“Awkward, clumsy” – Neville tells Carrick to relegate 6/10 Man Utd to bench role

Gary Neville argues that Manchester United are better off without Benjamin Sesko in their starting lineup, as he assesses the team’s latest display.

The Red Devils ended their 24-day hiatus by hosting Leeds United at Old Trafford on Monday evening. However, the excitement evaporated only a few minutes after the kickoff, when Noah Okafor gave the Whites a shocking lead.

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The Swiss attacker returned to double the visitors’ lead later in the first half, while Lisandro Martinez complicated matters further by receiving his marching orders after grabbing Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair, a decision tha t Michael Carrick stoutly disagreed with .

Despite being reduced to 10, Man Utd managed to pull one back thanks to Casemiro’s clinical header, and they came agonisingly close to finding an equaliser, but the scoreline showed 1-2 at the final whistle.

After the game, Neville still tipped his former employers to qualify for the Champions League, as they remain 3rd in the table. However, he believes Carrick and his crew should take some important lessons from this unexpected defeat.

“There’s a bit of a reality check tonight really for Manchester United,” said the pundit during his appearance on Sky Sports .

“It’s probably Michael Carrick’s most difficult game, but overall, they’re still in a very good position, seven points clear of Chelsea going to Stamford Bridge at the weekend, but not to be complacent about anything.

“I think Manchester United will be okay and we’ll get Champions League football, but that just showed tonight of how far they are away in some ways because you lose two, three or four players out of the team and all of a sudden, it looks a little bit awkward and a little bit clumsy and not connected with no combinations.”

The players that Neville was referring to were Harry Maguire, who didn’t participate due to a playing suspension stemming from his red card against Bournemouth, and Kobbie Mainoo, who picked up a slight knock in training, but should return to action soon.

Matthijs de Ligt is also unavailable, but this has been the case since November, so Carrick never had the Dutchman at his disposal to begin with.

Carrick started Monday’s contest with Sesko leading the line, supported by Amad Diallo and Matheus Cunha on the wings, while Bryan Mbeumo was dropped to the bench.

Although it wasn’t his most memorable outing, the Slovenian striker didn’t embarrass himself, as he came close to scoring on a couple of occasions. The Manchester Evening News handed him a 6/10 rating.

Nevertheless, Neville believes Man Utd were better off without the 23-year-old in the starting XI, arguing that he could be more useful coming off the bench.

“I’ve liked a lot of what I’ve seen under Michael Carrick when they’ve had the likes of Mount with Fernandes and Mbeumo and Amad and Cunha and then Sesko coming off the bench and providing that little bit of a battering-ram type status.

“So tonight, just the fact that they didn’t have that ordinary spine, I thought they weren’t quite right. You thought it could be a little bit odd, but I never expected that Leeds United would play like that and neither did Manchester United.”

Based on the table above, Neville may have a valid point, as the numbers show that Sesko managed to score almost half of his 10-goal tally while entering the match in the second half.

This is a comprehensive percentage when considering that the fact that he only made 13 cameos off the bench, while he started 16 times for Man Utd. Moreover, it should be taken into account that second-half cameos are brief by nature when compared to starting appearances.

While Sesko’s capabilities aren’t being contested, Carrick must find the best way to use them and consider whether the team functions better with Mbeumo leading the line from the outset.