What do you do with this squad?? Does the next manager come in with the expectation to not get us relegated?
Ruben Amorim - Manchester United Head Coach
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) are here to discuss three 1-1 draws.
The first got us knocked out of the FA Cup, the next puts us in a good position in our Round of 16 Europa League game, and the latest was an actual decent performance against Arsenal at Old Trafford.
All hopes for the season now rest on the Europa League - does Amorim have the squad to win it?
What do you do with this squad?? Does the next manager come in with the expectation to not get us relegated?
Not lose every home game going might be a start.
I imagine the first thing an experienced manager would do is try to stem the bleeding. Get the players in their best positions, play compact at the back, and try to get Bruno on the ball as much as possible near the opposition box. It's not going to turn us into world beaters but it also probably stops us losing every home game.
I think Amorim made a strategic mistake in trying to overhaul everything in one go. Wait until the next pre-season to make the radical changes.
For me i just want to see obvious changes from stuff that isnt working. Wingbacks can work. Having dalot/maz as wingbacks is not working. Try someone else. I refuse to believe against dross we cant have garnacho and ahmad as WBs or something. Maz has been an absolute disaster at wing back, so make a damn change. Attack wise we could really put the low teams to the sword if we had attacking WBs in this system
Not sure what any manager will do, they won't stop our slow defenders being outpaced, Onana and his constant brainfarts. Not scoring goals unless Bruno, Amad or Garnacho chip in. The squad is a disaster. Thing is to even be counter attacking you need people who can pass the ball from the back, the one that can is now injured.
The bit where suffering was part of a positive transformation rather just a continuation of failure.
Exactly. people keep saying this that it's the players. Are we saying we don't have enough players to win against mid table clubs at home? Forget the Away matches.
Just at home .
This is it to me. We have no effective occupation of the center of the pitch and the half spaces, on both sides of the ball. The 10s are wide, the WBs are wide, even Bruno was drifting wide from CM to receive the ball yesterday.
In the first few games under Amorim I noticed that the CBs also seemed to have instructions to aggressively follow if an opposition forward or AM drifted into the half space. Then we got done by Brighton with a ball over the top exactly as De Ligt stepped forward to follow his man and Maz was flat footed as their winger ran in behind. Since then it seems like we gave up on that, and now the CMs just constantly find themselves trying to press 2v3, as someone else steps into half spaces unmarked to be an option for a pass.
In possession it's basically a static back 5 arc from LWB to RWB, with no one brave enough to play a pass or start a run (be it 1-2 or dribbling) that actually breaks past the opposition midfield line.
I'm most despondent these past few games because I don't even see how we're expected to create attacking situations, effectively press or defend with any aggression with these issues. We must be one of the easiest teams to play against that many of our opponents have ever faced at this level. I don't think that having better strikers would magically make it better.
Yeah, I think this is a sensible shout. Insisting on jamming square pegs into round holes midseason knowing you weren't getting backed in the January window properly was a heavy-handed approach. I think he massively underestimated the quality of the league and our squad. I don't think anyone in the club thought it could get worse than under ETH and it has plummeted since then.
Bruno just isn't that player from 2020-2021 anymore.
Main problem with the set up is that neither Mazraoui nor Dalot can do a proper job as wingbacks, we are basically playing with a back 5 all the time.
Hopefully Dorgu provides width as a LWB and we play Amad as RWB. Mazraoui can play as a RCB were he looked great at the start and Dalot be a rotational option.
That won't solve our problems upfront but it should help us having a better build up from the back and be more compact in midfield.
The squad is very limited, specially for Amorim's system but we need to change something in the wingbacks area, as it's clearly not working and I don't think Dalot nor Mazraoui can be developed to actual functioning fullbacks. Mazraoui while having the talent doesn't have the speed and Dalot while having the physicality doesn't have the brains.
Play Mainoo at 10 instead of Amad, keep Bruno and Ugarte in midfield and pray Hojlund or Zirkzee score some goals. I don't see any other way at the moment.
Hopefully Dorgu provides width as a LWB and we play Amad as RWB. Mazraoui can play as a RCB were he looked great at the start and Dalot be a rotational option.
That won't solve our problems upfront but it should help us having a better build up from the back and be more compact in midfield.
The squad is very limited, specially for Amorim's system but we need to change something in the wingbacks area, as it's clearly not working and I don't think Dalot nor Mazraoui can be developed to actual functioning fullbacks. Mazraoui while having the talent doesn't have the speed and Dalot while having the physicality doesn't have the brains.
Play Mainoo at 10 instead of Amad, keep Bruno and Ugarte in midfield and pray Hojlund or Zirkzee score some goals. I don't see any other way at the moment.
There's no reason why Rashford couldn't repeat that 22/23 season in the right system and setup. The tactical ETH employed in 23/24 didn't cater to Rashford or anyone else's strengths.
Having a link player up front in Zirkzee improves Rashford and Garnacho. The key is cohesion and that only comes from playing consistently together.
I was just coming in to say this. Amad needs to play RWB always until we have a specially RWB which will be the summer. He looks so much more dangerous with space to run at.
