Michael Carrick\u2019s brief reign in the Manchester United dugout has produced a clear positives and a tactical conundrum. Benjamin \u0160e\u0161ko bagged his third goal of the Carrick era on Monday to seal a 1\u20130 win over Everton and steer the Red Devils one step closer to a spot in next season\u2019s Champions League.<\/p>\n
The problem is simple on its face. Signed for up to \u00a374 million ($99.9 million) during the summer, \u0160e\u0161ko was expected to play regular minutes. Yet he began United\u2019s first game under Carrick on the bench and has been used primarily as a late-game option since the interim manager arrived.<\/p>\n
The numbers underline the dilemma. Under Ruben Amorim, \u0160e\u0161ko made 17 appearances, with 11 starts, scoring 2 goals and registering a minutes-per-goal figure of 524. Under Michael Carrick, he has 5 appearances, 0 starts, 3 goals and a minutes-per-goal of 32.66. In just 98 minutes, he has netted three goals and has been directly responsible for two wins and a draw for United.<\/p>\n
Carrick\u2019s tactical setup has also benefited Bryan Mbeumo, whose agility and versatility appear to fit the interim manager\u2019s approach. Mbeumo\u2019s return of three goals and two assists has been integral to United\u2019s run of form. Five wins and a draw from six games provide Carrick with the latitude to make selection decisions without immediate criticism, yet the club\u2019s investment in \u0160e\u0161ko complicates matters.<\/p>\n
The choice facing Carrick is whether to continue using \u0160e\u0161ko as a super sub or to increase his minutes in recognition of his recent returns. The boardroom and supporters will watch closely: S\u00e3o more minutes justified by form, or does Mbeumo\u2019s contribution keep the current setup in place?<\/p>\n
No player relishes being confined to the bench, and \u0160e\u0161ko has not displayed visible frustration. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s important whenever I come on to try and help the team, that is why I\u2019m here,\u201d \u0160e\u0161ko said after the final whistle against Everton. \u201cWhether that is five minutes or 90 minutes, it doesn\u2019t really matter. It\u2019s about showing I can deliver if I possibly can, and I\u2019m really happy with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe in myself, and so do the other players as well; they know what they are going to get when I arrive in the game. It\u2019s up to me to deliver, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A striker’s bench goals have created a selection dilemma for Carrick as United weigh form and cost..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230,179],"tags":[1305,317,260],"class_list":["post-7078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analytics-stats","category-manchester-united","tag-bench-selection","tag-benjamin-sesko","tag-bryan-mbeumo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}