Tim Sherwood has come under fire after claiming Benjamin Sesko is ‘not good enough to play for Man United’ despite his two goals against Burnley.
The Slovenian, who made the move to Old Trafford from RB Leipzig in the summer, bagged his third and fourth goal for the club as United drew 2-2 at Turf Moor on Wednesday.
Standing at 6ft 5in, Sesko looked every bit the £74million player as he scored two strikers’ finishes in the second-hallf against an admittedly leaky Burnley defence, after a difficult start to life in Manchester.
But former Tottenham and Aston Villa manager Sherwood remained unconvinced by the 22-year-old, who he thought should have been taken off by caretaker boss Darren Fletcher at half time.
‘I stand by what I said. He’s not good enough to play for Man United,’ Sherwood said on Sky Sports after the final whistle. ‘He’s turned up for one game against Burnley who are going to get relegated.
‘But fair play to him, hopefully he gets some confidence and we start seeing something different from him.’
Tim Sherwood believes striker Benjamin Sesko is ‘not good enough to play for Man United’
The £74m Slovenian scored two second-half goals against Burnley at Turf Moor on Wednesday
Despite Sherwood’s caveats, his comments went down like a lead balloon among furious fans on social media.
One wrote: ‘I’m deadly serious, if you step onto Sky Sports and say the words Benjamin Sesko should never wear a United jersey again, you should have whatever accreditation that makes you eligible to be a pundit whipped off you and incinerated. Tim Sherwood of all people.’
Another said: ‘Said he ‘shouldn’t wear the shirt’ Sesko then scores twice. And Tim Sherwood doubles down. That’s a disgrace. Be a man and say you got it wrong.’
A third penned: ‘Tim Sherwood… said at halftime on [Sky Sports] that Benjamin Sesko shouldn’t wear a [United] shirt again. After Sesko scored a brace, instead of praising him, he decides to attack him again after the game and says he’s not good enough. Absolute disgrace of a pundit.’
A fourth wrote: ‘I have a feeling [Sky Sports] will have a shake up soon.. if they have any sense they will. The Neville / Carragher pairing has worn thin and become more of a joke act.
‘The side acts like Charlie Austin and Tim Sherwood are just c***. There are literally tons of credible intelligent ex-managers and ex-players who would bring much greater insights and analysis to the table that fans would appreciate.’
Sesko was assisted by Bruno Fernandes – who made a sooner-than-expected return from injury and returned to the United first team – to open the deadlock after 50 minutes.
And Sherwood believes Fernandes being subbed after 60 minutes revealed the lack of quality in the United side.
Bruno Fernandes was subbed after 60 minutes after a sooner-than-expected return from injury
‘When Bruno went off I think they lost control,’ he continued. ‘I think he’s the one man that can put his foot on the ball. He passes the time over, he passes to the right people at the right time. I think they missed that guile. They’re well short of quality, Man United, they really are.’
Fletcher confirmed the decision to take the United captain off was ‘planned before the game’ in order to manage his minutes.
The Scot, who also revealed that he will stay in charge of United for Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Brighton before either Ole Gunnar Solksjaer or Michael Carrick are installed until the end of the season, heaped praise on Sesko.
‘I sat down with him yesterday and showed him videos of his movement and how opportunities are going to come; keep believing and making runs,’ Fletcher said.
‘Hopefully they start flooding in from now. I thought he was fantastic tonight. He maybe could have gone on and got a hat-trick, but it was a real positive night for him.’
