Benjamin Sesko is struggling with expectations at Manchester United – his coach Ruben Amorim attests to a significant problem.
Benjamin Sesko is struggling at Manchester United despite his expensive transfer of £73.7 million, approximately €84 million, from RB Leipzig.
In his first eleven games, the 22-year-old has only scored two goals and is under criticism due to high expectations and his performances so far. On Saturday, in the away game against Tottenham (from 1:30 PM on the live ticker), Sesko initially sat on the bench.
According to coach Ruben Amorim, the young striker, who moved to the Premier League in the summer, still needs time to adjust to the higher tempo and demands in the English league.
Sesco? “That’s where the first shock comes”
“I am relaxed. He is not relaxed,” said Amorim, explaining that it is normal for a player like Sesko to suffer under the pressure at a club like Manchester United.
“He has no experience here. That’s where the first shock comes, when everyone says you’re the next big star. And then you come to a club that is the toughest club,” the coach added.
Sesko’s start to the season has not gone according to plan. Among others, Gary Neville, the former English international, recently emphasized in an interview with Sky Sports that the Slovenian is “miles behind” other new signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.
“He is below average compared to the other new signings,” Neville said, adding that Sesko is still far from reaching the high level of the Premier League.
“He wants to control everything”
Amorim identifies a mental block in his young striker. “He wants to control everything, but he can’t control everything,” the coach explained. He called Sesko a “control freak.”
“Of course, nobody likes to hear that, but he has struggled a bit, and that is a fact. It’s nothing personal. It’s an opinion that can change in three weeks. Everything that is true today could be a lie in three weeks,” Amorim asserted.
In recent weeks, Sesko has shown an upward trend: in the last five league games, he has contributed three assists and has increasingly been allowed to remain on the field for the entire playing time.
The positive trend applies not only to the 22-year-old, but also to the whole of United, which has recorded three wins and a draw in this period and is approaching the international places again.
Amorim is confident that Sesko will prevail in the Premier League in the long term.
“He will be our striker in the long term. But he will have difficulties and setbacks along the way, and that is normal in football,” said the Portuguese coach, who continues to see Sesko as a player with a lot of potential.