Michael Carrick’s experiment with Patrick Dorgu reached international football in Denmark’s latest game against DR Congo.
Countries are busy preparing for the World Cup with warm-up games, so the friendlies happening right now are more intense than usual.
This means more can be learned from them for the clubs as well, and Patrick Dorgu’s latest outing as Denmark’s left-winger vs Congo was particularly interesting.
Here’s how he fared, and what Michael Carrick will have learned from it.
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How Patrick Dorgu fared for Denmark vs DR Congo
One thing that can be said about Dorgu is that even when he was struggling to make an impact at Old Trafford, his performances for Denmark always stood out.
In fact, the contrast was so stark it prompted Ruben Amorim to drop the infamous “anxiety” line about watching Dorgu play for Man Utd.
Carrick got rid of that anxiety, and what he’s done with Carrick is only more remarkable after watching the player struggle to have the same impact for Denmark in that position.
Starting as the LW, Dorgu was subbed off at half-time after having a game to forget in the goalless draw.
He was the lowest-rated outfielder on the pitch (as per Fotmob), as his 45 minutes rendered just nine passes, 20 touches, and zero defensive contributions.
Effectively, playing further forward hid his strengths, which is his engine, and exacerbated his weakness, which is a lack of 1v1 skills.
Michael Carrick’s learning from Dorgu’s outing
There has been a lot of excitement over Dorgu potentially transitioning into an attacker full-time, but it’s impossible to see him in these games, like vs DR Congo, and not think that it would be a misuse of his ability.
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Dorgu is a door-smasher type of player instead of a lock-picker, and door smashers do best when they have mileage to build momentum and pace before smashing it.
Playing Dorgu closer to the goal takes that running road away from him, and if the opposition sits deep and closes the spaces, he is easy to isolate as a black hole in the attacking patterns.
It’s notable that Dorgu’s best games as a LW are against three teams who took the initiative and tried to boss possession – Man City, Arsenal, and Brighton.
Dorgu is untested at United against deep blocks due to his injury, but the Congo game painted a picture of how that will limit United’s attack as well.
Carrick must have learned from this game that Dorgu at LW is a tactical solution for specific games, not a long-term plan.
The team’s ceiling will be much higher with him bombing down the overlap as a left-back to maintain width while the inside forward ahead of him cuts inside.
Dorgu’s strengths lie in creating numerical overloads out wide and playing in space. That’s a full-back trait, not a winger one.
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