Ruben Amorim’s reign as Manchester United head coach got off to a familiar start as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town.
The arrival of Erik ten Hag’s replacement was met with much anticipation of a new style, structure and team selection, but the result proved little different from what came before the Portuguese coach as United stumbled to their fourth draw of the Premier League season.
With the same number of wins and losses from their 12 league matches this season, Amorim can start to get to grips with the work ahead. But there were very clear signs of change to take in.
Telegraph Sport assesses the four clear differences in United under Amorim and the winners and losers on the day.
Reception
United fans wasted no time throwing their support behind their new head coach. “Ruben Amorim, nah, nah, nah,” was sung on repeat in those opening exchanges. There were other chants of “Ruben Amorim’s red and white army” and the travelling supporters appreciated the Portuguese beckoning all of his players to go over to applaud the fans at the final whistle.
When United scored, all 10 outfield players celebrated together in a small huddle near the far corner flag for a prolonged period. It has not always been that way but Amorim is determined to foster a greater sense of togetherness.
Body language
Amorim showed no emotion on the touchline when United took the lead after just 81 seconds through Marcus Rashford but there was little attempt to disguise his feelings at plenty of other junctures in the game. He suggested afterwards that he felt too many players were overthinking things as they adjusted to new positions and a new structure.
At times he would gesticulate wildly from the sidelines, at one point early in the second half turning towards Casemiro and throwing both arms up in frustration after the Brazilian had given the ball away with a hopeful lobbed punt in the direction of Bruno Fernandes.
Earlier in the game, he had dropped to his haunches, head bowed and frantically began rubbing his face after Casemiro had kicked the ball out attempting an overly ambitious first-time pass. He has cited United’s tendency to turn over possession too often and too cheaply as an issue he needs to address and here was evidence of his frustration on that front.
On another occasion, Amorim barked at his players to get the ball forward more quickly after feeling they had missed an opportunity to do just that when playing out from the back. It was behaviour he would repeat late on as he willed a ponderous United forward. Like a conductor marshalling his orchestra, he was spotted telling Casemiro and Christian Eriksen to switch possession from a throw-in and telling the thrower Diogo Dalot to go back towards Jonny Evans. In another moment, he had both hands out and was beckoning Alejandro Garnacho to slow the play down and keep the ball – knowing when to speed up or slow down the tempo is clearly an area United need work.
Tactics
United were deployed in Amorim’s preferred 3-4-2-1 formation, with Dalot and Amad Diallo as inverted wing-backs and Noussair Mazraoui, a full-back by trade, used on the right of the back three. Casemiro and Eriksen played as the deeper lying midfielders in a box with Fernandes and Garnacho ahead. Rashford got the nod over Rasmus Hojlund as the spearhead of the attack.
For the first 20 minutes, United moved the ball much more quickly and looked more confident playing out from the back. Their shape was more compact and there were few of the wide-open spaces to exploit that became a disturbing feature of Ten Hag’s team but they struggled to maintain their early high tempo and momentum and at times were wrestling with the new structure and information overload as Ipswich’s sharp combination play and intense pressing caused problems. United regained some control in the second half but looked less of a threat going forward.
Substitutes
Just before Joshua Zirkzee and Hojlund were introduced, Amorim sat between the pair with a tactics board on his lap showing the strikers exactly what he wanted from them and the positions he expected them to take up. Zirkzee had only been on the pitch seven minutes when Fernandes – who had dropped into one of the deeper midfield roles to accommodate the Dutchman in behind Hojlund – began telling the substitute to move further inside. Zirkzee looked across at Amorim for confirmation but the manager was already pointing in exactly the same place Fernandes was instructing his team-mate to be. Some players are clearly going to take longer to get to grips with Amorim’s demands than others.
Luke Shaw’s introduction in the second half was his first appearance for United since February and Manuel Ugarte represented an improvement on Casemiro in midfield. Mason Mount made his first Premier League for almost two months late on – a player Amorim has high hopes for.
Winners on the day
Amad Diallo: A surprise choice at right wing-back, the Ivorian made an immediate impact with a superb run and cross to set up that quick-fire opener. Amorim said Amad had demonstrated in just a few training sessions that he could understand the defensive demands of the role.
André Onana: United’s best performer this season, the Cameroon goalkeeper continued that form here by making two outstanding saves to deny Liam Delap. Amorim was also pleased with his distribution and willingness to play short after regularly going long under Ten Hag.
Noussair Mazraoui: With Leny Yoro, Lisandro Martínez, Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof all unavailable, Mazraoui was used on the right of a back-three and looked calm and composed for most of the game, despite the struggles of Matthijs de Ligt and Evans.
Losers on the day
Casemiro: The Brazilian had shown signs of improvement under Ruud van Nistelrooy but this was another tough afternoon for the veteran midfielder when he gave the ball away too often and struggled to get around the pitch. Amorim’s frustration with him was etched large at times.
Christian Eriksen: The Dane’s lack of mobility was highlighted in the 11th minute when he failed to cut out a cross from Wes Burns that a younger, more agile player would have intercepted. Amorim needs midfielders with legs in that critical position in the pitch.
Matthijs de Ligt: At 36, it is probably no surprise there will be games when Jonny Evans looks his age and that was the case against the livewire Omari Hutchinson but De Ligt does not have age as an excuse yet he looked wholly uncomfortable dealing with Delap at times, not least when spun in the middle before being shown a clean pair of legs as the Ipswich striker careered towards goal. Only a fine save from Onana stopped Delap turning in a cross.
