Benjamin Sesko is succeeding at Manchester United where Rasmus Hojlund failed - and the reason is fairly obvious

Manchester United defeated Crystal Palace on Sunday to move into third place in the Premier League and set up a pivotal week in the battle for Champions League qualification.

Of the teams currently in the top six, Man United are the longest out of the Champions League. They’re also the only team not involved in European football this season. Arsenal and Manchester City are probably out of reach but Aston Villa, Liverpool and Chelsea are all set to return to the continent imminently.

Michael Carrick and United will see a schedule totalling just 40 matches this season as a distinct advantage as they chase down a top-four or top-five spot and a return to the big time.

Michael Carrick is setting Benjamin Sesko up for success at Manchester United

United face Newcastle United on Wednesday, by which time both they and Villa could easily be behind Liverpool. Chelsea visit Villa Park knowing that a win would close the gap between themselves and Unai Emery’s team to three points.

Outside the two genuine title contenders, the top end of the table is being contracted by Villa’s dip, United’s improvement and the habitual gathering of points by Liverpool and Chelsea even when they’re not at their best. The fight will go up a level this week.

The Red Devils aren’t recovering their form on the cheap. Their summer transfer business alone armed former head coach Ruben Amorim with firepower that would be the envy of near enough every other team in the Premier League.

Yet it’s the influence of interim head coach Carrick that’s finally beginning to parlay that spending into results. United have won six of his seven matches in charge, steadily climbing the table and capitalising on Villa’s poor start to the calendar year.

Striker Benjamin Sesko is starting to snatch the headlines away from captain Bruno Fernandes. Carrick selected Bryan Mbeumo interchangeably with Matheus Cunha as the closest thing United had to a centre-forward in each of his first six starting line-ups but the Slovenian striker has forced his way into the team.

With an equaliser off the bench against West Ham United and winners against both Everton and Palace, Sesko is beginning to fulfil his promise at a key juncture in United’s season.

Carrick’s outlook is streetwise rather than ingenious. The former United midfielder knows that he has at his disposal a number of high-quality players hamstrung by Amorim’s tactical rigidity.

Cunha and Mbeumo are playing with freedom and making their mark

Better utilising those players and encouraging them to do what they do best – from Harry Maguire at the back to Sesko up front – Carrick has unshackled an underperforming team.

Cunha and Mbeumo, signed last summer for an eye-watering combined fee reportedly in the region of £132 million, both justified their places under Amorim but have looked more like the utter nuisances they were at their previous clubs since Carrick’s arrival.

Having Sesko as a focal point and Fernandes thriving in midfield has allowed Cunha and Mbeumo to combine their creative forces with a degree of freedom that suits them both down to the ground.

It’s hard to know exactly what the future holds for 31-year-old Fernandes but, in FourFourTwo’s opinion, the new-look United front three are bound to step up another gear next season as long as the Red Devils get their management decision right.

Sesko himself was a big-money signing. The destiny of 22-year-old former RB Leipzig striker was subject to intense speculation. With Alexander Isak’s preference for Liverpool clear and multiple clubs understood to be eager to sign Viktor Gyokeres, United gambled on Sesko.

They’ve seen the good and the less good already. Some of his finishing is of an extraordinarily high standard and he will one day leave Old Trafford with a host of spectacular goals to his name, but the rawness of a young centre-forward who might never be described as polished is never far away.

For now, Sesko is working hard, staying patient, doing his job on the pitch and putting the ball in the net. No wonder Carrick is being won over more and more each week.

With predecessor Rasmus Hojlund scoring regularly for Napoli in Serie A, one can’t help but ask whether he might have been able to do the same thing had United been in a better place when they forked out for his services in 2023.

Click here to read article