Manchester United striker Wout Weghorst has been torn into by TalkSport’s Jason Cundy for his display in their victory over Barcelona.
How did Weghorst play against Barcelona?
The Dutchman started the game for Erik ten Hag’s men, however, he was withdrawn at half-time with the Red Devils trailing by a goal in the break.
Weghorst was replaced by the Brazilian Antony who, ultimately, provided United with the winning goal to secure themselves a spot in the next round of the Europa League.
But it was apparent the Dutchman’s first half was not good enough and it could potentially put his spot in the starting XI at risk ahead of the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Indeed, speaking on TalkSport, Cundy absolutely ripped into the 30-year-old striker suggesting he was exposed during the game against the Spanish giants:
“Weghorst got exposed tonight unfortunately for him, he got exposed. He’s nowhere near the quality. When you’re at that elite level. That’s level that’s a Champions League game. When you’re at that level, you [Jamie O’Hara] and I were talking and watching him I felt for him. He was like a fish up a tree, wasn’t he?”
What does this mean for Weghorst’s future at United?
Weghorst is technically playing for his future at Old Trafford despite only arriving in the January transfer window having only signed from Burnley on a short-term loan.
He is yet to find his goalscoring form in the Premier League with no goal to his name in his six appearances which has seen him rack up 457 minutes (via Transfermarkt).
However, this may not tell the full story with United having only lost one of their 11 games with Weghorst in the side which came against the league leaders, Arsenal, last month.
And the Dutchman has recently received a lot of praise from the Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville who has hailed Weghorst’s influence off the ball:
“What Weghorst does, he’s very good in transition. He’s very good defending set-pieces. He’s very good when they’re in shape and he’s watching space. He’s doing a vital job for a team that has got a lot of attacking talent,” he said.
But it has to be said his 45-minute appearance on Thursday night against Barcelona left a lot to be desired with United significantly better when he had been replaced.
During his first-half display, the Dutchman only recorded 12 touches in total and he gave the ball away on seven of those occasions (via SofaScore).
And given he failed to provide Ten Hag with any attacking intent, it will be interesting to see whether he is selected for the starting XI at Wembley on Sunday.
