Manchester United‘s 2-2 draw at home to Leeds United on Wednesday evening will no doubt have given manager Erik ten Hag food for thought with regard to his team selection moving forward, with there having been a number of winners and losers among his side on the night.
One man that undoubtedly falls into the latter category is January arrival, Wout Weghorst, with the on-loan Burnley man having largely been a bystander to proceedings, in truth, with the Red Devils appearing much improved following his withdrawal on the hour mark.
The 30-year-old powerhouse – who has netted just one goal for his new club thus far – was forced to watch on as his teammates sprung into life in the final 30 minutes or so, with the introduction of the returning Jadon Sancho providing the hosts with some renewed vigour down the left flank.
The Englishman’s introduction had seen compatriot Marcus Rashford shifted into a more central role, with that alteration soon paying dividends as the in-form ace netted his 20th goal of the season with a well-taken, guided header, following Diogo Dalot’s inviting cross.
One can only imagine the frustration that Weghorst will have endured after witnessing that effort from Rashford, with the Dutchman likely to be questioning just why he was not able to receive such quality service from his teammates during his 59-minute outing.
That lack of involvement, however, may suggest that the 6 foot 6 dud is simply yet to gel with his new colleagues, with Manchester Evening News journalist Samuel Luckhurst having suggested that the former Wolfsburg man looked “out of kilter” with the rest of Ten Hag’s side.
Such woes were evidenced by the fact that the ex-Besiktas loanee was restricted to just 19 touches in total – fewer than David De Gea in the sticks (32) – having also made just ten passes in total.
That ineffectual outing also saw the lumbering hotshot fail to register a single shot and win just two of his four total duels, having also been rather wasteful when he did have possession after losing the ball on four occasions.
For all the blame that Weghorst may perhaps shift onto those around him for not being fed more regularly, when the 19-cap titan was put through on goal he failed to take his chance, notably proving unable to control Bruno Fernandes’ lofted pass over the top in the first half.
Those struggles saw the recent addition achieve a rather measly match rating of just 6.6, as per Sofascore, with it set to be no surprise if Ten Hag is considering deploying Rashford through the middle in the reverse fixture this weekend.
As the aforementioned Luckhurst stated, the non-impact of Weghorst is now becoming a “growing issue” as far as the former Ajax boss is concerned – particularly with Anthony Martial shackled to the treatment table – with it looking as if the 53-year-old’s transfer gamble may be beginning to backfire.