Hargreaves Warns United of Familiar Pitfall as Sesko Shouldered with Too Much Responsibility

Owen Hargreaves has rounded on Manchester United for making the same strategic error repeatedly—and it's one that threatens to derail Benjamin Sesko's development at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils enjoyed a productive summer in the transfer market, moving on their surplus players efficiently whilst investing around £230m in Senne Lammens, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, and Sesko. All four have contributed meaningfully this season, with the 22-year-old striker particularly catching the eye of late, netting three goals in his last two outings after earlier being written off by some.

Yet there's a catch. Sesko finds himself in an unenviable position: leading United's attack without adequate support. For Hargreaves, this represents a troubling pattern at the club.

"He's a threat and he's shown that—there's so much room for improvement," Hargreaves told TNT Sports. "Physically, he's got amazing traits and I think he'll keep getting better. But the burden shouldn't fall solely on Benjamin Sesko to score goals.

"United used to have four or five strikers. Think of Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, then the young lads coming through—Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez.

"It shouldn't just be one young man still learning his trade. We saw what happened with Rasmus Hojlund and how that turned out—he's on loan now. So you've got another young lad bearing the weight of scoring all the goals, and that's a massive ask for one player."

The parallels with Hojlund's struggles are uncomfortable, yet Hargreaves remains optimistic about United's immediate prospects. They sit just three points adrift of fourth place with one game per week—a luxury their rivals don't enjoy—and should be capable of landing Champions League football.

"They should get Champions League football," Hargreaves insisted. "They're the only team in that battle without European commitments. They can recover properly, work on the training pitch. I genuinely think they should.

"They've got the attacking output—third-highest scorers in the league. The issue is they're conceding too many. That's their biggest problem. A switch to a back four might help, but with the personnel available, they've got enough to finish in the top five. They really should."

The mathematics favour United, but tightening their rearguard will be essential. For Sesko's sake—and for their season—they can't afford to keep asking one young player to do it all.