Manchester United’s season is becoming more and more stale by the minute with Ruben Amorim’s dire Red Devils now out of the FA Cup.
This competition was infamously won by Erik ten Hag last term, seeing off their cross-city rivals but there will be no celebrations for Amorim’s side in May.
This only adds insult to injury for the red half of Manchester who are also out of the EFL Cup and find themselves stuck in a disastrous 14th spot in the Premier League.
But, there were some minor positives to latch onto even as Marco Silva’s Cottagers celebrated a penalty shoot-out triumph at the end of the 120-minute contest, with a select few United youngsters impressing late on.
Chido Obi's performance in numbers
One of those standout starlets was 17-year-old Chido Obi-Martin with the Danish teenager gifted a lengthy 68 minutes on the pitch in place of his fellow compatriot Rasmus Hojlund.
Scoring a blistering 12 strikes in the U18 set-up this season shows off the fact the youngster does know where the back of the net is, so it wasn’t the wildest pick by Amorim to unleash Obi into the contest to try and catch a potentially flagging Fulham defence cold.
He didn’t get his senior career at the Red Devils up and running with a magical strike, despite bettering Hojlund in the striker department with a shot on target and also successfully completing two dribbles.
In truth, it was an eye-catching cameo from the teen who, despite not finding the back of the net, was often in the right place at the right time and could well have opened his account, only for Bernd Leno’s incredible save denying him from close range late on.
As a result, the 17-year-old should be given plenty more opportunities in the senior fold as the season progresses, therefore, with Hojlund’s form seeing him fire home just two Premier League strikes all season long.
Alongside Obi, there is another academy product at the Theatre of Dreams ready to shine in the first-team spotlight moving forward, especially when you weigh up the other dire defensive options at Amorim’s disposal otherwise.
Man Utd's "unique" star in the making
The future certainly looks bright at Old Trafford with a new batch of youngsters coming through, even if the first-team regulars continue to badly let down their abject side.
Ayden Heaven is definitely one to keep an eye out on alongside Obi, with the 18-year-old – who also signed from Arsenal – looking far more comfortable and assured at the back on his senior debut, when contrasted with a ropey Victor Lindelof who missed a decisive spot-kick.
Minutes played
30
Touches
11
Accurate passes
6/6 (100%)
Accurate long balls
1/1
Clearances
3/3
Total duels won
2/3
Looking at the table above, Heaven didn’t look out of place when thrown in at the deep end of the first team picture with all six of his passes successfully completed during his composed 30-minute cameo, on top of two of his three duels being won to keep Fulham at bay before penalties commenced.
Whereas, Lindelof – although he also looked confident with the ball at his feet with just one misplaced pass – could now be on borrowed time in Amorim’s ongoing team selections, having missed a critical spot-kick to hand the opposition a shoot-out win.
Off the back of this match, the Portuguese manager will be growing frustrated with the old guard at the Theatre of Dreams, meaning plenty more chances could soon be handed to the “unique” defender – as he was once labelled by football analyst Ben Mattinson – as life is breathed back into the Man United ranks.
Out with the old and in with the new could be the motto at United very soon, as both Obi and Heaven strive to gain more senior shots, whilst a number of the experienced faces at the club sense an exit is soon on the cards.
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