In the final minutes of the match against Arsenal, Ruben Amorim seemed quite upset with his players' way of deploying the ball from the back. The 39-year-old captain appeared angry when Andre Onana tried to find a way to pass the ball to Bruno Fernandes when the "Red Devils" captain was surrounded by opponents.
Then, another situation from Marcus Rashford made his coach feel hot-tempered. The English striker ran straight to the middle of the pitch to get closer to midfield, thereby making it easier to get the ball instead of running behind the Arsenal defense to create a breakthrough. Rashy returned and passed to Amad Diallo, then the ball slipped out of bounds. Witnessing this moment, Amorim threw the bottle of water he was drinking to the ground.
Man United suffered their fourth consecutive defeat against Arsenal and also Amorim's first defeat to his new team. For most of the match, the much-underrated away team tried not to "exaggerate" the game. They almost did that when they held Arsenal back in the first half. However, mistakes in the defense in set-piece situations cost Man United.
However, holding back was not enough and that was not long-lasting for Man United. Post-match statistics show that Arsenal had 35 touches in the opponent's penalty area, while Man United only had 6. The Red Devils' most dangerous chance was probably Matthijs de Ligt's close-range header but they could not take advantage.
"We still don't have enough time. People could see tactical ideas all over the pitch, but the most important space in the final third of the pitch was quite deadlocked. Man United need to improve, be more decisive and sometimes more aggressive" - Amorim shared.
This match also saw Amorim's next starting lineup change. He made six changes from last week's 4-0 win over Everton. Not to mention, Amorim also made continuous substitutions in each match. This action not only gave the 39-year-old captain the opportunity to experiment with the squad but also helped his students save more energy. In the next 57 days, until February 1, 2025, Man United will have to play 15 matches, an average of nearly 4 days/match. This tough schedule can beat any team, so Amorim must be prepared.
Changes in the starting lineup or changes in positions on the field will lead to some situations where the stars are out of sync, such as Noussair Mazraoui having to play on the left. Absences like Luke Shaw will cause problems for a while before Amorim finds a replacement or buys a new one. Therefore, from now until he finds the perfect piece for every position on the pitch, Amorim will continue to push the team into a real-life experiment.
Manchester United have once again fallen to the bottom half of the rankings, but this was predicted before their opponent Arsenal played at the Emirates. After the first 3 matches against weaker opponents and remaining unbeaten, Amorim's Man United were shocked right when facing the first team in the Big Six. From now until the end of the season, there will be many difficult matches like the recent away match in London.
