Certain members of the Manchester United dressing room have questioned whether Ruben Amorim’s system will ever be success at Old Trafford, according to a report.
Laurie Whitwell (The Athletic) reveals “some members” of United’s squad have “expressed doubts” about the set-up which Amorim’s philosophy is predicated on – a 3-4-2-1 formation which is very rarely used in English football – because it is “reactive rather than proactive”.
Whitwell contends the adaptation to this new system has been a “challenge for several players.”
And while he does not directly name Alejandro Garnacho, the Argentinian winger is undoubtedly one who has found it difficult to establish a clear home in Amorim’s set-up. Fellow Carrington graduate Kobbie Mainoo is another.
But Whitwell reveals some players believe Amorim’s approach runs antithetical to the “ethos” of attacking football that forms the basis of the Red Devils’ identity – ‘”Attack! Attack! Attack” is a chant synonymous with the Theatre of Dreams for a reason.
“Some members of United’s squad have expressed doubts that the back three can ever work at Old Trafford because adding a central defender means the team are playing reactive rather than proactive football, going against the attacking ethos of the club,” The Athletic reporter asserts.
This is an incorrect assessment of Amorim’s vision by these players, however. And the fact that, so far, the squad at his disposal at Old Trafford have failed to implement it correctly on the pitch strengthens this idea.
The former Sporting manager wants to dominate matches by overwhelming the opposition with overloads. The wing-backs become wingers, the outside centre-backs push forward to become auxiliary midfielders, the striker is constantly hanging on the shoulder of the last man, while the two number tens roam free in the chaos of it all.
This is the theory anyways; but theory takes to translate to practice, especially without the benefit of pre-season to hone in on the intricacies of the system.
It’s understandable why a group of players would remain doubtful of a system they are not used to which has proven so difficult to implement since Amorim’s arrival in November.
But the 40-year-old coach warned the club he would not compromise on his application of it, predicting a “storm was coming” as a result because he knew how difficult the transition would be. And so it has proven so.
The calculation Amorim is making is that next year will be a radical improvement in terms of performance and results due to the pain suffered this season.
His end-of-season speech at Old Trafford promised the terrible weather had passed and sunnier skies were on the horizon: “I said to you, the storm is coming. Today, after this disaster season, I want to tell you that the good days are coming.”
United’s dressing room will need to dispel any residual doubts it has over their coach’s system if this prediction is to hold true. If not, the treacherous black clouds will form over Old Trafford quickly and another manager may be lost at sea.
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
