Manchester United were lucky to escape with a point from Portman Road on Sunday in what was Ruben Amorim’s first game in charge of the club.
It was Marcus Rashford who handed the Red Devils the lead but Ipswich Town created the better chances and the visitors had Andre Onana to thank to keep the hosts down to only one goal.
The team lacked fluidity, something that was expected considering the limited time the Portuguese got with the whole squad, but quite a few players did not seem like they suit Amorim’s system.
The midfield duo of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen struggled to track back after being asked to press high while the defence consisting of Jonny Evans lacked the pace to cover high.
Age has caught up with the trio and they cannot handle the demands and are unlikely to stay beyond the current campaign as evidenced against Kieran McKenna’s team.
Intensity issues
The former Sporting Lisbon boss has time and again, since his arrival, harped on the need for intensity and how the physical floor of the team needs improving.
It has been a recurring theme in the recent past that the 20-time English league champions have got outrun by opponents on matchdays.
Erik ten Hag reacted strongly at the start of his tenure, and a day after the team got humbled by Brentford, the Dutchman called up the players and made them run 14 kilometres, the same distance the Bees outran them by.
After a initial spike, things once again started regressing since the Dutchman’s second season and Sky Sports pointed out how that has continued into Amorim’s reign.
Against the Tractor Boys, “The Old Trafford side covered 6.5 kms fewer than their opponents and made 138 sprints to their hosts’ 150.”
Interestingly, United have only outrun their league opposition on two occasions, in their win over Fulham and their recent draw against Chelsea.
Getting outrun is a recurrent theme
“We have to be so much better physically to cope with the high pressure, the volume of the high-speed running, all these things but we need time to work on these things,” Amorim had said soon after his arrival.
As former club skipper Harry Maguire pointed out after Sunday’s game, ultimately the players need to be better than their opponent, which means putting in the hard yards and outrunning them.
Unlike Ten Hag, the 39-year-old is expected to rotate the squad heavily as games come thick and fast and that is likely to cause less injuries and we are likely to see more intensity from fresher legs.
When Amorim gets a fully-fit squad at his disposal, things are expected to improve on this front while with continued exposure to his demands, players are likely to improve as well.
But the head coach will need help from INEOS in the transfer market with quite a few areas lacking the quality needed to carry out his instructions as seen from the display on Sunday.
Feature image Richard Pelham 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
