The Man Utd star was “their best player under Amorim”, now he looks like Depay
Manchester United will be looking to bounce back from their 1-1 draw with West Ham United when they face Everton at Goodison Park on Monday night.
Michael Carrick may be looking to make changes to his side after the draw with the Hammers as substitute Benjamin Sesko made a big difference off the bench, scoring the equaliser.
The interim coach may drop Matheus Cunha from the starting line-up to play the Slovenian forward as a key player for the Red Devils.
Cunha has shown moments of quality since his move from Wolves, scoring two of his six league goals from outside the box, but he needs to provide a consistent threat.
The Brazilian has scored six goals and provided two assists in 23 Premier League games, showing that his final product in the third tier must improve if he is to become a star at Old Trafford.
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Cunha may be the most consistent player in the team due to the lack of flexibility at the end of the pitch, given his quality with the ball, and his 17-goal return for Wolves last season.
Joshua Zirkzee falls into the same boat. The Dutchman scored 12 goals for Bologna before moving to Old Trafford, but has only scored nine goals for United since the start of last season.
It’s not just the forwards who have been frustrated in United’s squad, however, as defender Diogo Dalot has also been among the club’s most consistent players.
He won 59% of his battles in the Premier League and showed that he can defend in other games, but the defender made three mistakes that led to shots or goals, letting his team-mates down too many times.
|
Man Utd’s most consistent players |
|
|---|---|
|
Level |
Players |
|
1 |
Matheus Kunha |
|
2 |
Joshua Zirkzee |
|
3 |
Diogo Dalot |
|
4 |
Manuel Ugarte |
|
5 |
Mad Diallo |
Manuel Ugarte is similar to Dalot in the sense that there are games where he can defend strongly and provide steel in midfield, winning ten duels in a 1-1 draw against Leeds in January, for example.
However, the Uruguayan has also been tackled 52 times in 29 Premier League games, which shows that he allows players to get past him easily at times.
While Cunha may be the club’s most consistent striker, given the heights he has achieved elsewhere in his career, there is another United striker who could be the next Memphis Depay.
The Man United striker shows shadows of Nani and Depay
Luis Nani and Depay are both good, but different, examples of emerging Manchester United midfielders or wingers who were brilliant to watch, yet didn’t always have the end product to match.
Nani continued his United career for seven seasons, scoring 41 goals and providing 66 assists in 230 games, while the Dutchman scored just seven goals and provided five assists in 57 games for the Red Devils.
Amad Diallo now follows in their footsteps as another United winger who is technically brilliant and fun to watch, yet doesn’t produce goals and assists consistently.
The Ivory Coast midfielder produced 11 goals and eight assists in 43 games across all competitions in the 2024/25 campaign, his first season as a regular starter at Old Trafford, and was even described as the best player under Ruben Amorim by Statman Dave of that form.
Unfortunately, however, he has taken a step back rather than forward at the other end of the pitch, with two goals and two assists in 21 games this season for the Red Devils.
|
Amad’s last 10 PL games |
||
|---|---|---|
|
The team |
Goals |
It helps |
|
West Ham |
0 |
0 |
|
The Spurs |
0 |
0 |
|
Fulham |
0 |
0 |
|
Arsenal |
0 |
0 |
|
Man City |
0 |
0 |
|
Bournemouth |
1 |
0 |
|
Wolves |
0 |
0 |
|
West Ham |
0 |
0 |
|
The Crystal Palace |
0 |
0 |
|
Everton |
0 |
0 |
Despite his lack of goals and assists, Amad is still an interesting player to watch as he averages a team-high 1.6 tackles per game in the Premier League, creating defenders and getting fans off their seats.
Like Nani and Depay before him, however, he is not adding enough goals and assists to match the tactics and bounce this season, with one goal and no assists in his last ten Premier League games.
Of course, Amad will hope to be more like Nani than Depay, given his long tenure in a United shirt, but in an ideal world he will be able to find consistency in his play in the final third and develop into a star player for the club.
If the left-footed star can start scoring and assisting goals regularly, on top of all his exciting play, he may not be playing for the Red Devils at all for years to come.
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