six games – and will be miffed there is no game to play this weekend.
United have a 13-day break between games after crashing out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle against Brighton. That break does not do Sesko, who will be chomping at the bit to start, any favours, but he’s been in such strong form that it might not make a difference.
Which forward moves to the bench to make way for Sesko will be the debate in the build-up to Everton, although it should be a choice between Cunha and Amad, given Mbeumo is the leading goalscorer.
Amad stayed on the pitch at the London Stadium, while Cunha was replaced by Sesko, but Amad’s overhit pass to the backpost as United chased an equaliser summed up his performance.
You have to nitpick to make a case to move either Cunha or Amad to the bench. Having said that, the latter hasn’t been at his best, failing to record a goal involvement since he returned from AFCON.
In the same games, Cunha recorded an assist against Manchester City and scored against Arsenal and Fulham. The Brazilian’s goal at the Emirates sealed a special victory. The numbers and eye test suggest Amad should lose his place in the team to Sesko, who has made himself impossible to ignore.
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