Wednesday 16 December 2015 06:42, UK
Manchester United forward James Wilson has made an impressive start to his loan spell at Brighton, scoring in his first two starts. With Louis van Gaal’s team struggling for goals, could they turn to the youngster before the end of the season? Adam Bate reports from Loftus Road…
"The first goal is the hardest," James Wilson told Sky Sports after getting off the mark for Brighton earlier this month. There's not much evidence for that theory so far in the young Manchester United striker's career. After all, Wilson scored twice on his professional debut for United against Hull last year.
He'd already scored on his first appearance for England Under-19s and marked his England Under-21 debut with a goal in September. So it wasn't a huge surprise when he netted on his first start of a loan spell at Brighton, helping the team turn things around in their home win over Charlton.
It was a wonderful solo effort too, picking the ball up from deep and gliding past two defenders before forcing the ball home. He followed that up with the opener at Derby at the weekend, a glancing near-post volley - a strike to justify Chris Hughton's claim that Wilson is a "proven goalscorer".
Given their own team's goalscoring problems, United fans don't know whether to feel proud or frustrated by Wilson's form but have probably settled for a combination of both. Many will have watched Brighton's 2-2 draw at Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday for an update on his progress.
On the ground where he scored his only Premier League goal of last season, he certainly appeared confident, driving at QPR from the kick-off, and some of his hold-up play was encouraging. His runs were good but he couldn't find a finish, checking into trouble when his only opportunity arrived.
"We looked like we could catch them on the counter-attack and get a third," said Hughton afterwards and Wilson appeared the man most likely to get it. Brighton led when he was replaced by Bobby Zamora late on, but upon being reduced to 10 men could not hold on for the points.
While that was a disappointment, crucially, the signs are that Wilson is enjoying himself in the Championship. "It's a different style, you can see that when you watch the games," he told Sky Sports. "It's a lot more frantic and end-to-end stuff, which will probably play more into my hands."
There was enough to suggest that could well be true with Wilson's pace a real asset when there's space behind in which to run and he was in regular communication with the Brighton defenders looking for that ball in behind the QPR defence.
However, that raises a key concern and hints at part of the reason why Wilson found himself on the periphery at Old Trafford in the first place. Is his current skill-set really suited to success under Louis van Gaal at Manchester United?
Javier Hernandez is another striker who loves to make those runs in behind, but he was allowed to leave for good in the summer. He has since scored 15 goals in his last 12 games for Bayer Leverkusen - five more than Manchester United as a team have scored from their last 12 games.
While that might suggest that Hernandez could have been useful to United in what's proving a tricky season, there is a suspicion that Van Gaal's slow build-up would have neutralised his strengths. The hope must be that Wilson has the tools to add rather more to his game. At 20, there's every chance.
As England Under-21 coach Gareth Southgate said earlier this season, "Wilson is a work in progress and still has some filling out to do", so there is some potential there for his all-round game to develop significantly. For that reason, despite frustrations with Van Gaal's decisions, this one seems selfless.
"In the short term, maybe it's not so good for Manchester United, but in the long term it's better," said Van Gaal when the deal was agreed. "It's part of the development of a player. I can imagine that fans are thinking that is ridiculous as they have difficulties to score, but that is a short term thought."
Even so, the fact that Wilson's loan deal is such that United reserve the right to cut short his stay on the south coast and recall him, adds a complication to the situation. Much to the annoyance of Brighton's exasperated press officer, that question was put to Hughton once again after the game.
"The deal that we have with him is that he is with us until the end of the season," reiterated the Brighton boss. "Yes, United can call him back, but the reason why they're comfortable with him coming here is for his development. They feel he needs competitive league games."
With Brighton hosting Middlesbrough in a top-of-the-table clash on Saturday, Wilson is certainly getting that and it's easy to see the logic behind the move. But United could do with some goals soon to ensure every one scored by Wilson is a source of glee rather than ire among their fans.
