MANCHESTER UNITED defender Patrick Dorgu admits it was not nice to be criticised by manager Ruben Amorim.
Amorim said last month that Dorgu was anxious on the ball and bemoaned his wayward shot in the 1-0 home defeat to Everton.
Dorgu was dropped after that performance for the next four games but was recalled to the starting XI last week at Aston Villa, where he assisted Matheus Cunha’s equaliser.
The Denmark international then went one better with a superb winning goal against Newcastle in the only Premier League fixture on Boxing Day.
It was Dorgu’s first goal for United in his 38th appearance and he is pleased with how he has responded to Amorim’s assessment.
He said: “Yeah, the manager spoke about my confidence a few weeks ago.
“So I just looked inside and tried to understand what he meant. And I just tried to build myself up.
“Of course it’s never nice to get criticism, but you will always get it as a player and you need to react well to it.
“And I think I’ve reacted well in the last couple of games.
“We’ve got players at Afcon and injured players, so this is my chance to show I belong in this team. And I feel like I’m doing it in the last couple of games.
“So I just need to keep going and try to keep the manager happy.”
Dorgu made his United debut against Leicester City in the FA Cup on the right wing but was substituted at half-time.
The 21-year-old returned to the right-hand side for the 1-0 victory against Newcastle in what Dorgu agreed was his best performance since his £30million arrival from Serie A side Lecce in January.
Amorim told Dorgu he would be switched to the right “a few days” before the visit of Newcastle and Dorgu revealed how helpful captain Bruno Fernandes, sidelined through injury, had been in the pre-match preparations.
Dorgu added: “It’s not that kind of strike in training, but I’ve been training to shoot more in the games and I think I hit it really well.
“I’m really happy that it went in.
“It’s the same (playing on the right), just you come inside to your stronger foot, so sometimes it’s even easier to attack and connect with the teammates, so I find it really easy.
“Obviously my teammates help me as well, I spoke to Bruno and some of the leader group in my team.
“And they just try to help me on a daily basis to grow in confidence in training and stuff.”