Mainoo, Bruno, Garnacho and Erikson are options for 10. If i remember correctly Maz has also played 10 and whilst not great I'd much prefer them swapped around
So winning away games doesn't count?
Exactly. Meanwhile we don't concede as many chances or look as bad in possession but we still have a lack of a progressive passer in the midfielder haven't had an actual left back.
In a system which relies on wingbacks, not having one is a big issue.
If you're going to sign a manager with a niche style of play, BUILD for it. He took over a side that was already 13th.
Which is why he wanted to join next summer, they could have done some planning then. I blame the majority of this on the people running the club. Keeping ETH. Heaven help us.
This isn’t ’suffering’ suffering is losing a few games that we ‘should’ be winning not losing pretty much every game whilst liking totally inept at the same time. I like him but he’s done a real number on a lot of fans who now blindly accept losing constantly and seeing no progress.
If he can find a way to get Hojlund in goalscoring positions then he may well prove how good a finisher he is. We don't create enough opportunities for our forwards and I think that can be attributed to the system and that it is more defensive than attacking.
You make a very good point regarding 10's playing as wingers, this also stifles the wingbacks getting forward too imo, which makes the whole thing look disjointed and generally leaves our midfield open.
I don't necessarily think he is a dead man walking. This is not a bottom half squad, so good coaching will have us finishing in the top half which is about right (or lower) for expectations when he was brought in. If we do finish say 15th and he gets sacked I think he would have to take some of the blame.
But there are signs of better organisation and improvement in our general play!
They are easily visible too.
We're 3 months in dude. Some of the people moaning here were saying Solskjaer needed more time after 3 years!
Hojlund simply isn't very good at anticipating where to be. He's very, very poor off the ball and that's not something even the best coaches can fix in a few months.
Not sure why we can’t expect the players to play better and the manager to get better performances out of them.
They are all failing and need to do better with what we have or we may as well field rhe reserves in games and the first team and just practice till next season.
If this was so easy then we wouldn't be looking for new managers every couple of years!
He has not been brought in to simply put an arm around the players, improve morale and climb a few pointless places up the league. He's been brought in with a remit to install a new culture at the club (as proven by the Rashford situation), implement a new style of play, and oversee the phasing out of a lot of the older and/or less adaptable players (Antony and Rashford have already gone and I expect to see Casamiro, Eriksen, Lindelof, Evans, Malacia, and at least one of our keepers leave in the summer). If you just wanted a few more points on the board then maybe you'd have been happier with Moyes?
That's quite bizarre then. Surely hiring a new manger mid season is to do just that, or else we might as well have stuck with the previous guy. Really like Ruben and desperately want him to succeed but let's not start reinventing the purpose of hiring a new manager and being delusional. Call a spade, a spade and the reality that he's doing quite a poor job currently.
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That is not their evaluation. The majority of the managerial choices we've been linked to since summer do not play this formation, only Amorim. And our former Sporting Director never considered him a good choice. So we really just picked him because he's a hot name.
Not a single pacy winger in the team who you can bring on at 60th minute while chasing a goal. Shambles of a squad.
As long as we don't get relegated, league results don't matter that much anymore. I'd rather see progress towards controlling games than points. And I think we are seeing progress.
The issue is we never look like scoring. We desperately need an experienced striker.
The issue is we never look like scoring. We desperately need an experienced striker.
"Football is an easy game complicated by idiots"
Jury out on Amorim currently. Playing Mainoo up-front suggests Shankly may have had a point.
Jury out on Amorim currently. Playing Mainoo up-front suggests Shankly may have had a point.
He might have been sending a message to the board as well and unfortunately it backfired.
The guy is being set up to fail.yes he’s making some tactical errors but who could win games with a strike force than can barely manage 10 goals together.
He's thinking, if this comes off, I will be heralded as the new managerial super genius!, Ruben Wile E. Coyote Amorim!
I wonder if he has anyone he talks to about what he's trying to accomplish. Like, did he mention he was going to deploy Mainoo up top, and no one said, uh well hey, excuse the impertinence, boss, but that's a dumb fecking idea?
Disagree with this. We're one of the biggest clubs on the planet, results will always matter at this club. Can we imagine Real Madrid, Bayern, Liverpool or Barca sharing this mentallity? Going down the route of accepting a losing culture is the opposite of what this manager is trying to promote in his interviews. He's a winner but is chronically losing games at home. Yes, he said we'll suffer but yesterday was not a positive suffering where we at least played well, and created plenty of chances, it was just plain crap. Ruben is honest enough to realize that it simply wasn't good enough.
I feel for RA, he walked into a shit show with a bang avarage squad and it's looks to have got worse. Rashford and Antonys may not have contributed much but we are an injury away from an even bigger mess!
Best in class they said
Best in class they said
I think it's more a case of whoever scored most recently gets a go at being striker. When I used to play youth football for a team that routinely lost by 5 goals or more we would do something similar.
That's like going over to where the girl you fancy lives, taking a huge dump on her lawn, and thinking you're sending a message that she should spend time with you.
This is was too specific for it not to be something you experienced. Question is - which one are you in that scenario
