Baleba has powerful determination to succeed
- Published
Carlos Baleba's speed is something that should bring positive benefits to Manchester United's midfield.
Andrey Santos has it; less so Kobbie Mainoo and Youri Tielemans, who have been paired together by Michael Carrick in the past four league games because of their superior technical abilities.
United have been too easy to play through and danger has not been spotted quickly enough.
Carrick's side are one of only four in the top flight yet to keep a clean sheet. They have conceded twice in four out of their seven games this season. Until an answer is found, an upturn in form is difficult to envisage.
Clearly, Baleba must do a bit more than run fast, and his input must be felt in the dressing room as well as on the pitch.
Sources say an understandable initial shyness and nervousness seems to be being overcome. Baleba is not the most confident English speaker, but he has improved significantly since he moved to Brighton from Lille for £23.2m in 2023.
He has struck up a friendship with Amad Diallo. It is coincidence two young players from Africa should be going through their recovery work at the same time, but also helpful that a shared background creates a natural bond that has been built on over the past few weeks.
It will be fascinating to see how Baleba and Bruno Fernandes match up to each other if they start against Tottenham at Old Trafford on Saturday, when defeat for either side has the potential to turn early season disappointment into a near crisis.
Baleba's natural, jocular personality should help his preparation. He will hope to get the chance to show off his back-flip goal celebration – even if an ability to find the net is not why United bought him.
More importantly, though, he has a powerful determination to succeed, drilled into him by his dad. He pushed him through punishing training sessions when he was younger, which Baleba has said was integral to him becoming a professional.