Considering Ruben Amorim wants to play “intense football”, it was a surprise to see him start two 32-year-old midfielders in his first game in charge of Manchester United on Sunday.
Christian Eriksen and Casemiro received the nod against Ipswich Town and Jamie Carragher pointed out the latter’s lack of intensity in his analysis on Monday Night Football. You’ll rarely hear United fans listening to Carragher but his analysis segments on Sky Sports are informative and he broke down Amorim’s tactics from the draw against Ipswich Town.
Carragher showed why having players who produce intensity in midfield is so important to his system – they are needed to press – and also outlined good and bad examples of the players attempting to deliver Amorim’s vision against Ipswich.
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The expectation was Amorim would start Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte, who seemed like the logical pairing, so the decision to start Casemiro and Eriksen seemed a tad strange.
Before the game, Amorim explained his team and said: “I have tried to use all the training [sessions] that we had during this week. So we had, for example, more time to train with Casemiro – we had Ugarte one day to train. So we try to use the players that I have passed more information to.
“I think that is key. You will see some changes, not big changes. It is impossible to do it in two trainings, but you will see some details in the team, I hope, that can show a little bit of the new idea.”
That interview with Amorim helped clarify his midfield selection but United’s new head coach will have overseen another three sessions by the time of the Bodo/Glimt game at Old Trafford on Thursday night, which means Ugarte and Mainoo have to come into the side.
Although there were some positives to take from Sunday’s draw against Ipswich, the performance in the second half was poor and Amorim can’t start Casemiro and Eriksen again. He needs to make changes to face Bodo/Glimt and starting Mainoo and Ugarte is logical. Mainoo returned to training after recovering from a muscle injury nine days ago – he is fit and ready to start – and Ugarte has had a few more training sessions after returning from international duty.
Ugarte came on from the bench at the weekend but Mainoo was an unused substitute and looked quite disappointed as he strolled through the mixed zone to leave Portman Road.
Anyone suggesting Mainoo is facing a fight to get back into the line-up has succumb to recency bias. Mainoo didn’t have the best start to the campaign, that is true, but he was playing in a flawed tactical system and clearly needed a rest after a gruelling first full season in senior football.
After Mainoo made his full Premier League debut at Goodison Park last term, he was involved in practically every game and was then called up to England’s squad for Euro 2024. His injury was probably seen as a blessing in disguise because it gave him time to recharge. The 19-year-old should get back to his best in the coming weeks and it’s a no-brainer to start him against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League, which should be the perfect fixture to return in.
Mainoo is one of the finest young midfielders in the world, United are lucky to have him and he is expected to thrive working with Amorim, who favoured young players at Sporting Lisbon. Ugarte played the best football of his career under Amorim at Sporting and should start alongside him.
The XI that Amorim should pick against Bodo/Glimt: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Shaw; Amad, Mainoo, Ugarte, Dalot; Fernandes, Rashford, Garnacho.
