Manager Peter Schmeichel has slammed Manchester United’s efforts during the summer transfer window, branding one player’s signing “bizarre”.
Manchester United’s summer signings have yet to make a big impact
Manchester United’s side, which finished 15th in the Premier League last season and were regularly required to undergo major surgery in the summer, have yet to make a big impact despite new players showing promising signs.
Matheus Cunha has mainly featured as a substitute in recent weeks after his start to the season was disrupted by injury, while Brian Mbeumo has scored just one goal in his opening seven league games.
Bringing in a new goalkeeper has always been important for Ruben Amorim, as Andre Onana and Altai Baindir made mistakes and conceded goals early in the season, and Senne Lamence got things off to a strong start by keeping a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Sunderland.
Benjamin Sesco has also started to regain his form, scoring in the last two Premier League games, but Schmeichel criticized his decision to sign the Slovenian in the first place on his podcast Sacked in the Morning.
The former Man United goalkeeper said:The signing of Benjamin Sheshko was a little strange to me. Because we have Rasmus Hoylund, who has been hungry for service for two years.
The Danes also said: “We don’t have the number six we need and we also have the goalkeeper position and we’re going to spend over £70 million on Sesco.
“This season alone, we have conceded nine goals due to mistakes by our goalkeeper. When I was playing, when Edwin van der Sar was playing, when David de Gea was playing, the basic idea was to get 10 points in a season. You don’t concede goals.
“Why did they bring in people they didn’t need? The person in charge of recruiting is from Leipzig (Sesco’s old club) and he has to make a mark.”
Hoylund makes a good start against Napoli
Sesco is starting to improve, but after Hojlund’s start at Napoli with four goals in his opening six games, it’s clear why Schmeichel thinks he wasn’t the signing he needed.
Nemanja Matic famously singled out the Cameroonian for harsh criticism last season, and the 61-year-old was right to assess that it was far more important to sign a new goalkeeper, given how poorly Andre Onana had been since his arrival.
It’s still early days though, but Lamence showed promising signs on his debut against Sunderland, making two saves from inside the box to keep the Black Cats at bay and denying 0.94 goals.
It’s also understandable that Amorim wanted to bring in an upgrade as Hojlund did very poorly last season, scoring just four goals in the Premier League, and Sesco is currently finding his place.