Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu has identified key areas he needs to improve on after joining Manchester United in the January transfer window.
Manchester United were in desperate need of signing a player comfortable at playing as a wingback before the mid-season window.
Ruben Amorim’s system requires two players with the ability to bomb up and down the touchline, offering help in defence and attack.
Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu was signed in January for around £20 million from Lecce to help in that department and he has since made 12 appearances for the club.
His integration was interrupted after receiving a three-game domestic ban following a red card against Ipswich Town in February.
United fans are slowly learning more about Dorgu and there are certainly areas of his game that he will need to improve on.
Dorgu names three improvements he must make at United
Dorgu was viewed to be a flying wingback who can take players on when he joined the club but after watching him, many fans are realising that he’s better when linking up with teammates and making off-ball runs.
However, so far, the 20-year-old has not really been able to build those connections with his teammates which has seemingly impacted his play, especially going forward.
That is one of the things that Dorgu wants to improve on going forward, while also adapting to the fast-paced nature of the Premier League by thinking quicker.
Finally, Dorgu believes that he needs to improve on his decision-making when going forward on the flank.
“It’s a very attack-minded position,” he told reporters this week. “I think I just need to improve my decision-making, to think fast on the pitch and to connect better with my teammates.
“I really like to get forward and help the team score goals and I just need to improve on my decision-making. But it will come.”
United must avoid over-reliance
We have only watched 12 games of Dorgu so far and it was always clear that he would need time to develop into a top player.
Right now, he offers the team a physical presence who can get up and down the pitch with ease. He constantly makes overlapping or underlapping runs but isn’t getting found enough in those moments.
But, like he mentioned, there is certainly room to improve in the decision-making department while it is abundantly clear that he doesn’t have good enough relationships on the pitch with most of his teammates yet.
The second point seems like something which will naturally come with time and a full pre-season.
Fortunately, the emergence of Harry Amass means that Dorgu will not be relied on to start every single game and develop that way. Having them battling for the spot on the left should ideally see development from the both of them.
We have seen how other players have been negatively effected by over-reliance and United need to avoid doing the same going forward.
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