Manchester United's Striker Dilemma: The Need for a No 9
Manchester United’s search for a cutting edge up front has turned into the defining question of their season before it has even settled into a rhythm.
Benjamin Sesko, the striker Michael Carrick built so much of last year’s attacking play around, has yet to start a game. A shin injury wiped out his entire pre-season and left United improvising in the most important area of the pitch.
In his place, Carrick has turned to Matheus Cunha as his central striker against Hull City, Ipswich Town and Everton. On paper, it offers fluidity. On the pitch, it has looked like compromise.
A team without a No 9
Out wide, there is little to complain about. Bryan Mbuemo has carried his strong form into the new campaign, Marcus Rashford has begun brightly, and United often look dangerous when they break into space.
But through the middle, there is a void.
Cunha, signed from Wolves last year, has always looked more at home drifting in from the left or operating off a main striker. Asked to lead the line, he has become the symbol of United’s uncertainty. He presses, he links, he roams. What he does not do is occupy defenders like a classic No 9.
Sesko does. That is the point that will not go away.
The Slovenian reminded everyone of his value with a towering header from a Luke Shaw cross against Everton, the kind of goal that comes from instinct, timing and a striker’s feel for the penalty area. It should have been the winner. Instead, Ainsley Maitland-Niles struck late at the Hill Dickinson Stadium and United walked away with just a draw, another two points lost, another post‑match inquest.
Scholes loses patience
One of the sharpest voices in that inquest belonged to Paul Scholes. Speaking on The Good, The Bad, and The Football, the former United midfielder did not bother to sugarcoat his assessment of the Everton display.
“I felt it was really timid against Everton,” he said. “There was no aggression and Everton were there for the taking. There was so much space and they never went for the throat.”
Scholes went straight for the selection issue that has been bubbling under the surface: Carrick’s refusal, so far, to restore Sesko as the starting centre forward.
“The centre forward position is a bit of an issue because he is not playing Sesko,” Scholes continued. “He is a focal point. It is very difficult to watch a Manchester United team without a centre forward. With Cunha, we don’t really know what he is, a No.10 or a wide player but he’s definitely not a No.9 and watching United without a No.9 is a struggle.”
It was not a passing gripe. It was a direct challenge to the manager’s current blueprint.
Carrick under growing scrutiny
The timing could hardly be more delicate. United have taken four points from a possible nine in their opening three league games. It is not a crisis, but it is not the start Carrick needed with expectations rising and patience thinning.
Across the city, Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City have made no such stuttering start. Three games, three wins, and a familiar sense of control. They will arrive at Old Trafford for Sunday’s derby with a flawless domestic record and a growing swagger.
That is the backdrop against which every decision Carrick makes is now judged, especially up front.
Last season, Sesko delivered under this manager: a goal every 85 minutes, a strike rate that screams “build around me” rather than “ease me in.” For a side short of a ruthless streak in the box, leaving that kind of finisher on the bench feels like a risk.
European stage, derby audition
Before City, though, comes Europe. Sabah FK visit Old Trafford on Thursday for a Champions League tie that suddenly carries more intrigue than it should.
For Sesko, it could be the doorway back to centre stage.
A start against the Azerbaijani side would give him exactly what he has lacked since that shin injury: minutes, rhythm, the chance to feel like the reference point of United’s attack again. One good night, one dominant performance, and the conversation around Sunday’s team sheet changes completely.
Carrick needs a focal point. The crowd wants a No 9. Scholes has already said it out loud.
If Sesko seizes his European audition, how long can United really afford to leave their purest goalscorer watching the derby from the sidelines?
