I am just a normal football fan with a TV remote, a questionable sleep schedule, and absolutely no coaching badges, so please take this with the appropriate grain of salt: Manchester United's 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford earlier this season left me staring at the ceiling like a disappointed house cat. Ruben Amorim can surely feel let down by what he saw. Wolves arrived with two points — two! — and still left Manchester with a hard-fought point. On the balance of play, a draw was probably fair, which is its own kind of insult when you have United's quality in the squad.

I will admit I expected a comfortable win. Instead I got a game where Wolves looked equally likely to find a winner at times. That is not a tactical thesis; it is just my honest reaction. Amorim has plenty of talent at his disposal, but his stars did not rise to the challenge. Matheus Cunha struggled against his old club, and numerous other United players failed to impress. But the performance that really made me put down my snack was Benjamin Sesko's.

Maybe most disappointing is harsh. The Slovenian forward looked promising early, then failed to make his influence felt with a lack of potency in front of goal. He earns £200,000 a week, so yes, my expectations are roughly the size of a small moon. Yet here is the weird part: he was not hiding. He had eight touches in the opposition penalty area, six shots, four shots on target, and hit the woodwork once. The fact that a 22-year-old with those numbers did not score is pretty crazy.

That is the kind of stat line that makes you want to shake the television and ask how. I am not a tactician. My tactical knowledge peaks at shouting shoot at the screen. But even I can see that Sesko was in the right positions. He was United's clearest goalscoring threat. Missing chances contributed to United not winning, sure, but pinning the entire blame on him is unfair. Being in the right place to carve out those chances proves he is doing something right. The finishing was rusty; the movement was not.

Here is the bit that really matters, though:

Sesko's night in numbers	Total
Touches in the opposition box	8
Shots	6
Shots on target	4
Times hit the woodwork	1
Ground duels won	3 of 10
Aerial duels won	1 of 2
Goals	0

Sesko won just three of 10 ground duels and one of two aerial duels. That aerial number matters because his game is based on aerial play. United have to adapt their build-up play to supply him in that way. I keep reading about playing to a striker's strengths as if it is rocket science, but for Sesko it seems fairly simple: get the ball into areas where he can attack it in the air, and stop asking him to be a midfield magician in a wrestling match. He has three goals in 16 games for United. That is simply not good enough for a club of this size. But there is no doubting he is a quality player. At 22, he has the opportunity to lead the line for many years, but that success will hinge on the team being built around him.

As a fan, I do not need a 4,000-word tactical breakdown to understand the obvious: United drew with a team that had two points, and their most expensive-looking striker missed the chances that could have won it. Both things can be true. Sesko can be a quality player and also the most frustrating man on the pitch. Amorim can be let down by his stars and also responsible for making the system fit them. My remote survived the evening. My optimism took a small knock.

So here is my completely unqualified advice, offered with the confidence of a man who has never coached anything above a Sunday kickabout: build around Sesko. Cross the ball. Attack the box. Do not leave a 22-year-old aerial threat isolated while everyone else plays pretty passes in midfield. United have a striker who can lead the line for years — if they stop treating him like a square peg in a round hole. And if they keep drawing at home to teams on two points, I may need a new remote. 😅