Man United took the lead over Bournemouth after the first half. Since 1984, having played 542 times at Old Trafford, they have never lost when taking the lead after the first 45 minutes. However, this record was almost broken after the match early this morning.
The subsequent goals of Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha seemed to have sunk Bournemouth but the team that almost fell into that situation was Man United. This match has no extra time, if it does, it is as crazy as Man United's comeback against Lyon in the Europa League last season.
The Red Devils have played well at many points but there were times when they were extremely bad. Once again, Amorim has lessons and these lessons seem endless, not knowing when they will end.
Before the match, Amorim had talked about the possibility of Man United changing their playing style, not donging in the 3-4-3 formation anymore. When looking at the starting lineup early this morning, they still have Dalot and Amad on the wings. However, when he took the initiative to attack, everything seemed to be different.
When Bournemouth had the ball from behind, Amad pushed higher than usual. The home team's defensive formation during the attack was clearly visible with the four men, no longer as blurred as the win over Wolves in the previous round. This is the flexibility Amorim mentioned and he is no longer too rigid. However, the 40-year-old strategist still never speaks because of the pressure from public opinion, so he changed.
However, despite changing the formation at many times on the pitch, the way Man United played and the result was still inadequate as usual. This shows that no matter how much they rotate the formation, Ruben Amorim's team has not yet solved the core problem of smoothness in playing style.
Among the three African players preparing to leave the team to attend the AFCON, perhaps the most regrettable loss for Man United is Amad, instead of Mbeumo or Mazraoui. He played very well in the first half against Bournemouth. The Ivorian midfielder alone stirred up the right wing, then cracked inside many times to continue the dangerous passes of his teammates.
Not only playing well in terms of expertise, Amad's spirit is also commendable. Although he had to play closer to the opponent's penalty area, he struggled to retreat and ran through both wings to put pressure on the opponent. Seeing Amad play like that, even though he only lost 1 match, the "Red Devils" fans felt extremely regretful, not to mention the possibility of losing this midfielder in the next 4-5 matches.
"This was an interesting match for all the fans. People saw us losing 2 points in the second half but in fact it came in the first half. Similar to the match against Nottingham Forest, we conceded 2 goals very quickly. Man United should have ended the game better. There was a feeling of scoring four goals but still not winning.
We are pressing and controlling the match better in the area far from the goal. Man Untied still lacks quality in defense, that is what the coaching staff needs to solve. Everything will be very different when you have conceded many goals and the opponent does not have the chances" - Ruben Amorim shared.
Man United's next match will be a trip to Aston Villa's Villa Park at 11:30 p.m. on December 21 (Vietnam time).
