Sofyan Amrabat | 2023/24 Performances

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He was pretty decent but he somehow just worries me every time he has the ball. It looks like he's constantly on the verge of passing the other team through on goal or tackling himself into the opposition forwards.

Maybe Fred has just conditioned me to feel like this about any midfielder who seems even slightly chaotic.
 
Amrabat 's passing is consistent and accurate with rhythm and proper spin, much like Carrick's style. This skill is undervalued and is the foundation of organized and controlling football, and it makes the game look easy and levels up the whole team as they can expect the space created from the off-ball running would not be wasted or ignored , and in reverse encouraging them to do so.

I'm very impressed with his performance today.
 
Best game in a United shirt- he's better than he's showed so far and just been adjusting to the pace of the PL

Still we are too open in midfield so he should be paired with Mainoo for more difficult matches
 
I think right now he's a better option than Casemiro in that role since he is more mobile.

I don't think he's a world-beater but I do also feel he's been very harshly judged in his short time at the club.

He joined on the last day of the window and then started life at the club at LB - so playing an unfamiliar role in an unfamiliar team. It was bound to take him a few weeks to click.
 
That was better. Kept the play going with his accurate passing and cut a lot of their passes near the middle or near our half, just what we needed and need from our midfield. Also won the ball near the final third helping us having them pinned in their half. Left his heart out there too which is always a plus.
 
criticalanalysis said:
I really want to believe but not sure I share your optimism as I don't think ETH has shown the tactical nous to really implement this on his own terms. Most of the times we can press high, the opposition are poor teams with not much functional tactical shape other than sitting back or just letting the game flow by. Also this lung bursting box to box style of play is just not sustainable; just look at last season watching Martinez, Casemiro etc playing the game of their lives every match with a siege mentality holding down the forte. It seems McTominay is the answer for ETH in midfield and the result is doomed for failure imo. Of course I'm happy to be proven massively wrong. I really want to see a midfield combo of Mainoo/Casemiro/Amrabat behind Bruno or even Mount sometime but I don't think that's ever going to happen unless our front three start firing on all cylinders; the reliance on McTominay is a poisoned chalice.
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I share your concerns completely. I think, even if we end the season on 4th or 5th with McTom scoring another 15 goals or something, it doesn't achieve anything because it isn't something we can really build upon. I get that people want us to finish as high as possible but to me personally, I am happy to take a hit one season or even two if that means we make a step as a team. And I don't see playing McTom as a regular starter does anything in this direction. But we digress :)

Annihilate Now! said:
He was great - obviously that terrible first half pass aside - he was all over their midfield.

I thought it was a bit weird that people have been so quick to write him off as a dud. He's made I think 5 (!) starts in Centre Midfield this season and has not really had a run of games at all - Plus he's coming to a new country/league and like most players would obviously need a bit of time to settle. He also (fairly) made the point post-match that he didn't had a proper pre-season

In the vain of not writing him off based on not much evidence - I won't be judging him as a success based on yesterday, but I do think it's fair to say he's deserves a bit more patience.
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I think, this is football fans in a nutshell. Early to praise, early to complain. I agree, the player deserves some patience but on the other hand, in my eyes he only has one year to impress. He has a certain age and profile that isn't the most favorable one - which means we should really be sure if we spend more money on him. He is contributing something, but will it be enough to say "ok lets take 20million out of the budget, to get this player with this ceiling". Currently, I think he is definitely useful and his 2nd half yesterday was good overall but that alone shouldn't be the reason to bring him in - being better than shit is nice, but if you can choose between decent and potentially great I know what to choose.
 
Seen the 2nd half properly now. First half he was poor with a couple of good passes. Second half he was good

Still Some areas to improve on such as dissappointing distribution at times, with 2 hopeful smashes into the air instead of having some care with his pass. Also there was a phase where Shaw now playing CB was pulled out towards leftback and Amrabat and McTom were sat in the middle as extra CBs for a few phases of play. Caicedo started one move with an eventual cross from James over/past Amrabat's and in front of Maguire that the Chelsea player tried to flick and messed it up when he could have had a proper contact and great chance. Those are some of the incidents where you would hope he could do a bit better.

