This summer saw Jack Fletcher receive unwarranted hate after his poor pre-season appearances for Manchester United, but Michael Carrick has found him a new role.
Despite widely being considered among the biggest talents at Carrington, it hasn’t translated to first-team football for Jack Fletcher so far at Manchester United.
This has been highlighted by Fletcher’s struggles during pre-season in midfield, in which he has looked a level below his peers, with many thinking that the 19-year-old needs a loan move this summer.
But Fletcher is far too good for U21 football, as demonstrated last season, so he is better than his performances have suggested this summer. In a bid to help him, Michael Carrick is now pushing him into a new position.
Jack Fletcher considered a wing option by Michael Carrick
By trade, Fletcher is a goal-scoring number 10, and he has done this role perfectly throughout his academy career. But in his first-team opportunities, it hasn’t worked.
Ruben Amorim deployed Fletcher as a six, completely misprofiling him, and as a result, he struggled and was swallowed up by the pace of the midfield against the likes of Newcastle.
But Carrick gave him chances as a 10 earlier in pre-season, which saw Fletcher struggle to keep the ball, with poor touches, slow decision making, and generally, he just didn’t look comfortable with his technical limitations.
Shea Lacey has now taken the backup 10 role as his own, leaving Fletcher in the cold. That is, until the Atletico game, when Carrick put Fletcher on as a right winger, and now he has also put him in this role during training drills at Carrington.
Fletcher got an assist against Atletico from the right wing, taking it down the line and cutting it back to the striker (Bryan Mbeumo in this case). In the training drills this week, Fletcher was doing exactly that, setting up Joshua Zirkzee.
Fletcher looked a lot more natural there, working hard up and down the wing, and he wasn’t being asked to receive the ball in tight spaces, instead having time with one job, get to the byline and pull it back across goal.
It really is excellent profiling from Carrick, because Fletcher looked the best he has in a senior United jersey, and now it is clear that it isn’t a one-time thing. Fletcher was used as a left-back for the U21s at times last season to great success, so maybe he is better out wide.
Only time will tell, but this role could be what keeps Fletcher at Old Trafford this season.
Jack Fletcher should still be sent on loan by Manchester United
Despite Fletcher finding a new role that suits him, it shouldn’t be enough to see him avoid being sent on loan for the 2026/27 campaign, which is the move needed to aid his development.
Fletcher won’t play anywhere near enough football to grow as a talent if he stays at United this season, and therefore, what Carrick is doing is potentially setting him up for a successful loan, showing where he can be used to great success.
A move to the Scottish Premiership would be perfect for Fletcher, potentially even to St Mirren, given how they treated Jacob Devaney, which should have earned the respect of United’s decision makers.
Devaney is a much better right-sided attacker than he is as a 10, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be sent on loan this summer, with several options better than him in the position.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/OqyzSkR