Former Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre has lavished praise on defender Leny Yoro.
The Frenchman joined the Red Devils last summer and it has been a horrible season for all connected to the club as they lie in the bottom half of the table and were knocked out of the FA Cup on penalties by Fulham yesterday.
Nonetheless, things have looked up for Yoro recently as he has gained more and more game time since Ruben Amorim introduced a back three.
Moreover, his importance in the first team has only grown since an injury to Lisandro Martinez ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Despite the club’s overall difficulties, Silvestre sees major positives in the 19 year old.
Speaking at the Soccerex in Cairo (via The Daily Mirror) he stated, “from his time in Lille, we’ve seen that he’s athletically dominant, he makes the right calls when recovering the ball and has good timing.”
“It’s unfortunate that he got injured early in pre-season because I think he will be a major force at United in the coming years.”
Silvestre did admit that whilst Yoro was far from the finished product, he had much to offer and compared him to two of the Premier League and France’s best current defenders.
“He’s got so much potential. When you look at [William] Saliba and [Ibrahima] Konate for France, for me he is next in line.”
The multiple trophy winner at United also claimed that the club should do more to bring in players that fit Amorim’s 3-4-3 formation and cited Patrick Dorgu as an example of this.
“Amorim is forcing players to adapt quickly at the moment and it’s not working. You can’t just flick a switch from one day to the other for players.”
He asserted that the likes of Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui do not fit the system and won’t be able to adapt to what Amorim wants.
The former defender also claimed that whilst the Portuguese is a “good coach”, it was the wrong timing to come in during the middle of the season.
Featured image Ben Roberts Photo via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
