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Amorim Voices Support for Sesko Amidst Initial Challenges
Manchester United’s head coach, Ruben Amorim, has acknowledged that £73.7m forward Benjamin Sesko has faced difficulties in his first weeks at the club. He encouraged Sesko to disregard personal criticism from club legends.
Sesko has recorded two goals in his initial 11 appearances for Manchester United.
His last goal came against Sunderland at Old Trafford on October 4. A recent performance against Nottingham Forest prompted former captain Gary Neville to comment that the Slovenian international was “miles off it” compared to fellow new acquisitions Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.
Amorim concedes that Neville’s remarks have merit. However, he also believes they lack the context of Sesko’s adaptation to a new league at 22, following two seasons in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig.
“I’m relaxed,” he stated. “[But] he’s not relaxed.”
“I understand how things are in football, and he’s going to struggle. That is normal. He has no experience here.”
“The first impact [is] when everyone says that you are so good, you are the next big thing, and you hear that about Sesko.”
“Then you come to one club that is the hardest club. If you don’t perform every week, you are going to hear a lot of things from club legends, from pundits, from the media – and sometimes they are right.”
“Of course, nobody likes to hear but he struggled a little bit, and that is a fact. So, let’s embrace that.”
“It is hard to hear but it’s not personal. It’s an opinion that is going to change in three weeks. Everything that is true today, in three weeks, could be a lie.”
Sesko is reportedly dedicating significant time at United’s Carrington training ground to understand the performance levels expected of him.
He often arrives more than 90 minutes before the standard 09:45 meeting time and remains until 16:00, long after most of his teammates depart.
United sources remain confident in their decision to sign Sesko, while simultaneously sending Rasmus Hojlund on loan to Napoli, despite the Dane’s four goals in nine appearances for the Italian champions.
“Ben is a young kid, a control freak,” said Amorim.
“He wants to control everything – and he’s not going to control everything.”
“He has more potential than I was thinking [but] we need to understand how he likes to play and also to put in our ideas.”
“I’m quite relaxed with that. He is going to be our striker for the long term but he’s going to have these struggles and these bumps during the ride. That is a normal thing in football.”
Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko (right) celebrates his goal against Sunderland at Old Trafford in October
United will face Tottenham for the first time since Brennan Johnson’s decisive goal in Spurs’ Europa League final victory in May.
Despite winning the trophy in Bilbao and securing a Champions League spot, Tottenham dismissed coach Ange Postecoglou, who has also since lost his position at Nottingham Forest.
Amorim has completed his first year as United’s manager. The match in North London marks his 38th Premier League game in charge, a full season resulting in only 12 victories.
Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe recently suggested it could take Amorim up to three years to fully implement his style. The 40-year-old former Sporting coach retains the board’s full support.
“I said already, I’m really lucky to be here,” stated the Portuguese.
“If you see the game, I think we deserve to win but it doesn’t matter. It’s hard to see a coach that wins a European cup go away and the other guy stays.”
“But sometimes it’s maybe [thinking] in the future to win more important titles. That’s, I think, what Manchester United is thinking. Let’s give time to the coach and see what’s happening.”
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