After what was a pretty poor display from United’s new frontman in the disappointing draw at Spurs last time out in the Premier League, striker Benjamin Sesko limped off just 30 minutes after being subbed on.
He was tackled by Micky van de Ven when played through by Mason Mount with that challenge resulting in a knee injury that caused United to play the final minutes with 10 men after Ruben Amorim had used all five substitutes.
That fortunately, didn’t end up costing United as a late Matthijs De Ligt header salvaged a point from a game which should’ve seen us grab all 3.
This Sesko injury update comes from SkySportsPL and they say that the Slovenian will be out for “at most a month” which suggests it isn’t anything serious but nor is it the best either. With the way he limped off and Amorim’s post-match comments (“I am concerned with Sesko has he suffered knee injury”) one would’ve thought a much lengthier spell on the side lines awaited the 22-year-old.
I suppose that is some sort of good news for United but that does leave the manager with a conundrum: how does he line up in attack?
This too, is good news for Amorim because even though he may not have an out-and-out striker to replace Sesko (unless he wants to use young Chido Obi), there are still several options.
With no shortage of no 10s and those who can play as false 9s, it may not be all doom and gloom for a manager who said Sesko “we need Ben to be a better team.”
This may not necessarily be the worst thing for Amorim because we know how much he likes to use the false 9.
So far, we’ve seen both Mount and Matheus Cunha start up top in a few games with Sesko having to be content with a place in the bench. Despite scoring in back-to-back games (Brentford and Sunderland which happen to be his only 2 goals), the United boss had no issues with benching him for the trip to Anfield in favour of the false 9.
Amorim has used Mount or Cunha as striker in five of the 12 games played so far (check out my 5 Things Learned from these 12 matches). He also prefers them in the bigger games. Arsenal and Liverpool both saw the false 9 preferred over the actual striker. The games missed by Mount and Cunha were the derby and Chelsea but that was due to injury. Had they had been fit, I believe Sesko would’ve been benched once more for them.
I also find that Amorim is a HUGE fan of Mount’s. Sometimes, I think he too might be a distant relation of the manager’s with how often he is picked. He always speaks highly of him and uses him in the more high-profile matches displaying that level of trust in a player that still has yet to truly win said trust with the fan base despite being in his third season at the club.
With his injury record, one can understand why this trust isn’t completely there as we don’t know when he’ll break down again. In fact, the midfielder has already had two issues this season. While he’s been back on the bench in the last three games, he played just 18 minutes in the draw at Spurs. Amorim showing caution with this key player of his.
Now that he’s had extra time to rest and we are striker-less, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw Mount, Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo as the front three moving forward. In fact, I’d bet my house on it. This has also been the most used trio in attack whenever Sesko didn't start.
There is still of course, Joshua Zirkzee.
Let’s be honest though, you and I have a better chance of playing as striker over him.
The issue with Josh is not just that he isn’t in favour with the manager (like, at all) but that he’s best position is as a no 10. However, as we know, United have quite a few players who are best in those two attacking midfield positions as well. All of whom are better than the Dutchman.
Amorim could've used Zirkzee on those occasions where Sesko didn't make the starting XI yet he chose others instead.
There’s also been endless talk about him moving away from United in January whether on loan or permanently. I doubt we’ll want to jeopardize a potential move by risking injury.
Chido Obi hasn’t had much of a look in either. He’s not even been on the bench for the season and with Amorim’s lack of use with the youngsters, I doubt we’ll see him start up top. He’s is also only 17-years-old with little experience. You don’t really want to put such pressure on a young player. It would be a massive risk for Amorim as well should he have the Dane as no 9.
That rules them two out.
For me, the best option is to push Bruno further forward into his favoured no 10 position and bring Kobbie Mainoo into midfield.
I find that this would give us more of a balance in the midfield and team overall as well as provided added potency to that attack with the magnifico playing in behind the striker. We know how creative he is.
I believe playing Mainoo will also win the manager favour with some of the fans given how highly-loved this academy product is.
The United skipper played in this attacking midfield position for his country during their 9-1 thrashing of Armenia. He bagged a hat-trick and was instrumental to a lot of what Portugal did going forward. It begs the question of why he isn't played there for United. It may also ask the uncomfortable question of why we signed two attacking midfielders when we have arguably the best one in football 👀.
However, as much as I and perhaps some of you would want to see this change, the chances of this happening are similar to that of Zirkzee starting as striker.
Bruno will continue to play as a no 8 next to Casemiro while Mainoo - another player linked with a loan move in January - will have to continue to be content with a place on the bench.
This is the lineup I'd like to see but as I said, there's little chance of this happening. Would be interesting though, to see what Amorim will do if Mount were to get injured again:
I also don't necessarily like the false 9 thing. I prefer a proper striker and Sesko is the only one in the squad. I think with this long ball and more direct approach from the manager, someone as big and tall as he is is of paramount importance. We can't really play in this manner without that focal point. This also happens to be the way we've picked up crucial wins and shot ourselves up the table whilst keeping Amorim safe from harm (for now).
But what do you think will happen with the lineup for the next month without Sesko? Who do you think Amorim will pick? Will it be a blessing in disguise playing without a no 9, or not?
Benjamin Sesko will be out for a month with knee injury | Image credit: Getty Images via Goal