“Now even more important”: Bournemouth boss sings the praises of United star ahead of crunch match

Manchester United welcome AFC Bournemouth to Old Trafford in the side’s last home fixture before Christmas. The Red Devils are currently eighth in the league at the time of writing, but a victory on Monday evening could see them catapult up to fifth place in the league. Form United head into the game on a good run, with only one loss in their last nine matches, but also only one win in their last five league games. The Cherries also enter the game in an unusual state, having picked up just two points from their last five league games. Andoni Iraola singles out Amad The Spanish head coach at Bournemouth was very complimentary of United in his pre-match press conference, but he picked out Amad as a potential difference maker. It is still unclear whether United’s African players, Amad, Bryan Mbeumo or Noussair Mazraoui, will be able to play in the match tonight owing to AFCON commitments. Iraola sung the praises of Amad anyway ahead of the crunch tie. In comments carried by The Metro, he claimed, “the signings they have made up front – [Bryan] Mbeumo, [Matheus] Cunha, [Benjamin] Sesko – but especially players like Amad, who is now even more important.” He added, “(Amad) is an even bigger threat, and we have to be ready to defend difficult duels for the full-backs and for the centre-backs because you have to defend some very good players in open spaces.” Amad’s season The Ivorian has played in 14 matches this season, scoring once and providing three assists. Amad has developed a strong partnership with Mbeumo down the right-hand side, which United will miss greatly during the AFCON. The Ivorian scored a goal against the Cherries in pre-season, but has never scored or assisted against them in two league matches. Amad season stats 25/26 AppearancesGoalsAssists Mins played 14131116 Source: transfermarkt.com Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. 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. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.