Rio Ferdinand: Sesko must copy Man United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy | OneFootball

Benjamin Sesko has endured a slow start to life at Manchester United after arriving at the club this summer. The Slovenian is one of the brightest young strikers in the world and scored 21 goals from 45 games in all competitions for RB Leipzig last season.

His efforts saw the Red Devils secure his services last month for a reported €76.5m, with a further €8.5m in add-ons.

However, Sesko has yet to replicate his previous form at the Theatre of Dreams. The 22 year old has featured in every game for United this season, starting three of them, but hasn’t found the back of the net yet.

The situation has raised concerns among fans, especially since the youngster was brought in to solve the Premier League giants’ goalscoring conundrum.

Goalscoring remains a problem for United

Scoring goals has been one of United’s biggest problems in recent years. The Red Devils managed 58 goals in 38 games in the 2022/23 season, when champions Manchester City had scored 94 times.

In the following campaign, former manager Erik ten Hag saw his team manage 57 goals in the league, compared to City’s 96! Last season, champions Liverpool scored 86 goals, while United ended 15th in the Premier League, finding the back of the net just 44 times in 38 games.

With Rasmus Hojlund failing to get going and Zirkzee doing no better, Amorim put his trust in Sesko to solve his goalscoring conundrum over the summer. The Dane has already scored his first goal after joining Napoli on loan this summer. Sesko, unfortunately, has struggled to find his feet in the Premier League so far.

United legend Rio Ferdinand, though, reckons that the Slovenian should take a leaf out of a former striker’s book to break his duck at Old Trafford.

Sesko should learn from Ruud van Nistelrooy

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ferdinand pointed out that it is time for Sesko to take responsibility of the situation. He said: “I think the responsibility goes to the striker now. In today’s game, there is enough at your disposal, technology-wise and clip-wise, that he can get it in black and white on an iPad and say, ‘When you got in that position, look where I am.’”

“Amad, at the weekend, who I thought played well, was in a great position on the left side. Sesko pulled off the defender in the 18-yard box; he’s about 10 yards out. Amad’s just gotta roll it to him.

“He needs to be saying, ‘I’ll be there every time, when you get in that position, I will be here, so play it blind and I’ll be there, if I’m not there, then you can moan at me’.

“These are the conversations he needs to have because I know that Ruud was having them. I’ve seen Ruud van Nistelrooy walk in off the training field because Ronaldo did too many step-overs, and he wasn’t playing it where he wanted it.

“He made a point of belittling Cristiano in front of the whole squad. That will be the making of him.”

Nistelrooy spent five seasons at Old Trafford, scoring 150 goals from 219 games, before leaving for Real Madrid in the summer of 2006. He returned to the club as Ten Hag’s assistant last summer, and was briefly in charge on an interim basis before Amorim’s arrival in November.

Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images

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