Image generated with Grok AI
Watching Man United in this moment should be shocking, but we have been in this position so many times before that it isn't a surprise anymore. We are well and truly in the storm Reuben Amorim had promised when he arrived at the club.
The squad doesn't fit the manager's methods, especially in two very critical areas. The wingbacks and, in my opinion, one of the two 10's.
For one, something needs to be done about Diogo Dalot. For the life of me, I can't remember the last time Dalot delivered an accurate cross into the box for the striker. It always seems like he is either putting it out for a goal kick or it barely gets past the first man for those low drilled crosses into the box.
You can almost understand why. Dalot is not a left wingback. He is playing there to make up the numbers because Shaw is injured yet again and Malacia can't remember how to be a footballer fast enough after a year on the sidelines. That said, Dalot has equally been ineffective whenever he has started in the right wingback role. He is one of the players who seem out of place since Amorim came to the club.
On the other hand, Noussair Mazraoui looked sharp from the first game of Amorim's tenure. But of late, he has seemed sluggish, having given away a penalty against Bournemouth just a few days ago. He is probably due for a break soon, having played three full 90 minute games.
Further forward, Amorim has finally decided to play his best player, Amad, in one of the 10 positions. It seemed a great idea at the time, but you can't deny the fact that our attack has suffered since then.
No one is as effective as Amad at carrying the ball up the pitch. When he was playing RWB, he often was the open player high up the pitch. A cross field pass from deep in our half would often find him with a lot of space to dribble into which really occupied his marker. From here he would find his way into the box with his excellent close ball control and would often find a pass or create a shooting chance for himself. Mazraoui hasn't been able to replicate this and it is probably why we have been struggling to create clear cut chances the past few games.
Finally, let's talk about Bruno Fernandes. I find it difficult to get onto him about the red cards. The one against Tottenham was just pathetic referring and was quickly lifted. The one he got against Porto was a second yellow for a 'high boot'. Again, poor referring. On this third occasion, the referee was happy to award yellow cards to United players as early as the fourth minute, while he allowed Wolves players to commit fouls several time before he carded them. It seems there is truth to the idea that Man United players are ref'ed differently to other Premier League players.
Beyond the poor referring, Bruno has blown hot and cold since Amorim arrived. While you can never accuse Bruno of not trying, he has been extremely erratic in his play. You are never sure what to expect.
Bruno is also very weak on the ball. Players can push him off the ball very easily. He also has very poor recovery pace, which often leaves the midfield exposed when he loses possession. That is probably why Manchester United should probably look to offload him in the summer as much as it hurts to say.
That said, there many more squad issues that need to fixed but I can't cover them all in this post.
The TL;DR of it is that we need pace and intensity in the forward areas of the pitch, including the two wingbacks. At the moment only Rasmus, Amad and Ugarte provide that. That means we may need a new partner for Ugarte, two new 10's and push Amad back to the RWB position, and finally a new LWB as soon as January for this position if we have any hope of escaping relegation.
Also, if Rashford isn't in the lineup against Newcastle on Monday, he is probably as good as gone. We are probably not winning the game either.