Manchester United travelled to Romania to take on FCSB in the final league match of the Europa League this evening.
Altay Bayindir returned to goal and is now clearly Ruben Amorim’s cup keeper.
Lisandro Martinez started alongside Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazroui proved his flexibility by playing as the right centre back. Diogo Dalot and Tyrell Malacia started as the wing-backs.
Toby Collyer started alongside Bruno Fernandes in the middle of the park, while Christian Eriksen got a rare start.
Kobbie Mainoo took up a more advanced position than usual and Rasmus Hojlund was given another chance to add to his goal tally in Europe.
Here are four things we learnt from the match.
Lisandro Martinez is growing into 3-4-3
The Argentinian did not have a great start to this season under Erik ten Hag and struggled to get to grips originally with Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-3.
He has grown into his role lately as he is more confident in his defensive actions and most impressively of all, has dramatically improved the accuracy of his passing.
The extra centre back has given him the freedom to advance forward and he already has two goals this calendar year.
In the first half he played a few nice balls in behind and to break the lines of the Romanian defence.
United fans will hope this is a return to the Butcher they fell in love with in the 2022/2023 season.
A lot of passing but no cutting edge in first half
The Red Devils selected to play Christian Eriksen to have more control of the ball and that is certainly what happened.
United had 69% possession in the first half and completed 364 passes.
Nonetheless, they had little in the way of concrete chances, only producing three shots on target as they held onto the ball with ease but rarely got near the Romanian’s goal.
Amorim will hope that with time and further training, his side can develop the attacking patterns that he craves in the final third.
The introduction of Alejandro Garnacho and Amad helped immensely and made United much more threatening in attacking areas. Nonetheless, United will want to start games faster and carry more attacking threat early on in matches.
Tyrell Malacia off the pace
The Dutch fullback has been linked to a move away from Old Trafford this January and in this form, it is clear why.
He only managed 45 minutes of action before being subbed off after picking up a yellow card early in the first half.
Malacia made a poor challenge and put himself under unnecessary pressure.
He also lost the ball a few times in dangerous areas and looks off the pace at this level.
A loan move may be best at a lower level where he can re-discover his old form.
Kobbie Mainoo impresses in advanced position
The 19 year old has found it difficult to completely fit into Amorim’s system but perhaps he has found his role after tonight’s showing.
He should have scored in the first half after firing the ball over and got himself in a few dangerous areas.
Mainoo provided the assist for Diogo Dalot’s opener with a wonderful ball fired across the area.
He got his reward in the 69th minute when he slotted home the second goal of the game, his first strike since the FA Cup final.
Crucially, he was much more involved in the game and looked a lot happier connecting the midfield with the attack.
Featured image Vasili Mihai-Antonio via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
