Anthony Elanga flashes quality but needs to add more to his game

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Anthony Elanga was recalled to the Manchester United team against Real Sociedad after being an unused substitute against Arsenal at the weekend.

A night which started positively for him, ended up feeling like a real missed opportunity.

The Sweden international started well for United, looking like he had the beating of right-back Andoni Gorosabel, but failed to take advantage of opportunities he helped to create.

There was one promising piece of play in the first half where he dribbled round the defender, ran to the byline and played a pass into the penalty area, which went nowhere. It summed up his evening.

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Elanga needs to add so much more

The highlight of Anthony Elanga’s season so far came in the 2-1 win over Liverpool last month.

His energy and pace caused trouble for Liverpool’s defence and helped to set the tone for an absolutely vital three points. This showed he has a use at United.

But the youngster has to add more, and he is learning on the job. United don’t know if he has the quality to reach the level required.

Last night against Real Sociedad ended in disappointment, for United, and for Anthony Elanga.

While he created two goalscoring chances during his 71 minutes on the pitch, he completed only 17 passes.

The Swede is down to third choice behind Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho for consideration on United’s left wing. Last night did nothing to change this.

Elanga’s performance in the second half did not pick up. He had a moment where Tyrell Malacia put him through towards goal, and instead of taking the ball in his stride and moving towards goal, he checked back, and played the ball away from goal towards Ronaldo.

His night ended with two shots at goal, and neither on target. The frustrating element is Elanga possesses some good traits. His movement and work rate is good, he can help United to press, and he demonstrated good close control as he attempted to create an opportunity in the first half.

But so far, it’s not come together, and Elanga waits for his first goal since February. He’s still never scored at Old Trafford, and he did not look close to breaking that duck last night.