That said and this is the most important part

He did make a very nice block on a Mudryk counter on 74 mins where he positioned himself to take Mudryk's touch away before he could get there for another one. Smart play. Good slide tackle on the farside after Antony made a really poor one and with that Amrabat stopped Enzo advancing further. Had a good attitude to getting back into position when Chelsea countered. Physically strong and good balance in his one on one duels.

So yeah looked the part much more in the 2nd half. Overall good positioning to pick up loose balls and be in position to make some tackles to stop counters and used his physical frame better to lean on opponents than he had in previous games. If he plays like he did in the 2nd half for the majority of 90 mins he would be our most resilliant looking DM option right now.
 
A lot better last night.

I just wish he was more agile. He turns like a ship.
 
I really want to see

Onana
Dalot
Maguire
Shaw
Reguilon

Amrabat
Mainoo

Bruno

Garnacho
Hojlund
Antony

For an extended run of games, at least until some of the injuries clear up. McTominay to come on and cause chaos if we are chasing a goal.
 
Rood said:
Best game in a United shirt- he's better than he's showed so far and just been adjusting to the pace of the PL

Still we are too open in midfield so he should be paired with Mainoo for more difficult matches
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I'm starting to think that's how EtH wants to play because I fail to see how he otherwise can't see it. It feels like an extreme version of his something-something-6 formation when we had the ball last season. Rely on heavy pressing and winning the second ball/making quick interceptions and getting the ball forward again. There were times in the second half where it was working and we looked really dangerous because of it.

Lentwood said:
I think right now he's a better option than Casemiro in that role since he is more mobile.

I don't think he's a world-beater but I do also feel he's been very harshly judged in his short time at the club.

He joined on the last day of the window and then started life at the club at LB - so playing an unfamiliar role in an unfamiliar team. It was bound to take him a few weeks to click.
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I just don't see how Casemiro would fit into last night at all, I think it will be Amrabat or Mainoo now. He just doesn't have the legs.
 
Dans said:
He was indeed, great. I do think Chelsea's midfield played a game that suits him completely though and will wait to see how he manages against a better set up team before deciding that he shouldn't be in Tuscany this year after all.
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To be fair though a better set up team exposes the gap between our #6 and our two #10s. As it happens game after game.



It’s a huge tactical risk having only one central midfielder. That can’t just be on the head of the #6 alone, whoever that is. It’s fair to say that you want to see him against a better set up team. But then he should be in an equally well set up team himself in that case. In Tuscany he played next to Mandragora in CM, he wasn’t alone.
 
Some people saying Amrabat is more mobile than Casemiro, I don’t think so. He’s slow enough actually. Issue with Casemiro this season is that he’d make really aggressive attempts to win the ball high up, get turned and there would be nobody at all in midfield for the counter attack. Amrabat is more conservative positionally which is what we need, a better passer than Casemiro as well I’d say. We can’t afford that aggressive tackling getting out of position when we’re playing McTominay and Fernandes ahead of the ball.
 
astracrazy said:
I just don't see how Casemiro would fit into last night at all, I think it will be Amrabat or Mainoo now. He just doesn't have the legs.
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I’d like to remind people that Casemiro was, both last year and the beginning of this, a bigger goal threat than McTominay while also offering more in CM. Both in terms of defending and showing up for the ball.

I just can’t see what McTominay does that Casemiro doesn’t do better to be honest. If ETH wants to play this way I’d rather have Case there. Although I would also like to see Mainoo at some point next to either Amrabat or Case.
 
KeanoMagicHat said:
Some people saying Amrabat is more mobile than Casemiro, I don’t think so. He’s slow enough actually. Issue with Casemiro this season is that he’d make really aggressive attempts to win the ball high up, get turned and there would be nobody at all in midfield for the counter attack. Amrabat is more conservative positionally which is what we need, a better passer than Casemiro as well I’d say. We can’t afford that aggressive tackling getting out of position when we’re playing McTominay and Fernandes ahead of the ball.
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Fully agree. But if Case has someone behind him he will not be forced to make last ditch tackles. Then he can also help up the pitch, both with his passing as well with being a goal threat.
 
