My memory is hazy on this one but has he ever been involved in a really embarrassing defeat besides the 1-6 vs Spurs when he got sent off for the tussle with Lamela? It feels like all of our biggest, most embarrassing defeat came with him not in the team. When City drubbed us earlier this season, he came on and made it a touch more respectable.
Which is even more of a shame given his fitness record.
Well, he’s the only player in the squad that can keep the ball under pressure and dribble so we always play better by default. Not that it means we never suffer heavy defeats with him, but they’re less likely just because he makes us more secure in possession and harder to press.
Our fan base undervalue how important having players like that is. An attack full of lightweights in Bruno, Sancho, Antony, Weghorst, etc, make it too easy for top opposition to suffocate us because we just cannot keep the ball higher up the pitch.
Him and Rashford are our only two attackers who can play in a top team at their best, but one is more injury prone than mr bump and the other is weighed down by the aforementioned players.