Shea Lacey featured in both of Darren Fletcher’s matches as interim head coach, offering a bright spot during a tough period, despite his red card in the FA Cup against Brighton.
Lacey has put in a couple of promising performances over his last two appearances for Manchester United.
The academy product nearly found the net in the 2-2 draw against Burnley and turned heads again in the 2-1 loss to Brighton, even though it was his red card that made most of the headlines.
Lacey came on with United down by two goals. Benjamin Sesko then scored to cut the deficit, but soon after Lacey picked up two yellows – the second for dissent – and was sent off.
Once he is back from suspension following the Manchester derby, it would not be surprising to see him get another chance.
Rio Ferdinand praises Shea Lacey after Brighton cameo
Lacey made an immediate impact against Brighton, quickly becoming a focal point of United’s attacks down the right side.
United looked to funnel play through his wing, and he responded by delivering several inviting crosses into the area.
His directness stood out on a day when few others were willing to take on defenders, giving United something different in attack.
Reflecting on Lacey’s contribution, Rio Ferdinand did not hold back in his praise for the youngster.
During the post-match analysis on Rio Ferdinand Presents, the former Manchester United centre-back stated: “Do you know the thing about him? What jumps out to me? One he’s confident, one he’s got belief in his ability, and he’s got bundles of ability because we’ve been watching him for a couple of years now in the youth academy and whatnot.
“But he’s the only one, when you see him out there, who looks like he hasn’t got them deep scars of regimes before of past managers passing judgment on him or not showing an interest in them or not rating them.
“He’s just come in; he’s just he hasn’t got all of that baggage, all of that in his mind. His mind is just free of all of that.
“Just coming in, going, ‘I just need to go and play well’. And that’s a breath of fresh air.
“And you can see that in the way that he’s he plays. There isn’t any like looking over his shoulder or his head between his shoulders a little bit.
“No hiding in there and thinking, “Oh, no, but I don’t want to make a mistake.” He’s out there thinking, you can see it in him. Give me the ball. I just want to do something. I don’t care what it is. Just give me the get me the ball. I’m going to do something.
“And when he gets it, he does look a threat. But like you say, I hope he doesn’t just get pushed back into the 21s.”
How many players have Man Utd had sent off this season?
Lacey’s sending-off was just the second time a United player had been shown red this season.
Earlier in the campaign, Casemiro was sent off for a dangerous challenge against Chelsea. Despite being reduced to ten men, United managed to win that game 2-1 thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro himself.
Following Lacey’s red card against Brighton, Fletcher was shown a yellow card after the final whistle for protesting the decision.
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