Former Manchester United striker Danny Webber has backed Benjamin Sesko to come good at Old Trafford, despite the Slovenian’s slow start to life in the Premier League
Former Manchester United striker Danny Webber has thrown his support behind Benjamin Sesko after the Slovenian’s sluggish beginning at Old Trafford. The 22-year-old joined United from RB Leipzig during the summer transfer window in a deal potentially worth £73.7million.
The Red Devils pipped Champions League outfit Newcastle United to Sesko’s signature, whilst Arsenal had also shown interest in the forward before choosing to snap up Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting instead. Sesko has struggled to find his feet at M16, failing to find the net in six outings for Ruben Amorim’s side thus far.
The Slovenia international was also hauled off at the interval against Chelsea last weekend following Casemiro’s dismissal just before half-time. And Webber, who understands the pressures of playing up front for United having made three appearances for the club between 2000 and 2003, has defended the young striker.
“I feel that he’s walked into possibly one of the heaviest shirts that you could wear – being a striker at Man United,” he told The Manchester Evening News via IgnitionCasino.
“I feel it’s sometimes unfair for Sesko, and I felt the same with [Rasmus] Hojlund. When you’re asking somebody at that age to come in and be the starter for Man United and lead the line – it’s an unfair expectation. The price tags would suggest differently because that’s the market, and as a striker, it’s such a specialist position that you need to know how to play it.
“If you look across the board, the strikers in the Premier League who have done well, you take Harry Kane for example, when he was in the Premier League, he did his legwork, he went to places where he didn’t score so many goals, but everywhere you go, you’re building and you’re adding to your arsenal.
“Ollie Watkins, who has been a consistent performer now in the Premier League, did his legwork. You look at [Matheus] Cunha and [Bryan] Mbeumo, who came in; they’ve gone and done their legwork prior, so none of them came in at 21, 22, and were just scoring 20 to 30 goals consistently every year.
“So I feel that it’s a tough school for him to come in and just hit the ground running. That said, I do think he’s got the ability to do so. It’s got to come from him as well, and working at your game every day, analysing your video, having presence on the pitch, speaking to your team-mates, and telling them what you demand from them as a striker.
“He’s had a slow start. Trying to acclimatise very quickly to the Premier League, and it doesn’t help when you’ve not had a consistent preseason either. But I do think that he’s got all the tools to be a very good striker for Manchester United. I do feel that he needs a bit of time.”
Regarding United’s campaign overall, Webber insists nobody should get ahead of themselves but acknowledges Amorim’s squad must piece together a sequence of victories to establish some desperately needed belief.
“I think obviously it’s been a tepid start,” he added. “I think if you look at the Premier League table, we’re level on points with Man City and we’re two points off second place, so there’s nothing to get carried away about.
“I think what you’ll find in the Premier League this year is everybody will beat everybody. I know Liverpool are out on their own at this moment.
“In terms of United, you just have to literally, and it’s very clichéd, focus on the next game and just try and improve and get things better and build a bit of momentum. It’s been a while since the club’s been on a run where they’ve won a lot of games consistently and feel that feeling of confidence going into every single game.
“I think that’s gotta be the first step, looking at making sure we can win consecutive matches and put a smile back on everybody’s face.”
Source: Lovinghananews.com
