Ruben Amorim’s turbulent start to life as Manchester United head coach looks set to continue for the foreseeable future after the club failed to bring in many fresh faces in the January transfer window.
After a shocking start to the season, Erik ten Hag made way for Amorim, whose fresh approach was supposed to galvanise United’s underperforming stars. Yet the team are finding it hard to adapt to the Portuguese’s methods.
The new system is clearly a struggle for the players who are showing no real signs of consistency since Amorim’s November arrival and still languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
As reported by The Mirror, Paul Scholes has spoken on the tactical nature of modern football and believes the over-reliance on tactics may be playing a part in United’s struggles.
“I’ve been watching Manchester United the last few weeks, specifically how they’ve been warming up before matches, and I’ve noticed that they’re practicing the team shape.
“Nowadays, with football being so tactical, I feel like the life has been sucked out of the players,” he said.
Scholes was speaking on the Overlap Fan Debate with Sky Bet and continued to question the value in focusing on the details in the pre-match warm up rather than simply getting a feel for the ball.
“The warm-up is there to enjoy, having the ball at your feet, practicing your touch. But, everything is focused on tactics. They’ve even started practicing set-pieces in front of the fans, which just seems odd to me.”
The midfield maestro added that he’s “not sure he would have been able to deal with” the tactical overload if he were playing now and wants the game to be played with “more freedom”.
How Amorim wishes he had a player of Scholes ability in his ranks with United struggling to control matches for any prolonged periods of time.
Despite flashes of life, United have lacked any kind of cohesion and threat since the arrival of Amorim who will be well aware of the need for an upturn in fortunes before the end of the season.
Having lost five of their last six in front of home support United go into Friday’s FA Cup clash with Leicester knowing they must put a stop to their poor form if they are to secure safe passage to round five of the competition.
Featured image Richard Heathcote via Getty Images
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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.
