Irwin would surely approve of United's new unsung hero at heart of defence

DENIS Irwin sat behind Sir Alex Ferguson on Thursday night.

- SAMUEL LUCKHURST

The sight of Irwin, a world-class right-footed left-back in his pomp and specialist at free kicks and penalties, will have made United supporters of a certain vintage wistful.

Noussair Mazraoui, at 27, is already the same age Irwin was when United celebrated their breakthrough championship in 1993.

Mazraoui almost certainly will never reach the heights Irwin did but flattering parallels are developing between the two full-backs.

Mazraoui has started at rightback, left-back, the No.10 and now right centre-back. He has not disgraced himself in any of the roles and has been the sole consistent performer in the early days of Ruben Amorim's reign.

It is telling that Mazraoui's two assists have come under two different managers and not the one who signed him. That fleet of foot that enabled Mazraoui to navigate his way into Bodo/Glimt territory was foretold by Erik ten Hag.

On the eve of Mazraoui's debut, Ten Hag said: "It's quite difficult to put him under pressure. Especially in English football, that can be very beneficial. There is always pressure on the ball. This is a player: one of his key attributes is it is very difficult to put him under pressure because he often finds solutions." Since a solid performance against Fulham, Mazraoui has maintained a respectably high performance level, as Irwin used to. Ruud van Nistelrooy and now Ruben Amorim have coaxed the attacking instincts out of him.