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OverratedOpinion said:
I really want to see

Onana
Dalot
Maguire
Shaw
Reguilon

Amrabat
Mainoo

Bruno

Garnacho
Hojlund
Antony

For an extended run of games, at least until some of the injuries clear up. McTominay to come on and cause chaos if we are chasing a goal.
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Given the goal threat, I think McT will keep his place, in particular against Bournemouth. I suspect we could see a similar set up to what you've suggested vs Bayern and if it works, try it against Liverpool too. That said, I think it's more likely that McT is instructed to play a bit deeper rather than Mainoo coming in for him.

I think playing so open against Bayern or Liverpool is an extremely dangerous game to play.
 
Dannn411 said:
Why won't it be the norm? All he needs is regular game time. Can't bench someone 5 games straight and expect instant performance. Game speed is not training speed.
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I don’t know how the person you replied to thinks - whilst I was delighted with his performance, and definitely feel that he can offer more here than he has shown in previous games, I agree it’s not sustainable to have a performance like that every match. It’s not down to Amrabat, but rather the position he’s given as a sole midfielder.

Hope he proves me wrong and shows that this formation can work - right now, it felt like the case of Chelsea’s midfield not being good enough rather than it working.
 
NZT-One said:
I share your concerns completely. I think, even if we end the season on 4th or 5th with McTom scoring another 15 goals or something, it doesn't achieve anything because it isn't something we can really build upon. I get that people want us to finish as high as possible but to me personally, I am happy to take a hit one season or even two if that means we make a step as a team. And I don't see playing McTom as a regular starter does anything in this direction. But we digress :)


I think, this is football fans in a nutshell. Early to praise, early to complain. I agree, the player deserves some patience but on the other hand, in my eyes he only has one year to impress. He has a certain age and profile that isn't the most favorable one - which means we should really be sure if we spend more money on him. He is contributing something, but will it be enough to say "ok lets take 20million out of the budget, to get this player with this ceiling". Currently, I think he is definitely useful and his 2nd half yesterday was good overall but that alone shouldn't be the reason to bring him in - being better than shit is nice, but if you can choose between decent and potentially great I know what to choose.
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Yes, I agree complaining people are duds is madness after couple fo games, but also, so is the high praise after a couple of good games. Like many, onyl knew him from the world cup and europa league against West Ham, where he did look good. He has been really good and really poor for us....the big thing in this case as you mention, it is a one year loan so he has to impress quickly. I think he is looking a better option than last years loans, but personally not sure he is the answer so far
 
MadMike said:
Fully agree. But if Case has someone behind him he will not be forced to make last ditch tackles. Then he can also help up the pitch, both with his passing a s with being a goal threat.
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That's what I'd do.

Play Amrabat and that releases Casemiro to do his thing. Rampage around.
 
KeanoMagicHat said:
Some people saying Amrabat is more mobile than Casemiro, I don’t think so. He’s slow enough actually. Issue with Casemiro this season is that he’d make really aggressive attempts to win the ball high up, get turned and there would be nobody at all in midfield for the counter attack. Amrabat is more conservative positionally which is what we need, a better passer than Casemiro as well I’d say. We can’t afford that aggressive tackling getting out of position when we’re playing McTominay and Fernandes ahead of the ball.
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Athleticism or mobility is definitely not a trait of his.

The thing that was good in last night's performance and him generally if he gets his act together is he can be a reliable passer. Casemiro seems insistent on trying to be the hero since he came to United with his passing.
 
MadMike said:
To be fair though a better set up team exposes the gap between our #6 and our two #10s. As it happens game after game.



It’s a huge tactical risk having only one central midfielder. That can’t just be on the head of the #6 alone, whoever that is. It’s fair to say that you want to see him against a better set up team. But then he should be in an equally well set up team himself in that case. In Tuscany he played next to Mandragora in CM, he wasn’t alone.
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Yeah he would have been absolutely destroyed by a more competent team. There were loads of occasions where they had a 4 v 2 or 3 v 2 just running at our defence with huge space around them and they just made shit decisions. It was a good performance, but it was still a performance which could lead to getting battered. And Amrabat IMO made his share of mistakes too, but did well largely. I wouldn't say he turned a corner or anything, but also I think he'd do much better if someone was placed next to him.
 
