MU immediately set a new record in the Premier League under Ruben Amorim, and there are promising signs.
Coach Amorim’s debut was not perfect, but MU still has a record
Ruben Amorim’s Premier League debut did not live up to expectations. It took MU just 81 seconds to score the first goal under the Portuguese coach. However, in the remaining 90 minutes, the “Red Devils” could not find another goal. In the end, they had to share points with Ipswich Town, the team ranked 3rd from Jilipark bottom.
A shaky defense and ineffective attack are long-standing problems at United. Ruben Amorim has only been in charge for less than a month, so immediate changes cannot be expected. These problems cannot be solved overnight.
For example, Manchester United players currently cover the least ground in the Premier League. In the match against Ipswich Town, Manchester United players covered 6.5km less than their opponents. Their sprint count was 138, 12 fewer than the home team.
Since the beginning of the season, MU has always lost to their opponents in the sprint index in all 12 rounds. In terms of distance traveled, they are only better than Fulham and Chelsea , but the difference is very small.
Of course, MU still has some positive points under the new reign. The “Red Devils” just set a record for the most passes in a Premier League match since the beginning of the season, with 649 passes in the match against Ipswich Town.
However, this record leads to a sad number. MU became the team with the most passes in the home field in a Premier League match since Opta was born, with 449/649 times, accounting for a rate of up to 69.2%. From the passing map, it can be seen that most of the times MU successfully passed the ball were horizontal passes in the home field. The sudden passes were almost all failed.
Amorim’s “new wind” is worth looking forward to
From the match results to the statistics, Ruben Amorim has quite good command ability. Despite switching to a new formation, MU did not encounter too many problems. This alone is superior to Ten Hag. Remember the early days of the Dutch coach, every time he tried out the tactic, the “Red Devils” lost miserably, even though the opponent was only Brentford or Brighton.
The problem for MU right now is that the players who can play are not the best. Jonny Evans, although playing well, should be replaced by Luke Shaw or Lisandro Martinez. Eriksen also needs to be replaced by Mainoo or Ugarte. More importantly, the left-sided attacking midfielder position needs to change.
Ruben Amorim played Garnacho for almost the full 90 minutes against Ipswich Town. Perhaps he wanted to test the young Argentine’s ability. However, Garnacho’s style of play is more about running, dribbling and shooting than creating for his teammates. This can be said to be the most inappropriate piece for MU in this match.
Garnacho will most likely be benched in the upcoming matches to give Zirkzee or Mason Mount a try. Both players are more suited to MU’s style of play. However, their ability to adapt to Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 formation still needs time to be tested. When the pieces are in the best shape, Ruben Amorim’s MU will become a team worth watching.
