Manchester United suffered a 4-3 defeat to Brentford on Sunday afternoon but Ruben Amorim still found praise for three players.
Manchester United have just suffered their 16th Premier League defeat of the season, this time to 9th place Brentford. Ruben Amorim used this match to rotate the squad from the Europa League fixture against Athletic Bilbao and used the match to give some of the squad’s fringe players an opportunity.
The 4-3 defeat was a mixed game in terms of United player’s performances. United’s best player was Alejandro Garnacho who registered a goal and an assist and displayed an output that he has lacked at points in the season. Amad Diallo, recently back from injury, also impressed when he scored from off the bench.
It was a difficult day for goalkeeper Altay Bayinder who conceded four goals in a match for the third time this season. Matthijs de Ligt had a difficult game for very different reasons as an injury in the 35th minute led to the centre-back being subbed off and Kevin Schade scoring while United were a man down.
Despite the defeat, Amorim highlighted several United players for praise in a post-match interview.
Amorim praises United youngsters
Youngsters Chido Obi, Tyler Fredricson and Harry Amass all received praise from the manager. “I liked [the performance of] the young kids,” Amorim said. “I liked how we controlled the game without many occasions to score.”
Amorim had a history of bedding young players into the team when he was at Sporting Lisbon and it seems he has taken a similar approach to his management of United.
All three of these youngsters received their first team debuts under Amorim, with Fredricson and Amass being longtime Academy players and Obi having a temporary stint in United’s under-21 side after being brought in from Aresnal’s academy.
Having such a young side does have its downsides, especially in terms of physicality as young players are often still growing. However, Amorim acknowledged that this lack of height was an expected issue in terms of defending set pieces and he did not seem that concerned by it.
“We started well, we controlled quite well and then throw-ins and set-pieces was a problem for us, but that is normal for us because we didn’t have the height with the team,” he explained.
Amorim also praised the whole team’s efforts in trying to get back into the game from 4-1 down, saying: “We fought back and we were near – we tried to push and in the end, we lose”.
The youngsters were instrumental in United’s late push for a comeback as Obi had several late chances and Amass was also on the pitch for the entirety of the match and attempted multiple crosses as the team searched for that elusive final goal.
United’s youngest-ever Premier League side
The starting 11 against Brentford has broken the club record for the youngest average age for a United side in the Premier League and is the third youngest starting line-up in Premier League history.
Individually, Obi also broke a record as he became the club’s youngest-ever player to start a Premier League match.
As well as the three youngsters that Amorim praised, players like Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo were also responsible for the young age of the squad. As previously mentioned Garnacho had one of his best performances this season but his assist came from a superb ball from Mainoo.
Although the young side was defeated, the lineup highlighted the exciting young players that United are developing under Amorim. As well as the youngsters in the starting 11, there are also players like Leny Yoro and Amad, who were on the bench, and Ayden Heaven and Toby Collyer who are currently injured.
Despite the defeat this match demonstrated the most exciting aspect of United’s current situation. Youth has been a staple of the club’s history and it is clear that Amorim understands that. Furthermore, the fight the team showed to get two goals back after going 4-1 down demonstrates that Amorim is instilling the club’s “never give in” values to these talented youngsters.
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