Son of United legend shows qualities in midfield for U21s that the first team is crying out for

Manchester United U21s opened their EFL Trophy campaign with a heavy defeat away to Lincoln City, but the scoreline didn’t do them justice.

Here are our player ratings for the match. Read the detailed match report of all the action here.

(A score of 6 is around average)

Ratings

Will Murdock – 6 – A match of highs and lows where he was ultimately let down by his height. He did well early on, coming off his line when he needed to and made two very good saves during the match. But the first two goals he conceded went over his head and could have potentially been saved by a bigger keeper.

Jacob Devaney – 6.5 – Tried out in nearly every position this season, he started at right-back before ending up at left centre-back and he performance decently in both positions. An all-action performance, he put himself about, getting involved in the most duels while attempting five tackles. Using his natural ability, he also did well stepping out from the back to help control possession.

Reece Munro – 5 – A bit of a shaky display at times, he struggled with tracking runners and wasn’t alive to the movement off the ball. Often times he was able to get away with it due to his own speed and physicality, but he was particularly exposed by Reeco Hackett, who matched him for pace and was able to slip off his shoulder.

Rhys Bennett – 6 – The more composed of the central pairing, he was comfortable on the ball and defended the ground well but could have used his senior experience more to marshal the aerial battles that United struggled in.

Bendito Mantato – 5 – Showed bits of his quality, most notably with a nice charging run infield late on but was too timid for most of the match. Given his attacking instincts, he played within himself and didn’t look to get too far forward, often opting for the safe option in possession. Defensively he was poor for the second goal and found it tough in the physical duels.

Tyler Fletcher – 6 – The metronome in midfield, he kept it ticking over for United as they dominated possession.

Jack Fletcher – 7.5 – He came closest to scoring for United, he could have had two with a bit more luck. His first-half effort was cleared off the line after great footwork in the area. He was denied a long range wonder goal by a top save late on. Technically, he looked the best player on the pitch and physically looked up to the task as well, winning eight of his nine duels.

Shea Lacey – 5.5 – Never really got going. Had to drop deep to get a lot of his touches on the ball and wasn’t able to get the better of his marker in 1v1 duels consistently. Still showed ability to open up the space at times but then let himself down with poor deliveries into the box and shot selection.

Jayce Fitzgerald – 7 – Another who looked up for the battle physically, his industrious runs through the centre of the park were the making of much of United’s good play. He did well to shrug off challenges and dribble into space before feeding the wingers.

James Scanlon – 5 – Was weak defensively for Lincoln’s second goal and made the wrong decision in the final third in the important moments.

Chido Obi – 5 – Showed good hold up play and drew a couple of fouls with quick footwork but just didn’t link up with his teammates enough to get on the ball.

Substitutes

Gabriele Biancheri – 6 – Similar to Obi, he showed good strength in his hold up play and did well to lay the ball off quickly but often had to drop deep to less dangerous areas to receive the ball.

Finley McAllister – 6 – Came in and played out of position at right-back and didn’t look out of place.

Amir Ibragimov – 6 – Offered dynamism and pace in the final third with driving runs that troubled the Lincoln defenders which United missed throughout the match.

Victor Musa – N/A – Wasn’t on long enough to make much of an impact but did have one tame effort on goal.

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