Ruben Amorim has faced increasing scrutiny over his tactics during a difficult 11 months in charge of Manchester United.
The United boss has refused to deviate from his favoured 3-4-2-1 formation since arriving at Old Trafford, despite a string of calamitous results.
Red Devils stars have reportedly been left ‘confused’ and ‘frustrated’ by Amorim’s tactical inflexibility, but the Portuguese may have now found a way to make the formation better suit his players.
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Manchester United legend praises ‘clever’ Amorim for tactical tweak
Left to right: summer signings Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha (Image credit: Getty Images)
Amorim has won just 19 of his first 50 games in charge of Man United but he brought up his half century with a 2-0 victory over Sunderland at Old Trafford on Saturday, thanks to goals by Mason Mount and summer signing Benjamin Sesko.
United’s formation listed Mount and Bryan Mbeumo as the two No.10s behind Sesko, but Mbeumo played notably closer to the Slovenian striker than in previous games – with fellow summer signing Matheus Cunha doing the same when he replaced Mount in the second half.
Benjamin Sesko (circled, near) and Bryan Mbeumo (circled, top) played closer together against Sunderland, leaving space for Amad Diallo to attack (Credit: BBC/Match of the Day) (Image credit: Image: BBC)
Speaking on Match of the Day on Saturday night, United legend Wayne Rooney – ranked at No.4 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best Premier League strikers of all time – highlighted how this helped Amorim’s side.
The former England captain said: ‘He [Amorim] simplified the game for the players and Mbeumo was getting a lot closer to Sesko, which really helped Manchester United. Especially in the first 30 minutes, Sunderland really struggled to deal with it.
“Because they’re close to each other, the three Sunderland defenders have to stay with them and that frees up the space for Amad [Diallo] to get at the Sunderland full-back in a 1v1 situation. Now, they’re both in the box, they’re both ready to get a sniff of a goal.
“Cunha comes on and nothing changes; ball up to Sesko, Cunha running in behind. It’s a subtle change but I think it was the right one. It was clever and Sunderland really struggled to cope with it.”
Mason Mount benefitted from Amorim’s tactical tweak against Sunderland (Image credit: Getty Images)
Evidently from the team’s approach against the Black Cats, Amorim and his cohort of strikers sat down to discuss the tweak to their respective roles, which ultimately had the desired effect.
Considering Man United have recorded the most shots in the division and the highest Expected Goals (xG) tally – 14.06 – according to Opta, there is a chance that once it begins to click, Amorim’s football may eventually be vindicated.
The win lifted Man United to 10th in the Premier League going into the international break, with a daunting trip to Liverpool next up when top-flight football resumes.
If the Red Devils show a similar level of attacking threat at Anfield then they may finally have started to turn a corner under Amorim.
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