Manchester United welcomed Newcastle United to Old Trafford looking for a win to end 2024 on some sort of a high.
Andre Onana started in goal with Harry Maguire, Matthijs De Ligt and captain for the night, Lisandro Martinez forming the back three.
Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot were once again the wing backs with Casemiro and Christian Eriksen replacing Kobbie Mainoo and the suspended Manuel Ugarte in the midfield.
Amad Diallo, Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund formed the attacking trio for the Red Devils.
Here are three things we learnt from the match.
Casemiro and Christian Eriksen brushed aside
Ruben Amorim was forced to play Casemiro and Eriksen due to Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte’s suspensions and they were brutally exposed by an electric Newcastle midfield.
The pair performed well in their debut season under Erik ten Hag in 2022/2023 but have declined massively since then.
United’s midfield was overrun with ease and the Old Trafford club found themselves 2-0 down after just 19 minutes and in truth, it could have been more.
The Red Devils only managed three shots to Newcastle’s 11 in the first half and could not live with the rampant Magpies.
Such was the damage, Kobbie Mainoo had to be brought on for Joshua Zirkzee after only 33 minutes to try and shore up the midfield.
Ineos reportedly are keen to offload the Dane and the Brazilian and on the basis of this display, it is glaringly obvious why.
United have no idea how to defend crosses
Much has been written about the Red Devils’ inability to defend set pieces but it looks like the problem is even deeper than this.
Starting Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt in a back three should mean United are quite good at protecting their goal in the air.
Nothing could be further from the truth as Alexander Isak and later Joelinton waltzed into the penalty area to score uncontested headers in front of an exasperated Stretford End.
Ruben Amorim has claimed that he needs more time to work on these issues on the training pitch, but these are the basics of football that even Championship sides would be embarrassed to concede from.
3-4-3 not working
Ruben Amorim’s preferred style is not working at Manchester United. Fans have been left divided about whether or not he should stick to his guns or adapt to try and stem the flow of goals and losses.
There will be much sympathy for the former Sporting Lisbon manager who has come into an almost impossible situation with a squad who are so poorly prepared for his style of football.
Whilst the vast majority of supporters will back Amorim and want him to do what he thinks is best to solve the gaping issues at the club, his players look totally lost on the pitch and do not seem to have any idea how to perform the tasks he is asking them to do.
The truth is, with Liverpool and Arsenal to come in January, Amorim has a huge decision to make on whether he persists or tries to tweak his system to get some confidence back into a team who appear bereft of ideas and will to fight.
Featured Image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
