Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Leny Yoro, Manchester United
Chris Nee
Leny Yoro's start to life in England saw him be part of a second defeat in two appearances just a few days apart.
The Manchester United youngster came off the bench against Arsenal in midweek and was named in Ruben Amorim's starting eleven against Nottingham Forest, his first start in the Premier League and his home debut at Old Trafford.
It wasn't the week the 19-year-old would have wanted on his return from the injury he sustained in pre-season after joining the Red Devils in a big money move from Lille.
While other United players made the individual mistakes that led to defeat, Yoro's performance didn't pass the eye test for many fans and his defensive statistics made for uncomfortable reading.
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Yoro was replaced by Noussair Mazraoui after 65 minutes of his first competitive match at Old Trafford.
Errors from Andre Onana and Lisandro Martinez have taken some of the attention away from Yoro's defensive performance data. He made one block and one interception but ended his home debut with a tally of zero tackles attempted, zero duels won and zero clearances made.
Clearly that's only part of the story and the reported £52.2m plus add-ons Man Utd shelled out for Yoro in the summer can't be ruled a failure on the basis of a partial review of two thirds of a match, not least because the third of a game he played at Arsenal yielded rather better stats.
Lisandro Martinez, whose decision to leave Chris Wood's header to sneak in at the post he was supposed to be covering saw what proved the winning goal, logged one tackle, one interception and one clearance in the full 90 minutes.
United had 71% possession and played more than twice as many passes in the opposition half as Forest, though, so the need to pile up the defensive stats was minimal.
Given United's dominance of the ball, Yoro's statistics in possession should be considered more illuminating.
The young Frenchman's pass completion rate against Forest was higher than 95% and he completed all 25 attempted passes over medium distance (between 15 and 30 yards). Amorim will have no issue at all with those numbers and his defensive concerns will focus more on the sloppy concession of goals than a young defender having a limited impact out of possession when the opposition had only 29% of the ball.
United supporters have certainly directed their fury elsewhere after Saturday's defeat.