Manchester United lost their third game in a row in all competitions, with Wolverhampton Wanderers winning their Premier League encounter 2-0 at the Molineux Stadium on Thursday.
Ruben Amorim has now managed only seven points from a possible 21 and has even fewer points in his first seven games than former manager Erik ten Hag accrued in his final seven games.
The Portuguese’s 3-4-3 system does not look like it will work in Manchester with the current squad just not good enough to carry out his instructions.
He either needs to compromise to a certain extent or else a relegation scrap could be on the cards for the second half of the campaign.
Bruno let the team down vs Wolves
Bruno Fernandes, the saviour of the team under previous managers, looks like the biggest mismatch in his system and against Wolves, he let his teammates down.
He had already seen a yellow in the first half but he proceeded to make a rash challenge in the first minute after the restart and as a result, he received his marching orders and his team were down to 10 men.
During his 47 minutes stay on the pitch, the captain lost possession a mammoth 14 times and it looked like the Wolves players had received specific instructions to press as soon as the 30-year-old got on the ball.
He won only 23 percent of his duels, and eventually his frustration boiled over and ended up costing the Red Devils the game (stats via sofascore).
The Portugal international managed only 23 passes and only one of his three attempted crosses found a player in red. None of his long balls were successful.
He had zero shots on target and successfully dribbled past his opponent only once out of three attempts. Usually so adept at doing the dirty side of things, Fernandes managed zero clearances and interceptions against the West Midlands side.
Not the perfect fit for Amorim’s style
This was his third red card of the season and he will miss the Newcastle United game on Monday. United might actually be better off without him currently, quite the shocking turnaround for the talisman.
The club captain offers very little in terms of attacking impetus down the left while he lacks the discipline required to operate in a deeper role.
His biggest strengths of spamming through balls every minute seem to have been nullified in Amorim’s system which prioritises control over counter attacking opportunities.
Amorim has a huge call to make moving forward with regards to his skipper’s position the squad. Either allow him to play his game and revert back to the Ten Hag era style or stick with his formation and possibly leave out Fernandes.
Feature image Naomi Baker via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
