Ruben Amorim was unafraid to criticize a Manchester United player following his first match in charge of the club.
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The 39-year-old’s managerial debut in the Premier League ended in a 1-1 draw at newly-promoted Ipswich Town, with Omari Hutchinson’s deflected shot equalizing Marcus Rashford’s early goal at Portman Road. ..Continue Reading
While United showed some promising signs early on, their performance quickly dwindled, revealing that several areas still require improvement.
United fans were particularly disappointed with two players they felt didn’t perform well, and Amorim seemed to share their concerns.
After the match, Amorim spoke with the Sky Sports panel, and when Jamie Redknapp asked about the need for his team to improve their high-intensity running to match his tactical demands and compete at the top level, Amorim singled out experienced centre-back Jonny Evans for criticism.
He pointed out that Evans’ pressing on Ipswich’s Hutchinson, who often had plenty of space in between the lines, needed improvement.
Evans had started on the left side of a back three with Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui before being substituted by Luke Shaw in the 56th minute.
“If you see the first-half, the number five [Morsy] was always alone, we have to jump on him,” he said to Redknapp on Sky Sports.
“Then the number 20, Hutchinson, was always here in the dead space. Jonny Evans should be pressing that guy. But when we don’t have training, it’s hard to tell all the reactions to the players. We had two days. They are confused a little bit and they stay here. If you stay here, you don’t run.
“You defend, but you don’t run. So you feel that in the data, you have to understand the data to see what happened during the game. First they have understand the game then we have to be so much better physically to cope with the high pressure, the volume of the high-speed running, all these things. We need time to work.”
Amorim’s inaugural lineup featured Amad Diallo and Diogo Dalot operating as wing-backs, with Marcus Rashford deployed centrally ahead of Rasmus Højlund.
United will return to the pitch on Thursday, hosting Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt in Amorim’s first match at Old Trafford. The team currently sits 12th in the Premier League standings, trailing the top four by six points.
