Reader Questions: Expectations for the season, Patrick Dorgu as a left back, are United too predictable?

Ahh the summer mailbag. Legitimately my favorite newsletter to sit down and write every year. As always, thank you for your questions.

Given how last season shook out, where I’d argue the team exceeded expectations, what would you view as either continuing on the right track or making progress.

Does league position hold primacy over say cup wins as a measure of progress? After all we won trophies in the years Arsenal were waiting to win the league, though I do not believe we were better than they were in those years.

Was our 3rd place finish last year fueled by a mix of a new manager bounce and fewer fixtures than usual? Would a 5th place finish and champions league QF and deep cup runs would count as progress or stagnation? Though given the fact that we will likely play 10-20 more games than last season measuring our progress against last seasons

Are there other things that would give you a sense of progress or regression?

- Seyi J

Manchester United’s charge up the table in the second half of the season last year came down to two things: Michael Carrick used the squad a lot better than Ruben Amorim did, and because they only had to play one game a week.

Trophies are nice, but don’t mean much in terms of the growth of the team. There’s also a good chunk of randomness thrown in with. the draw - you can draw Arsenal and Liverpool in the early rounds of the competition or you can get the cushy 2023 Carabao Cup draw where United didn’t play a top 10 team until the final. United won that trophy and got worse the following year.

How to measure progress for this season is a great, and extremely difficult question, as this will be one of the most unique seasons United have ever encountered.

Tactically this team isn’t picking up where they left off last year. They’re starting completely anew.

Under Carrick last season United’s tactical plan was built entirely around keeping Casemiro on the pitch for 90 minutes. Casemiro isn’t here anymore. United are rebuilding their entire midfield. The tactical identity is likely to completely change. They’ll need it to, as they’ll need to replace the goals Casemiro scored from set pieces last season, likely with more goals from open-play.

That could take time to bed in. New players may take time to bed in. They also have razor thin margins in midfield as they replace nearly everyone. If any of those signings don’t perform, they’re in trouble. They don’t have incumbents who can just come back into the team and try to make do for the rest of the season.

The added games is another factor. Bruno Fernandes is 31 years old. At some point his freak of a body is going to slow down. Maybe not this year (hopefully not) but that’s going to be a concern every year going forward. Will he be able to perform at last season’s level twice a week? Luke Shaw played every league game last season. He’s never played 2000+ minutes in consecutive seasons in his career. Two games a week is not on the cards for him. Lisandro Martinez will get injured at some point, will Leny Yoro or Ayden Heaven be able to handle the increased grind?

There’s certainly a version of events where United are ultimately ~fine~ this season but get off to a bad start. It’s going to take time before we can fully judge it.

In the early going what I’ll be looking for is whether any problems or limitations are personnel related or due to tactical issues. If teams are attacking United the same way week in week out, then you have a tactical issue. If you’re having those week after week then you have a coaching problem. If you have a situation where x ball needs to be played and no one is playing that ball, then you need better players, and we’ll have to wait for that.

Progress isn’t always linear and that’s probably how it’s going to be for United this season. Finishing fourth may look like a step back but given the increased demand on the squad it might not be. This season is all about reinforcing the foundation of the squad so they’re ready to take big steps forward in the future.

Apparently United view Dorgu as an attacker/LW primarily, with talks of us spending 60m+ on Lewis Hall or another LB to support and eventually replace Luke Shaw.

I’m in the minority who feels like Dorgu is actually a potentially world class attacking LB, and we are missing a chance to add one of the most rare types of elite players, and one who balances well with Dalot on the right who isn’t as good going forward and Cunha who likes to cut inside. Dorgu’s defending is solid, especially for a young player, and if anything it’s his attacking that’s still developing to catch up with his defending.

We just signed an 18 yr old LW from spurs, have a long list of good potential LW transfer targets, a certain Marcus Rashford still on the books, and our two best academy players (Gabriel and Ajayi) are left sided attackers.

Meanwhile LB options seemingly include an expensive Lewis hall, an unproven Harry Amass, or idk what.

Should we be grooming Dorgu to succeed Shaw, or are United right in believing his best fit is further upfield?

- Keith G

I hear the Dorgu as a left back option floated around all the time. When it comes to playing him as a left back here are the two questions that need to be asked.

• What are Manchester United looking for their left back to do?

• What are Patrick Dorgu’s best traits? Do those traits overlap?

When I talk to people about left backs they all tend to want someone who will bomb up the pitch, provide an overlap for the winger, whip in crosses and wrack up assists. Those are very useful traits but that’s only part of what a fullback’s job typically is. When it comes to Manchester United, it’s only a very small part of what they ask their fullbacks to do.

United’s fullbacks have a lot of responsibility in the early buildup phases. They’re tasked with progressing the ball and even carrying it into the final third. They are tasked with making incisive passes, tucking into midfield to provide additional support.

What Luke Shaw lacks in pace he makes up for with great positioning and game IQ. He shows for the ball to help his teammates out of pressure, he gets them the ball in good situations so they can be dangerous. And yea, after all that he’ll still get forward to provide an overlap.

Those are not the things Patrick Dorgu is good at. I didn’t watch him at Lecce so I can’t speak to what his game was like playing in Italy, but he’s a player who started out as a left back and was then moved further forward. Typically there is only one reason why teams push fullbacks further up the pitch, because they feel the player can make more of an impact further up the field.

United saw this and decided to sign him to play wingback even though these are not the traits that typically make a good wingback and the role was a bit more “back” than “wing.” Dorgu made overlapping runs for whoever was playing as the left sided no. 10, but offered very little creativity in the final third save for some poor crosses. He offered nothing in buildup play, so much so that the left side of the pitch was a black hole in buildup. He eventually lost his place in the team to Diogo Dalot.

