Young Manchester United talent Shea Lacey delivered a determined message on social media following Wednesday evening’s 2-2 stalemate at Burnley. The Red Devils found themselves trailing at half-time courtesy of an unfortunate own goal from Ayden Heaven.
Benjamin Sesko’s double after the interval turned the tide in United’s favour, yet just when victory appeared within grasp, Jaidon Anthony struck to level proceedings. The result proved exasperating for caretaker manager Darren Fletcher, who abandoned Ruben Amorim‘s tactical setup – which featured three centre-backs and wing-backs – despite his side creating multiple scoring opportunities.
A bright spot emerged through young attacker Lacey’s display, who rattled the crossbar and impressed throughout at Turf Moor. The 18-year-old has now reflected on proceedings with a brief 10-word statement on Instagram.
He wrote: “We tried until the end. Thank you to the fans,” accompanied by a red love heart emoji.
Lacey’s message garnered substantial engagement. Bryan Mbeumo (currently representing Cameroon at the Africa Cup of Nations), Joshua Zirkzee, Lisandro Martinez, Matheus Cunha, and Patrick Dorgu featured amongst the United personnel, showing their appreciation for his update.
Team-mate Dan Gore responded with a love heart emoji, whilst fellow Red Devils Rhys Bennett and Harry Amass added ‘top’ and ‘special’ comments respectively.
Fletcher has expressed confidence that Lacey will assume a “big part” in United’s future following his encouraging cameo against the Clarets. Darren Fletcher praised the youngster’s performance, revealing his tactical instructions: “I said to him, stay wide and go and do what you do, and he did that,” Fletcher explained.
“I know he’s gonna make an impact. I know he’s creative.
“He’s got goals in him. He’s exciting, he’s direct, he’s fearless, and he hit the crossbar, and he had another shot, so he had a really bright game.”
Fletcher expressed his satisfaction with the player’s progress after a difficult spell: “I’m pleased for him because there have been a lot of injuries in recent years, and he’s not really got going with his momentum, but we know the talent that he’s got, and he’ll be a big part of Manchester United‘s future. I’ve no doubts about that.”
The United coach had challenged his squad to deliver an entertaining performance, and was delighted with their attacking intent.
“It was about them to be proactive, to attack, to go and highlight themselves, go and showcase the abilities they have as individuals and as players and be really front-foot, proactive, exciting,” he explained. “They were the challenges that we put towards them and they did that.
“I think, as I said, it wasn’t perfect, but there was lots of good things within that. I think if we look back on that game, barring probably the start and then after we went 2-1 up, I think the rest of the game is pretty much total domination and creating lots of chances.
“We probably look at and are disappointed we’ve not scored more goals because we’ve got to score more goals when you create that many chances.”