Despite a brilliant start, Manchester United were ultimately pegged back and were lucky in the end to escape with a point from Portman Road in Ruben Amorim’s first game in charge against Ipswich Town on Sunday.
Amad Diallo and Marcus Rashford combined to net the opener within 90 seconds but the team had Andre Onana to thank for keeping their point intact as otherwise the hosts could easily have netted three goals.
The Portuguese made a few interesting selection calls but on first viewing, it seems like United’s squad is not fit to handle Amorim’s demands.
The midfield and wing-back positions need strengthening while the ex-Sporting Lisbon boss will be praying that he gets his full coterie of defenders fit soon so as to minimise the load on their No 1.
Defensive struggles
With Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Lisandro Martinez still sidelined, Amorim had no choice but to start with Jonny Evans at the back.
And while the Northern Irishman tried hard, he struggled to play as the left-sided centre-back and it was only after Luke Shaw came in that the team looked more composed.
Regarding Leny Yoro’s absence from yesterday’s match-day squad, I’m reliably told no further set-backs have been suffered, rather he’s simply continuing his planned reintegration following the injury he sustained during pre-season. pic.twitter.com/KQi1XhohJD
— SCOOP. (@AcademyScoop) November 25, 2024
Another defender Amorim is keen to utilise is Leny Yoro, the £59 million summer acquisition from Lille, who suffered an unfortunate pre-season injury.
In training, Amorim had tried Yoro as the right-sided centre-half but the Frenchman is just slowly returning to full fitness and hence, did not find a place in the matchday squad on Sunday.
Yoro return
As revealed by the reliable Academy Scoop on X, the Red Devils are being extra careful with 18-year-old and do not want to rush him back in and want to avoid any further complications.
“Regarding Leny Yoro’s absence from yesterday’s match-day squad, I’m reliably told no further set-backs have been suffered, rather he’s simply continuing his planned reintegration following the injury he sustained during pre-season.”
Yoro was eyeing the Arsenal game on December 4 as the match to make his comeback and it will be interesting to see when Amorim finally hands him his debut.
Mazraoui is far better suited as the wing-back as that will allow Amad Diallo to play further forward while also providing Yoro the space to play on the right side of the defence.
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