Dorgu turns 22 in October. As a professional he’s still quite young. But in terms of skill development he’s passed those years. At this age you don’t typically develop new skills or abilities. What takes you to the next level is honing the ones you already have.

Dorgu is good at shooting and making runs into the box. He scored four goals last season in very limited minutes as a winger. One of those goals in particular stands out as something United should be very excited about. No, it wasn’t his banger against Arsenal, it was this goal he scored against Manchester City.

This is repeatable. This goal shared some traits with the one he scored on the final day of the season against Brighton. In both those goals Dorgu outfought and outmuscled his defender to get to the ball first. He wanted it more. He showed a level of dawg that we really haven’t seen from any of United’s other forwards.

That’s a skill that can be very valuable for Manchester United. You don’t want Patrick Dorgu holding width on the outside of the pitch whipping in mediocre crosses, you want him further up the pitch, as close to the goal as possible, so he can get in the box and finish chances.

Lewis Hall is expensive because he offers versatility. He can get up the wing and give you creativity in the final third. He can tuck inside and support the midfield. United have locked in on him because he’s the most like-for-like profile to Luke Shaw, that would be a huge get for United.

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In an old article you mentioned that despite his output, Ronaldo did not add goals to United’s total that season - a point I thoroughly agree with. Do you think the same thing is happening in a way to Bruno Fernandes, that his assist record only came because all attacking balls went to him, and that a less Bruno-dependent United may actually be a more dangerous and unpredictable United? I look across Europe powerhouses and I don’t really see a similar classic 10 profile anymore.

- William

I don’t see it like that at all. The only leg up Bruno has on his teammates is he’s the one who takes most of the set pieces, which is where 11 of his 21 assists came from.

The reason every attacking ball in open play seems to come from Bruno is because Bruno is one of the few players who looks to play an attacking ball nearly every time he gets it1. That doesn’t make United more predictable though.

Comparing the situation to Ronaldo is apples and oranges. Back then United played to Cristiano Ronaldo. When Bruno got on the ball he was looking to pass to Ronaldo. If he passed out wide to Rashford or Sancho they were then looking to get the ball to 7.

Ronaldo was the end point. The ball was always supposed to end with him and when he got it you knew what was going to happen. That’s predictable and easy to defend against.

In it’s current form, Manchester United play through Bruno Fernandes. United get him the ball and then, it could go anywhere. He’s not looking for any one person, he’s looking for anyone who can be dangerous. United scored their most goals in a season since the 2020-21 campaign. They had three players score double digit goals for the first time since the 2019-20 season. It was far from predictable.

Manchester City used to play through Kevin de Bruyne (now they play to Erling Haaland). Liverpool’s best years all coincided when they played through Mohammed Salah, getting him the ball and letting him dictate where it was going to go. Just because teams don’t use a classic number 10 doesn’t mean they don’t have a focal point.

With Martinez getting injured again, do you think United should look at the market for a new centre back?

- Jay

It’s never a good idea to adjust your transfer plans based on a preseason injury. You want to spend money and give a new player a five year contract because someone might miss five or six games? That’s a horrible idea.

Lisandro Martinez though, is an interesting case. His injury is reportedly not that serious. If United got an offer for Martinez this summer they should absolutely take it. He’s got one year left on his deal, has been available less often during his United career than Luke Shaw, and is one of the more overrated players in the league.

There may not be a better center back in the league (or Europe?) than Lisandro Martinez. Let’s be conservative here and say he’s top three in this regard. Truly world class. You’re just not going to find someone else who can play the passes he does.

But other than that one thing he’s… fine.

Excluding the Ruben Amorim era, United win a little more often when Martinez isn’t in the team. They concede fewer goals without him and play a higher line. This isn’t saying Martinez is bad. It’s just those great things he brings to the table don’t actually make much of an impact on the team’s results.

Having said all that it’s not that simple. United only have five2 senior center backs. Two of those “senior” center backs are youngsters Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven. The other three are all hella injury prone. If you sell Martinez you have to replace him.

I’m not sure what kind of fee a 28 year old who can’t stay fit will command. United will have to spend more money to adequately replace him, as his replacement probably needs to be someone who is ready to start now. Who would that player be? How much money would they cost? Are you sure you want to potentially block the path of Ayden Heaven who looks like the real deal?

United have already signed two midfielders. They need to sign a left back and another midfielder. Adding another CB to the mix now pushes you into five new players coming into your team. Once you get over four new additions you approach an area where things can get shaky due to too many new additions and too much changeover in the squad. If you can avoid that, you should.

That puts Martinez in a rare place where in theory his team really should be trying to move on from him, but they might get more value out of holding on to him for another year, even if he then leaves on a free.

Interested to get your honest take on our recruitment this summer. Do you feel we’ve turned a corner, or are we still making the same mistake as windows prior?

Where do you think our biggest weaknesses lie going into the 26/27 season? Has our recruitment done enough to address these?

- AK

It’s too soon to say we’ve turned a corner. We still have to see how the class of 2025 kicks on in year two. As for what we’ve been doing so far, walking away from a deal when the price goes above our valuation? Striking quickly and quietly on players who fit what we’re trying to do rather than just chasing the big names? These are far from the mistakes we used to make and it’s exactly how the club should be acting.

The job isn’t done yet. We still need another left back and a third signing in central midfield, but there’s still time. Get those things done and while there are still some weaknesses in the team, the club will have addressed the areas of need as best as they could in a single summer.

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