Rúben Amorim gave star the wrong role – Five things noticed from Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United

Five things noticed as Manchester United fell to a 2-0 defeat against Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon at the Emirates Stadium.

Rúben Amorim elected to start Rasmus Højlund as Manchester United travelled to face Arsenal in the Premier League on Wednesday evening.

The tie started slowly, and with Amorim setting the team up in a defensive light, it did not pick up.

Read More: Player Ratings – Arsenal vs Manchester United (Premier League)

Arsenal and United had a couple of flashes of attack, but for the most part, it was dull, with the home side failing to penetrate Amorim’s carefully constructed defence in the first half.

In the second half, Amorim replaced Tyrell Malacia with Amad Diallo, and Diogo Dalot shifted to left wing-back, with Amad resuming on the right. With Arsenal still pushing, they finally Jurriën Timber capitalised from one of their many coners, leaping at the front post to open the scoring.

Amorim responded by throwing on Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee and Marcus Rashford, but Arsenal continued to dominate, scoring a second corner of the night to put Mikel Arteta’s men two ahead on the night.

United dared to become a little more adventurous during the final 20 minutes, but to no avail as the referee confirmed Amorim’s first loss as United’s new head coach.

#1 – Amorim’s adaptions

Despite his words of just focusong on his team, it’s clear the Portugese international had adapted his squad for the game, starting two full-backs as wing backs for the game.

While almost every time one of the wing-backs has been a winger, this time, it was Tyrell Malacia on the left and Diogo Dalot on the right – the first time this season that both wing-backs have been on the sides of their respective strong feet.

However, despite his changes, he was unable to nulify Arsenal’s set pieces. United are notourious for failing to defend dead-ball plays – something Amorim must work on when he has the chance.

#2 – Malacia’s hard time

Malacia was facing Arsenal sensation Bukayo Saka, and it was not hard to tell that the Netherlands full-back was on edge throughout the tie.

He was too ready to back into his own area, and with only your second 45 minutes of football in 17 months coming against one of England’s best wingers, it is not a surprise Amorim chose to change him.

Withe Malacia on a yellow, it was no surprise that Amorim chose to take him off, but his lack of minutes across the last few years will no doubt also be a factor in this decision.

#3 – Yoro’s debut

139 days after he signed for Manchester United, Yoro was able to finally make his debut for the club, coming on for 30 minutes to plaly at left centre-back, and he did an admiral job.

There was a notible fantastic challange on Leandro Trossard, as well as generally reading the play well and stopping mutiple crosses before they could reach their intended targets.

#4 – Fernandes’ incorrect role

Bruno Fernandes started as a deeper midfielder in order to accomodate Alejandro Garnacho and Mason Mount in the more advanced positions, but this may have been the wrong move.

When United have most of the posession, Fernandes may be a great asset playing deeper as he can dictate play and find the side’s attacking players, but against a side such as Arsenal on their home turf, he was a cause for concern at points.

Fernandes was dispsessed due to Arsenal’s high pressure on multiple occasions, and he was somewhat swallowed up in the middle of the park. He may have been more effective playing in a higher role on the night.

#5 – A performance to build on

Despite the negative end result, there is a lot to be positive about with regard to United’s display in London.

Although the opposition scored two corners, United defended the other 11 Arsenal had well, and in general the defensive shape was admirable throughout the tie, considering the number of injuries Amorim has to deal with in the back line.

As always, the head coach will assess his side’s performance and build on both positives and negatives as the club return to Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon for a Premier League meeting with Nottingham Forest.

---

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Wednesday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.