Bryan Mbeumo's Tactical Struggles at Manchester United

Bryan Mbeumo’s season was supposed to explode. Right now, it’s barely flickering.

After a sharp pre-season – three goals and an assist in six games – the expectation was simple: Brentford-era Mbeumo, but in a United shirt. Direct. Relentless. A constant menace around the box.

That version has not shown up often enough.

A threat stranded on the touchline

Seven league appearances into the 2026–27 campaign, Mbeumo has two goals and one assist. On paper, that return looks acceptable. On the pitch, it tells only a fraction of the story.

Too many games are passing him by. He appears in flashes, a half-chance here, a promising run there, then disappears for long stretches. For a player signed to tilt matches, that is a problem.

The last three games have stripped away the disguise of early contributions. No goals, no assists, and suddenly the wider picture is harder to ignore: United’s number 19 is nowhere near decisive enough.

The irony is that there is no mystery about what Mbeumo does best. He is a goal threat. Always has been.

Yet instead of keeping him close to the danger zone – as he was at Brentford, and as Ruben Amorim had initially mapped out – Michael Carrick has pushed him into a more old-school, touchline-hugging role on the right.

So Mbeumo spends his evenings wide on the chalk, receiving the ball with his heels on the line, asked to beat full-backs and sling crosses into the box. That is not his game. He is not a showy dribbler who lives for one-on-one duels. The further he drifts from goal, the more you strip away his edge.

We saw this pattern late last season. We are seeing it again now.

Time for a tactical tweak

Carrick has a simple adjustment available: move Mbeumo back towards the areas where he hurts teams.

Use him as an inverted winger. Let him drift inside rather than be chained to the paint. Give him license to attack the half-spaces, to dart beyond defenders, to arrive in the box rather than watch it from 30 yards away.

With the right-back overlapping and holding the width, the structure on that flank would remain intact. The difference is that United would have their finisher operating where it matters instead of their finisher masquerading as a touchline crosser.

Because that is the crux of it: United did not bring Mbeumo in to float hopeful balls into the area. They signed him for his sharpness in front of goal, for those quick, decisive moments when a half-chance becomes a goal.

Unlocking that version does not require a reinvention of the team. It requires a rethinking of his role. Play him as an inverted winger. Use him as a nine when the game demands it.

The player who terrified defences at Brentford has not vanished. He has just been moved away from the place where he does the most damage. The question now is whether Carrick is willing to drag him back into the box and let him decide games again.