Manchester United’s latest bump in their woeful season to date came against Crystal Palace, at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
Two second half goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta condemned United to their fifth home defeat in six in the Premier League, leaving Ruben Amorim with much to ponder once more.
Amorim has struggled to get his ideas across since his arrival in Manchester and continues to tinker with his players in a bid to find the antidote to United’s wretched form.
Kobbie Mainoo was tested in the centre-forward role on Sunday and despite a bright start, the move was quickly figured out by Palace who took control of the game after the early exchanges.
It was a decision that saw both Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee resigned to a spot on the bench, leaving question marks over Amorim’s trust in his striking duo.
As reported by MSN news, speaking on the BBC, former Premier League striker Chris Sutton believes the Portuguese coach may live to regret his tactical gamble.
Sutton says the forward pair will be left wondering where they stand in the pecking order at Old Trafford and with a midfielder taking their spot, they could end up downing tools on their new head coach.
“‘How on earth is he playing in front of me?’ That is a real problem. Amorim is basically telling the pair of them that he doesn’t rate them in any way, shape or form,” Sutton said.
“He could lose these two players, mentally, for the rest of the season now and they might think about not applying themselves.”
Sunday’s game took place just days before the January transfer window slammed shut and the play may have been designed to force the hand of the United hierarchy with regards to bringing in an extra body in the winter market.
However, no such move materialised and Amorim is left make do with his current crop despite losing Antony and Marcus Rashford to respective loan deals.
The United coach now faces the second half of the season with just four first team attackers in his squad, including the disgruntled duo he left out on Sunday.
It promises to be a long finish to a season that has simply gone from bad to worse for United and Amorim will be desperate to make it to the summer in order to bring in suitable additions that will take him into his first full season in charge at the club.
Featured image Matt McNulty 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.
