Manchester United pair Anthony Elanga and Victor Lindelof were in action yesterday for Sweden against Serbia in the UEFA Nations League.
Lindelof captained the side, as they lost 4-1.
Elanga did not start the game. The 20-year-old started on the bench and only played for 26 minutes with manager Jan Andersson preferring a front three of Viktor Gyökeres, Emil Forsberg, and Tottenham’s Dejan Kulusevski.
The United academy graduate failed to impact the game off the bench, something his stats showed .
In his 26 minutes on the pitch, Elanga only managed a single shot on target.
He attempted four dribbles, with only a paltry two being successful.
The young attacker registered an impressive 25 touches of the ball, showing his all-action involvement in what was a disappointing outing on a personal level for him and for the Blågult.
The player made 15 passes, with 12 of them successfully reaching their intended destination – a pass accuracy of 80%.
Elanga also made just one key pass during his cameo, which showed that he could not impact the game as his manager would have desired.
He crossed the ball once against the defensively sound Serbians.
Out of the five ground duels he delved into, the 20-year-old only won two.
An even more frustrating metric for Elanga on the night came in the number of times he lost the ball, ceding possession back to the opposition nine times in total, almost once every three minutes.
This is something he has been accused of at United and should he want to improve as a player and hit the heights his potential suggests he can reach, he must cut out this wastefulness from his game.
Elanga vs Serbia:
26 mins played
6.6 @SofaScoreINT rating
1 shot on target
1/3 dribb attempts
25 touches
80% pass acc
1 key pass
0/1 cross
1/4 ground duels
9 poss lost#mufc— RedReveal (@RedReveal) September 24, 2022
A disappointing cameo for Elana on the night under the stewardship of his more senior United teammate Lindelof, his performance against Serbia will not do him any favors either for club or country. He still has a long way to go.
