Patrick Dorgu | 2026/27 Performances

Wing Attack Plan R said:
Completely agree, but some are advocating Dorgu take over from Shaw now, even before an injury befalls him.
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It is clear (from all the history we have from Shaw), that we do need to rotate him. If we get 40 starts from him again I would be delighted (and surprised). But he did that last season because we only had 40 games.

So of course we need to be putting someone in there before he gets injured.
 
Escobar said:
No it is not enough. We play CL ajd our competition in England is also really tough
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Well we will see where we are end of season and if having Shaw and Mazraoui as the left back options is the reason we don't end up in the champions league spots and progressing out of the league phase.
 
ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
It is clear (from all the history we have from Shaw), that we do need to rotate him. If we get 40 starts from him again I would be delighted (and surprised). But he did that last season because we only had 40 games.

So of course we need to be putting someone in there before he gets injured.
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Emergency January transfer incoming. Shaw just has to play smart and be utilized wisely by Carrick. Amass is staying, I think? so him and Mazraoui have to take the cup games and come in for the end of games. We can’t expect Shaw to be a marauding player this season. I haven’t seen anything from Dorgu that suggests he’s good enough at LB.
 
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Dorgu is going to have to learn to be both a LW and LB. Flexibility can be his best contribution to the team since he is a barnstorming game changer but not an elite passer of the ball.
 
flameinthesun said:
Well we will see where we are end of season and if having Shaw and Mazraoui as the left back options is the reason we don't end up in the champions league spots and progressing out of the league phase.
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Why would you take such a risk
 
Escobar said:
Why would you take such a risk
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You believe its a risk. I don't think its a risk. I look at our squad and I expect a good manager to get us into Champions league again and out of the league phase, that's what I'll be judging Carrick on. Similar to last season I assessed the squad and believed it was good enough for top 4 in a non-europe season, and judged Amorim on that. This season I see our squad and I think its better than Tottenham and Villa. I expect us to finish higher than them. I also believe Chelsea and Liverpool have their own issues.
 
Advantage if Dorgu was a LB is he is pacey and physically strong to address crosses coming in from the other side as well. And he can run up and down the wing unlike Shaw. The challenge is mainly his defensive abilities to play in a back 4. I wonder if Carrick would consider working on Dorgu on this front or would continue to see him as a attacking wing option.
 
CG1010 said:
Advantage if Dorgu was a LB is he is pacey and physically strong to address crosses coming in from the other side as well. And he can run up and down the wing unlike Shaw. The challenge is mainly his defensive abilities to play in a back 4. I wonder if Carrick would consider working on Dorgu on this front or would continue to see him as a attacking wing option.
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He also didnt attack well when he played at left wingback. Amad was our only wingback that did. He would constantly be an outlet breaking down the left but didnt have a cross or finish. Now a couple games into the new season he's again not showing he has a cross... But he does look like hes being set up to fail when he was playing towards the middle of the pitch in the first game.

When he actually started playing well it was when he was picked on the wing and that freed him up to just attack. So attack he did. His crossing was better and he got into the box. He scored goals inside the box and out.

You put him at leftback and the only time he actually did well is mostly nullified because he isnt attacking nearly as much and isnt getting into goalscoring postions. So far his crossing has regressed back to before he went to play on the wing. So he wont even do that part well.
 
flameinthesun said:
He doesn't need to be the greatest left back in the world. He's fine as a backup for one season.
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Shaw has cost us several goals already this season. He is washed.

We didn't need a back up to Luke Shaw. We needed someone to put Shaw on the bench.
 
pcaming said:
I don't see how he is such a good option? The opposition basically doesn't have to worry about left wing when he is there. You just put a body to hinder him a bit and he basically has no end product.

Only really useful if we are leading and closing out a game.
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That’s just not true. Last season he had a higher G/A ratio per minutes played than Mbeumo or Amad, and was around the same as Cunha.
 
Ali Dia said:
Back 5 to be fair...

I'd still be game to try him in back 4, he'd be my first choice if Shaw does pick up a knock. 100%
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That was the FA cup game under Fletcher where we played a back 4 and he played left back.


The CL game against Sabah and the league cup game against Brighton coming up are good games to give him run out at left back and see how he looks.

If Shaw doesn't improve on his performances that we saw against Milan/Hull/Ipswich, starting with Everton on Sunday, we have to seriously consider giving Dorgu a run of games, not just having him as "cover".

Shaw looks completely washed at the moment, we cannot go a full season like this. The narrative I read that he's just not offering much going forward anymore as if that's the only problem - I wish that was the only problem. We're conceding goals every game because of him.
 
He's going to have to fill in there every now and again now isn't he. Let's hope a bit more experience of the league has stranded him in better stead and he grows into the role.
 