MyBloodIsRed said:
I think if he keeps playing like last night then let's sign him and let Casemiro go.
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Let’s not get carried away. It was his best performance last night but it was still miles off Casemiro at his best last season, and he’s been poor in a lot of his performances so far.

I’d be really interested to see them together, I think him doing the dirty work and filling in behind Casemiro could work great.
 
Rockets Redglare said:
Let’s not get carried away. It was his best performance last night but it was still miles off Casemiro at his best last season, and he’s been poor in a lot of his performances so far.

I’d be really interested to see them together, I think him doing the dirty work and filling in behind Casemiro could work great.
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I still believe that the main difference between Casemiro this season and last season is not so much the player himself, but the tactics. Last year we were playing more of a 4-2-3-1 and Eriksen, especially pre injury, was complementing Casemiro very well at the base of the midfield. Post injury Eriksen lost the legs and form, while this season Casemiro has largely played as sole CM with either Mount-Bruno or Bruno-McTominay as double #10s ahead of him in a 4-1-4-1 formation.

Any midfielder playing the sole CM role in a 4-1-4-1 will be overworked and overstretched and will appear inadequate and washed. I still can't understand why we moved away from last season's midfield tactics when they clearly worked much better than this season's.
 
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Best game for us last night? Loved it when he busted a gut to get back. Reminded me of when he tracked down Mbappe and caught him.
 
MadMike said:
Any midfielder playing the sole CM role in a 4-1-4-1 will be overworked and overstretched and will appear inadequate and washed. I still can't understand why we moved away from last season's midfield tactics when they clearly worked much better than this season's.
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I think that at some point we have to move away from our reliance on overloading deep areas and using counter attacks to attack the space that leaves, which is what we fell into last season whenever form dipped off. Although we played some good football last season at times, a lack of potency up front was a recurring problem, and that was in no small part due to the fact that we preferred to play with 2 deeper CMs rather than 1.

When you commit that second CM to much higher up the pitch, you basically gamble that your increased attacking prowess will outweigh your additional vulnerability. I think for us this needs to be the destination, even if we get worse for a while.
 
USREDEVIL said:
He was good last night. Still don't think he's a starter for us long term.
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My impression is that most people did not expect him to start games often. I didn’t. But I did expect him to be a useful squad player who would challenge for a place and sometimes get in. At least he should be able to keep Casemiro honest and could be used a lot off the bench or start sometimes as a relief or tactical option.

My worry now is that he doesn’t seem to have great natural fitness. To stay sharp he may need to be playing regularly which, in turn, means he might not do well if he only gets a few minutes here and there.
 
quadrant said:
I think that at some point we have to move away from our reliance on overloading deep areas and using counter attacks to attack the space that leaves, which is what we fell into last season whenever form dipped off. Although we played some good football last season at times, a lack of potency up front was a recurring problem, and that was in no small part due to the fact that we preferred to play with 2 deeper CMs rather than 1.
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Playing 2 CMs is not “overloading the deep areas” for gods sake. Liverpool won UCL and league title with Fabinho and Henderson in midfield, while having a very attacking team and posture. Real did the same with Casemiro and Kroos only couple of seasons ago. People were singing the praises of De Zerbi and Brighton last season, he was playing Caicedo and Gross in midfield. And Villa are cruising and just humbled City while playing with 2 CMs (in Kamara and Douglas Luiz) when we got battered against them at home.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat and 4-2-3-1 is not some defensive formation. You guys are talking like it’s some 5-4-1 counter-attacking formation for gods sake. It isn’t.

EDIT: City are also playing 2 CMs. Stones next to Rodri. They are just playing 3 at the back instead with more defensive fullbacks (Akanji and Gvardiol). As far as I know only Arsenal are playing this 4-1-4-1 formation that we’re trying to play and they’ve not won anything yet either. While do they have Rice in DM, who’s got phenomenal engine, so it suits them more than it suits us.
 
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The tricky thing is getting the balance right.

In possession, this setup has been good recently. We've started scoring/creating chances for fun. Outside of the Newcastle game. Yesterday was as entertaining as we've been under ten Hag, in my opinion.

