Manchester United fans haven’t had a lot to shout about this season, but the rise of Anthony Elanga is something that will really excite supporters.
The 19-year-old started his second successive match on Wednesday night against Brentford, and he took the opportunity with both hands.
Elanga opened the scoring in the 55th minute when he latched onto a looped pass from Fred and nodded home from close range; his side won the match 3-1.
There was a lot to like about Elanga’s performance, where he showed maturity beyond his years but still retained the youthful desire of a young winger to take on his man and drive down the wing.
But that won’t be a shock to Gary Neville, who compared the Norwegian to Thierry Henry in 2020 after watching the winger play for the United under-21s.
He called Elanga a ‘nightmare to play against’ before likening him to the French forward, who scored 175 league goals for Arsenal and became a Premier League legend at the club.
Speaking to BT Sport after the game, Rio Ferdinand heaped the praise on to Elanga. He said: “It’s nice to see someone like Elanga come in and do well.
“Superstars all around him. He had loads and loads of clubs try to loan him because they’ve seen what he’s done in the teams, under-23s etc. The run there was phenomenal.
“He makes the full-back have to be honest in the game because he’ll test you. He’ll run in behind - that goal epitomised how he wants to play, running behind the full-backs, test him, make him have to defend and he asks questions of defenders and that’s what you want him to do.”
The good performances of wingers Elanga, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford leaves manager Ralf Rangnick with a conundrum that he will need to solve, as all three scored in the 3-1 win.
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Rangnick appears to have reverted back to the 4-2-3-1 system at Old Trafford and thus there is only room for two of the aforementioned wingers, plus summer signing Jadon Sancho must also be considered as he didn’t sign for £73m to simply warm the bench.
Questions have been raised over the form of Rashford of late, despite his goal, and why the Englishman has been unable to influence games as much as he once would.
Asked what Rangnick must do in order to get the best out of the 24-year-old, Ferdinand said: “I don't know, it’s difficult for the manager. It’s who you’re playing against.
“Which out of Elanga, Greenwood and Rashford suit playing against the opposition and exploit their weaknesses more. I think that’s what the manager will look at.
“If you’re Elanga or Greenwood you sit there and go, ‘I’ve affected the game, I scored a goal so how are you going to take me out the starting lineup?’ So, it’s good for the manager to have those problems.”
It remains to be seen just how many opportunities Elanga will have between now and the end of the season, and whether the youngster will continue to justify why Neville compared him to Henry previously.
