MANCHESTER UNITED’S first summer signing reserved his best performance for Anfield and the second summer signing reserved his first Premier League away goal for the visit to their biggest rivals.
Roy Keane once said “every little victory counts” and United’s at Liverpool was their biggest under Ruben Amorim.
Just as pleasing for the onlooking chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox were the roles of United’s quartet of recruits, brought in for a combined £225.32million.
Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Senne Lammens all started in the 2-1 triumph at Liverpool, while Benjamin Sesko played a prominent role off the bench.
Amorim said of Cunha’s recall on Sunday: “Especially in the bad moments, you have to go with your gut. And I always go by that, no matter what.
“Sometimes you have a player in a good moment but the characteristic of the game is not for him. So it’s better to go with a player and understand it is not for him.
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“Sometimes the characteristics of the game change the way you are going to approach the game, so I think, for example, Cunha in the middle.
“If we put Ben, I think it’s easier for these centre-backs to control our striker.”
Club sources believe Cunha and Mbeumo demonstrated at Anfield why United bought them.
People at United say they are different characters, with Cunha an extrovert and Mbeumo more introverted, yet they share a steely confidence.
United staff have been struck by Mbeumo’s consistency. He has started in all eight Premier League games and is the top scorer with three goals.
Cunha has been “great around the place,” a United source enthused. Staff had been warned that Cunha could be prickly to deal with and that he had a tendency to turn on the charm in public.
Yet United figures’ dealings with him have been almost purely positive. Cunha has also struck up an unlikely friendship with Luke Shaw, despite the multitude of Portuguese speakers at the club.
A source acknowledged Cunha struggled with his hamstring injury that forced him to miss the Manchester derby last month.
Cunha assured Amorim he was fit enough to feature but he did not start for another two weeks.
When Cunha was recalled at Brentford, he underperformed, likely through his desire to make a resounding return to the starting line-up.
United figures marvelled at Cunha’s performance against Liverpool, particularly his game management in the final ten minutes.
Dressing room sources feel his ball retention and ability to advance has relieved pressure on captain Bruno Fernandes.
Sesko was unfortunate to drop to the bench at Anfield to accommodate Cunha but his through ball for the Brazilian led to the corner from which Harry Maguire scored the winner.
The £74m signing had scored two goals in two games before the trip to Anfield and figures at United are generally pleased with Sesko’s impact.
United staff have stressed how much of an upgrade Sesko is on Rasmus Hojlund. Hojlund has scored four goals for Napoli but that has been brushed off by those who work with Sesko.
Hojlund’s play off the ball was a major concern for Amorim whereas Sesko’s awareness, ball winning and distribution have drawn praise from United coaches.
The 23-year-old came on in the 61st minute against Liverpool and United’s analysts noticed that even though Sesko for Mason Mount was not like-for-like, the team’s shape was maintained.
United sources openly admit they had not planned to sign a goalkeeper but their hand was forced by manager Amorim’s uneasiness about the error-prone Andre Onana.
Lammens’ promotion to the starting XI has coincided with United’s first back-to-back Premier League wins in a single season since May 2024 and matchgoers have likened him to Peter Schmeichel.
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Well-placed United sources are understandably urging caution. They have highlighted the hairy moments when Lammens collided with Fernandes on his debut against Sunderland and fumbled the ball in the first half at Liverpool.
But what has impressed United staff has been Lammens’ reaction to those minor mishaps. He did not panic and his calmness has been welcomed after the eccentricities of Onana.
Lammens cost a frugal £18.2m, effectively giving United wiggle room to potentially recruit a more established goalkeeper next year if the Belgian cracks.
Yet Lammens has found his settling-in period “quite easy” and is already at home in his Manchester apartment.
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“I think my social media has exploded,” Lammens said. “But they told me before the transfer, I already knew it a little bit, but it’s just a really good feeling that you get the praise, also with the wins, it’s a really nice feeling.”
Lammens is only two games in, but also reserved his best for Anfield.
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