Bryan Mbeumo: A Season of Stagnation and Tactical Misalignment
Bryan Mbeumo’s season was supposed to explode out of the blocks. Instead, it’s stuttering.
In pre-season, he looked like the Brentford version reborn: three goals and an assist in six games, constantly on the move, direct, ruthless, a menace anywhere near the penalty area. Those weeks teased a player ready to become a central figure in United’s attack.
The competitive games have told a different story.
A threat stuck on the touchline
Seven league appearances in, Mbeumo has two goals and one assist. On paper, that return is acceptable. On the pitch, it feels like a disguise.
Too often he drifts through matches. He’ll appear once or twice with a half-chance, then disappear again, spending long stretches as a spectator rather than a spearhead. For large parts of games, United’s No 19 is exactly what he should never be: a non-factor.
The last three outings, without a goal or assist, have sharpened the focus. When the end product dries up, the underlying problem becomes impossible to ignore. This is not the Brentford Mbeumo who lived off the shoulder of defenders and punished any lapse around the box.
The issue isn’t his instincts. It’s his role.
Everyone knows what Mbeumo brings at his best: he is a pure goal threat. He times his runs, attacks space, and finishes with conviction. He’s not the winger who dances over the ball and humiliates full-backs for fun; he’s the one who punishes teams when he’s close enough to strike.
Yet instead of keeping him in those dangerous central pockets, where Ruben Amorim had intended to use him, Michael Carrick has pushed him wide and kept him there. Old-school wide man. Chalk on the boots. Receive it on the flank, try to beat a full-back, sling in a cross.
It does not suit him.
The more he is dragged towards the touchline, the further he is dragged from what he does best. This was the pattern in the second half of last season, when his influence faded. It is repeating now.
Time for a tactical adjustment
Carrick has a straightforward fix: move Mbeumo back towards goal.
Let him operate as an inverted winger rather than a traditional wide man. Allow him to drift inside, attack the half-spaces, and run beyond the last defender instead of standing square to one. Give him licence to arrive in the box, not just supply it.
With the right-back overlapping and holding the width, the structure on that flank can remain intact. The system doesn’t have to break for Mbeumo to thrive; it just needs to tilt slightly in his favour.
United did not sign him to hang up hopeful crosses. They signed him for his sharpness in front of goal, the very quality that is being blunted by his current starting position.
Unlocking that edge again is on Carrick. Use him as an inverted winger. Use him as a No 9 when the game demands a more direct presence. But get him back where it matters.
Closer to goal. Closer to the player everyone expected to see this season.