Out of possession, I still feel like we're too open; leaving Amrabat with too much on his plate. You can't drop Bruno or McTominay after that performance, though, can you? And, having watched Amrabat for many years now, I've never actually considered defending a strong point of his so I don't expect him to cover the gaps as well as he did last night going forwards.

I'm wondering, if we put Mainoo in besides him, or forced Scott to stay deeper if you're leaving him in, which, I know, takes away a big quality of his, will we be able to attack as well as last night whilst being stronger defensively. I know it's probably pointless to talk about because, one, we should line up the same way against Bournemouth because the performance warrants it, and, two, ten Hag looks like he's going to stick with this one CM behind two attack minded midfielders for the long run. Regardless of personnel available. Still, I'm wondering if something as simple as that could bring the balance we're lacking.
 
Rockets Redglare said:
Let’s not get carried away. It was his best performance last night but it was still miles off Casemiro at his best last season, and he’s been poor in a lot of his performances so far.

I’d be really interested to see them together, I think him doing the dirty work and filling in behind Casemiro could work great.
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The sanest thing is probably to move Casemiro, Eriksen and McTominay on this summer if we can get a fee for him, and sign 2 mids:

Bruno-Mount
#8-Mainoo
#6-Amrabat

someone box to box and physical to rotate with Mainoo, but who can get on the ball more than McTominay, and the best traditional #6 we can get under the age of 26 or 27. I imagine the latter will be more expensive than the former.
 
MadMike said:
Playing 2 CMs is not “overloading the deep areas” for gods sake. Liverpool won UCL and league title with Fabinho and Henderson in midfield, while having a very attacking team and posture. Real did the same with Casemiro and Kroos only couple of seasons ago. People were singing the praises of De Zerbi and Brighton last season, he was playing Caicedo and Gross in midfield. And Villa are cruising and just humbled City while playing with 2 CMs (in Kamara and Douglas Luiz) when we got battered against them at home.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat and 4-2-3-1 is not some defensive formation. You guys are talking like it’s some 5-4-1 counter-attacking formation for gods sake. It isn’t.

EDIT: City are also playing 2 CMs. Stones next to Rodri. They are just playing 3 at the back instead with more defensive fullbacks (Akanji and Gvardiol). As far as I know only Arsenal are playing this 4-1-4-1 formation that we’re trying to play and they’ve not won anything yet either. While do they have Rice in DM, who’s got phenomenal engine, so it suits them more than it suits us.
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The fact that other teams have 2 CMs is irrelevant because they have different managers playing different systems with different players, all with their own strengths and weaknesses.

That Liverpool teams had 2 CMs but also had two FBs that were basically wingers. City play with 2 CMs while in possession, but only 3 defenders as Stones steps up to join them, in a sort of 3-2-4-1. Arsenal do the same, but with Zinchenko (when fit) from the left instead of Stones.
The principle is the same - they commit more men in attacking areas instead of defensive areas, but do so in a way that minimises risk on transition. Then they go to a different formation entirely when defending.

You're right to say that 2 CMs doesn't necessitate a more defensive approach in all circumstances, but I never said otherwise. I simply said that's why we were doing it. We certainly need to commit more players into attack, and its not like we can make Dalot and Antony play in the same way as TAA and Salah, and ape Liverpool's approach. We can only work with the players we have in the system we have, and pushing up our midfielder to support Bruno seems to be what we've settled on.
 
noodlehair said:
He was pretty decent but he somehow just worries me every time he has the ball. It looks like he's constantly on the verge of passing the other team through on goal or tackling himself into the opposition forwards.

Maybe Fred has just conditioned me to feel like this about any midfielder who seems even slightly chaotic.
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I think it’s his tendency to just run towards his own goal with the ball when under any pressure. He definitely isn’t anywhere close to the level of agility and composure needed for a position like that but the way he goes about it works fine for now.
 
He kept trying, probably won more individual battles than anyone else. I think he is limited, a bit slow and weak when on the move but he tries if nothing else.
 
Not a fan in general, but anyone in his position is being hung out to dry by the manager. That goes for the centrebacks too
 
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