Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United bow ended with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town yesterday (Sunday) with the new head coach failing to get off to a winning start.
United raced into the lead after just 80 seconds but couldn’t build on the electric opening and were pegged back on the stroke of half-time.
The second half failed to deliver an upturn in fortunes, with Amorim visibly agitated on the touchline as he watched his players go through the motions, much like they have for the majority of the season.
As reported by The Mirror, former United man Owen Hargreaves echoed those sentiments and said Amorim was left “frustrated” at the lack of tactical nous shown by some of his first team stars.
“He was pretty frustrated, I’m not going to lie. He was right in front of me and he was really, really frustrated with a lot of things,” he said.
“I think initially Dalot’s positioning, I think he was a little bit frustrated with that in the first half. I think the midfield balance he didn’t really like. And when Zirkzee came on I don’t think he was overly happy with his positioning and Hojlund as well.”
Dalot has been tipped to excel in the wing back role Amorim is likely to use him for but his struggles yesterday underlined there is work to be done with the 25-year old.
Zirkzee’s issues are far more obvious with the Dutchman looking scarily off the pace since his arrival at Old Trafford. Rumours of a January move only serve to highlight his dreadful start in a red shirt.
Hargreaves continued by saying the new United coach had players shoehorned into certain positions on the pitch but given his devotion to the 3-4-3 formation that has served him so well, it will be down to the players to adapt quickly.
“Zirkzee played as a No 10 and I don’t think that suited him. I think Marcus prefers to play on the left, and you could see that today. To me there looked like four or five players playing outside their natural position and that showed at times. Looking at that today I didn’t feel like it suited a lot of the players out there.
I don’t think Marcus knew at times where he needed to be when the ball was in certain areas and Ruben was quite frustrated with that,” said Hargreaves.
Hojlund and Rashford will be expected to play a key role in Amorim’s side moving forward but Rashford, in particular, is going to have to get used to a new role, likely more centrally, if he is going to survive under the new regime.
No doubt the 27-year-old remains a threat, underlined by his early goal yesterday, but Rashford must improve his overall game if he is to recapture his form under Amorim.
Hargreaves believes Amorim would have realised the job ahead is going to be “a lot harder than he envisioned” after Sunday’s game with the point failing to lift United out of the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Featured image Richard Pelham via Getty Images
Conner Botterill
Conner Botterill has been with The Peoples Person for two years. A keen match-going red with degrees in Sport and Journalism and Philosophy and Psychology, Conner still believes he has a chance of making United’s first team through his 5-a-side career.
