Manchester United were put to the sword in the second-half and eventually succumbed to a 1-4 defeat at the hands of Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Sunday.
The result meant the Red Devils dropped down to 14th in the Premier League table and are set to finish with their lowest-ever points tally in the competition.
Ruben Amorim decided to make a few bold changes and it is safe to say that none of them worked out as the lack of physicality and poor transfer decisions were laid bare by Eddie Howe’s side.
Altay Bayindir, starting his first top-flight game in place of the struggling Andre Onana, made a huge mistake for the home side’s final goal of the day.
Joshua Zirkzee had to be substituted after picking up what seemed to be a hamstring injury and now the head coach only has an out-of-form Rasmus Hojlund for the rest of the season.
Eriksen struggled as expected
In midfield, the Portuguese tactician decided to hand Casemiro a much-deserved break but due to the lack of options available, he was forced to start Christian Eriksen.
It is well established that the Dane no longer possesses the legs to play in a high-intensity Premier League game and an away match against the Magpies is one of the most intense games in the season.
No wonder the club have not offered him an extension to his contract, which expires at the end of the season with the midfield veteran expected to leave these shores.
The home side players absolutely swarmed around and hardly allowed the Denmark international time to breathe and he had the lowest touches of the three United midfielders.
He completed 89 per cent of his passes but failed to successfully complete a single cross while managing only one successful long ball.
The 33-year-old managed 0 shots, 0 dribbles and while he was brought in for his brilliant passing, he managed 0 key passes. He won only 50 per cent of his ground duels while engaging in 0 aerial duels.
Not fit enough any longer
The former Tottenham Hotspur man hardly affected the game in a defensive sense, making 0 clearances, 0 interceptions and 0 blocks while being dribbled past twice as the Magpies ran rings around him (all stats via sofascore).
For the third goal after Noussair Mazraoui slipped, Eriksen failed to keep up with Harvey Barnes who stormed through and scored emphatically.
With Manuel Ugarte’s form also taking a nosedive, Amorim only has Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo, who only recently returned from injury, as midfield options.
Amorim needs a major revamp but can INEOS afford it remains the question. Champions League qualification is a must for that to happen but can the 20-time English league champions go all the way in the Europa League? All eyes on Thursday.
Feature image Michael Steele 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
