Diogo Dalot has been blasted for not being good enough in attack or defence for Manchester United by a man who really, really hates “high fives”.
Dalot is now one of the longest-serving players at United having joined the club as a 19-year-old in 2018 and only Bruno Fernandes has played more minutes under Ruben Amorim than the full-back.
Capable of playing on the left or the right, Dalot has started seven of United’s 11 Premier League games this season but was dropped for Patrick Dorgu for the trip to Tottenham after his less than convincing display against Nottingham Forest.
Dalot is often seen celebrating tackles and defensive work, and congratulating teammates for their contributions, and former United full-back Paul Parker isn’t a fan of the Portuguese star’s cheerleading.
“Dalot’s making far too many mistakes, unnecessary mistakes. He’s more interested in high-fiving people when he makes a tackle than actually doing his job properly,” Parker told Metro via online casino Unibet.
“So, high-fives don’t win you games of football. By the time you’ve done your high-five, they could have actually bounced off of your great tackle and gone and scored a goal. So, high-five at half-time or after the game. So, no, you can’t trust Dalot there.
“You’re not getting enough quality in the final third from him as well. He doesn’t do enough defensively. He switches off too much, his clearances are poor, very poor, that’s one reason.”
Explaining his penchant for high fives and fist bumps, Dalot once said: “Us defenders, we don’t score goals too often, so these are our little goals during the 90 minutes.
“This is the goal for us so we will celebrate and I think it’s something that came completely naturally from us.”
Parker also took aim at midfielder Manuel Ugarte, insisting Amorim must “keep him on the bench” rather than using him to save Casemiro’s legs late in games.
“He hasn’t done that well,” Parker said. “I quite liked him because he was a breath of fresh air when he arrived, someone who wanted to run around and he got stuck in, very rarely lost possession even when under pressure.
“But when he comes on now, United concede. They generally concede. At best they start to be under pressure, and that’s because of someone like Casemiro’s coming off for him. So, at the moment in time, if I’m the manager of Manchester United, no need to make systematic changes.
“Full-backs might change, but the middle stays the same. Get continuity in that midfield. Even when things are going okay and you’re 1-0 up and the team look comfortable, they can be more comfortable.
“Especially if you keep it the same rather than making three or four changes. Unnecessary changes, just to give people minutes. Keep Casemiro on, keep Ugarte on the bench.”