Not sure who I prefer to fill in there of him and Baleba. Probably Baleba actually. I think it could make sense to ease Baleba in at left back and also to makre sure you give all of the midfielders enough pitch time.
 
Still no idea where the motive that he couldn't defend came from.

It was literally the only thing he was good at because he was much weaker attacking than defending. With amad on the other side at wing back it was like watching night and day.

We all felt underwhelmed how average at attacking Dorgu played as a wingback that we wanted Garnacho to play on the left.

His defensive ability was not an issue, we were playing 352 and inviting pressure and it's not like all the attacks were coming through Dorgu's channel.

His Short interlink passing is actually A Tier as it helps him get past players but his last ball is inconsistent but has improved slightly.

Carrick needs to give him some Cup games as a defender as we have seen what he gives us further up the pitch; it's time we see how he does deeper on the field.
 
Zumbi said:
That’s just not true. Last season he had a higher G/A ratio per minutes played than Mbeumo or Amad, and was around the same as Cunha.
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Some mad and obviously unsustainable goals though. And a lot less minute to go by.
 
Mr. Burns Tuchel said:
Still no idea where the motive that he couldn't defend came from.

It was literally the only thing he was good at because he was much weaker attacking than defending. With amad on the other side at wing back it was like watching night and day.

We all felt underwhelmed how average at attacking Dorgu played as a wingback that we wanted Garnacho to play on the left.

His defensive ability was not an issue, we were playing 352 and inviting pressure and it's not like all the attacks were coming through Dorgu's channel.

His Short interlink passing is actually A Tier as it helps him get past players but his last ball is inconsistent but has improved slightly.

Carrick needs to give him some Cup games as a defender as we have seen what he gives us further up the pitch; it's time we see how he does deeper on the field.
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Defending as a winger/LWB is a lot different to defending as a LB. Have to be positionally very good too. He also struggles in build-up which is why i think Carrick hasn't played him there at all.

Will be interesting to see what happens now. Starting from the first UCL game. If Amass starts at LB, don't think we'll ever see Dorgu play there.
 
VP89 said:
Some mad and obviously unsustainable goals though. And a lot less minute to go by.
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Sure, but the characterization of his play that I responded to was false. It was some aspects of his overall play that was lacking, not his end product. We have too small a sample size of him playing on the wing to know if it’s sustainable, but he can score a variety of goals - as well as shots from outside the box (which he’s replicated for Denmark) he was also effective getting on the end of crosses.
 
Zumbi said:
Sure, but the characterization of his play that I responded to was false. It was some aspects of his overall play that was lacking, not his end product. We have too small a sample size of him playing on the wing to know if it’s sustainable, but he can score a variety of goals - as well as shots from outside the box (which he’s replicated for Denmark) he was also effective getting on the end of crosses.
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Yeah he's a lot more productive than a lot of us gave credit for.

My worry is he's also a lot more raw, best hope is he does a Valencia and be in control a lot even though he doesn't look like hes ever in control :lol:
 
What I do know is that there is no way I should be seeing Baleba seen as a LB option ahead of a far more obvious choice in Dorgu. He is a LWB. He is also surplus to requirements on the left wing with Rashford’s return, while Baleba is more naturally required to take up his role as one of our designated midfielders.
 
I've mentioned this a few times on this forum, so apologies if I sound like a broken record. But Danyal Khan was on Stretford Paddock on 31/08/2026 and said this at around the 40:27 mark:

Danyal Khan said:
You mentioned Patrick Dorgu. From what I understand, long-term the club do see him as a left back. So, you know, I imagine I don't know for sure, but I imagine they are spending a lot of time with him on the training ground working with him longterm to become a left back of the club. Now, I'm not saying he's ready to do that anytime soon right now in the Premier League, but the question is, you know, do do they have the capacity to bring in a top left back who can contend with Luke Shaw or if Luke Shaw gets injured, which his previous seasons and injury record suggests that could happen, that's what they need, right? So how you bring in someone right now?
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If this is true, it explains why we didn't panic buy a backup LB in the last window.

INEOS don't want to buy players who they'll need to sell and take a loss on in only a year. If we'd outright bought someone like Balde, Ait Nouri or Salinas, that would have meant surplus bodies to sell in order to fund Lewis Hall (the real 1st choice target). It would have gone against the entire rebuild philosophy. The plan at the start of the summer, I think, was to either:
  1. Buy Hall as 1st choice LB and use Shaw as 2nd choice LB this season, then train Dorgu as 2nd choice LB for next season
  2. Use Shaw as 1st choice LB this season and Mazraoui as the initial 2nd choice LB, then train Dorgu as 2nd choice LB for later this season
Despite what we've seen on the pitch from Carrick so far, I'd expect to see him start using Dorgu as a LB sooner rather than later.
 
