Patrick Dorgu was signed by Manchester United earlier this year and he knows that he must recreate an ‘excellent’ moment against Brentford to help one of his teammates.
Manchester United kick off this weekend’s Premier League action with a Saturday afternoon trip to Brentford in West London.
Ruben Amorim’s side have taken two wins, two defeats, and a draw from their opening fixtures, leaving them 11th in the table as they continue to search for consistency.
Their victories came via a late Bruno Fernandes penalty against Burnley and last weekend’s 2-0 triumph over Chelsea; a game swung by Robert Sánchez’s early red card, which allowed United to seize control.
Following that result against Enzo Maresca’s men, the clash with Brentford offers Amorim the chance to record back-to-back league wins for the first time, a step that could signal the start of greater stability.
Dorgu knows he must recreate ‘excellent’ moment vs Brentford
Patrick Dorgu has quickly become the first-choice option for United at left wingback since joining from Lecce in the January transfer window.
The Dane has several tools in his locker which could make him a top player. The speed, strength and overall athleticism is perfect for the role he occupies on the flank.
But the biggest improvement he needs to make is his impact in the final third, with the 20-year-old regularly being played through into space on the left wing due to how Amorim’s system works.
Dorgu knows that he must make an impact in those areas. “It’s a very attack-minded position,” he told reporters earlier this year. “I think I just need to improve my decision-making, to think fast on the pitch and to connect better with my teammates.”
He did exactly that against Chelsea when he headed the ball across for Bruno Fernandes to score the opener, and he also delivered an ‘excellent’ cross to Benjamin Šeško early on in that game.
Better deliveries will help Šeško
With United’s next text coming against Brentford, Dorgu’s main focus must be to deliver similar types of crosses to Šeško as they are the exact kind of balls the Slovenian thrives on.
There are no doubts about whether Dorgu can handle the physical test of being a wingback in Amorim’s system but he must continue to provide moments of quality further up the pitch to convince fans that he’s the right man for that position.
With Bryan Mbeumo playing from the right, if Dorgu can master that kind of delivery into the box then Šeško will have options from both sides of the pitch and that will help him in a position where he does not get many opportunities.
Dorgu isn’t the best at taking a man on one-against-one but that cross against Chelsea came when he opened up a yard of space. He didn’t need to take on a man. David Beckham was the master at that.
He doesn’t need to reach that level of crossing ability, but the intentions to improve need to be there and it seems like they are with Dorgu.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.