Wout Weghorst found himself out of the Manchester United side for the first team since his January arrival in midweek.
The striker, who has struggled to win over the supporters, was benched against Brentford as Jadon Sancho came into the team to form a fluid frontline and help earn a 1-0 win. It ended Weghorst's run of 19 straight United starts during which time he has managed just two goals, neither of which have come in the Premier League.
Erik ten Hag has faith in the Netherlands international but fans and pundits have been less than impressed with the 30-year-old. Weghorst will be hoping for a recall when Everton visit Old Trafford on Saturday lunchtime and the game will see him reunited with Sean Dyche, the manager who brought him to English football.
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Dyche, now in charge of the Toffees, signed Weghorst for Burnley in a £12million deal last January. The striker had a promising start to his Clarets career but struggled for goals, scoring just twice, and ended the season out of the team as Burnley were relegated.
Dyche, who was sacked by the Clarets last April, always defended Weghorst citing his all-round game and professionalism as key attributes that offset a lack of goals. Speaking last season, Dyche outlined what the now Manchester United frontman offers in attack, and it's a message that means few should be surprised with his goal return for Erik ten Hag's side.
"The centre forward’s role is the hardest job in the business," said Dyche, when discussing Weghorst last February. "One, because most of the time your back is to goal which makes it a whole different ball game. Two, we ask a lot of our centre forwards. We want them to work hard without the ball, press when they can, keep their shape when they can and when we have the ball you have to make sure you are keeping it and delivering for the team.
"And I think Wout has shown an all-round version of that so far. His awareness to bring others in. There’s a couple of times when he's dropped into midfield when he needed too, defensively he made a great tackle for the goal to regain possession. At the end of the day his job is to score goals but he is adding a lot of other things and that allows other players to come to life."
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