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Zumbi said:
That’s just not true. Last season he had a higher G/A ratio per minutes played than Mbeumo or Amad, and was around the same as Cunha.
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Dorgu scored 3 goals in 283 PL minutes at the start of his career under Carrick.

Antony scored 3 goals in 238 PL minutes at the start of his United career under Ten Hag.

Dan James scored 3 goals in 285 PL at the start of his United career under OGS.

This kind of thing often happens when a player first bursts onto the scene in the Premier League and opposition fullbacks have no idea how to deal with him. Do they stand off? Go tight? Press immediately? Show them onto their weaker foot? Man mark or go zonal? Until there's some scouting evidence to work with, new attackers can be unpredictable and difficult to stop. But this only lasts for so long.

Just like Antony and Dan James before him, Dorgu will have too many limitations to maintain his initial purple patch for long. He has numerous technical deficiencies and the Premier League is a brutal place to get them found out. He's very obviously not as good an attacker as Cunha, Amad or Mbuemo.
 
AlexFerguson said:
Dorgu scored 3 goals in 283 PL minutes at the start of his career under Carrick.

Antony scored 3 goals in 238 PL minutes at the start of his United career under Ten Hag.

Dan James scored 3 goals in 285 PL at the start of his United career under OGS.

This kind of thing often happens when a player first bursts onto the scene in the Premier League and opposition fullbacks have no idea how to deal with him. Do they stand off? Go tight? Press immediately? Show them onto their weaker foot? Man mark or go zonal? Until there's some scouting evidence to work with, new attackers can be unpredictable and difficult to stop. But this only lasts for so long.

Just like Antony and Dan James before him, Dorgu will have too many limitations to maintain his initial purple patch for long. He has numerous technical deficiencies and the Premier League is a brutal place to get them found out. He's very obviously not as good an attacker as Cunha, Amad or Mbuemo.
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That comparison doesn’t even make any sense. That wasn’t when Dorgu first burst into the scene. He wasn’t new to the league. He’d already been playing for a year in the league by that point. So it wasn’t a case of defenders not knowing him, it was more a case of him settling into the league in a more defined position under a manager who set his team up more effectively.

What Dorgu has is a directness - he makes runs into the box and attacks the ball in a way which our other players don’t. He also has a great, if not yet consistent, shot. In a team like ours that will result in goals and assists.

Of course, there are big question marks over whether he can sustain it and continue to develop. But the original claim which i responded to that he has zero end product is just false. And you contriving apples to oranges comparisons doesn’t change that.
 
Zumbi said:
That comparison doesn’t even make any sense. That wasn’t when Dorgu first burst into the scene. He wasn’t new to the league. He’d already been playing for a year in the league by that point. So it wasn’t a case of defenders not knowing him, it was more a case of him settling into the league in a more defined position under a manager who set his team up more effectively.

What Dorgu has is a directness - he makes runs into the box and attacks the ball in a way which our other players don’t. He also has a great, if not yet consistent, shot. In a team like ours that will result in goals and assists.

Of course, there are big question marks over whether he can sustain it and continue to develop. But the original claim which i responded to that he has zero end product is just false. And you contriving apples to oranges comparisons doesn’t change that.
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Antony and Dan James had games in Eredivise and The Championship that could have been scouted. But the switch to specifically playing as a winger in the Premier was a different kettle of fish. Any scouting of Dorgu under Amorim would have shown a completely different profile of player. United were prone to dropping into a back 5 more than a 343 in those days. The comparison is absolutely relevant as it was all their first exposures to PL football as bona fide wingers.

Rashford and Mbuemo also make runs into the box. And they do it better.
 
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AlexFerguson said:
Antony and Dan James had games in Eredivise and The Championship that could have been scouted. But the switch to specifically playing as a winger in the Premier was a different kettle of fish. The comparison is absolutely relevant. You may have bought into the Ballon D'Orgu hype a little too much.

Rashford and Mbuemo also make runs into the box.
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The comparison was poor. Its entire premise was based on those players being new to the league which is factually incorrect with regards to Dorgu. Dorgu has actually become more effective the longer he’s been here, not less effective - exactly the opposite of your argument.

I haven’t bought into any hype. He’s a young player who has surprised people with some very promising performances, and I think it’s far too early to write him off. He’s shown he can put in match winning performances with goals and assists, and I’m curious to see if he can replicate that this season. He’s certainly earned the chance.
 
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Backup LB pushing Shaw and hopefully winning the job during the season at some point, and the best defensive option at LW who might start some tough games away or at least come on when we have a lead, is what I'd like to see from him. Used to be more common a setup, like Valencia did with, I want to say Alba and Mathieu.

Worst part of his game is his ability to play in tight spaces back to goal and we have guys like Licha and Santos and Tielemans firing passes into him in most games. That's not an issue at LB.
 
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