In recent weeks, Manchester United manager Rúben Amorim has gone about making a number of tactical tweaks to how the team has set up, and it appears to have worked wonders.
Following Manchester United’s crushing 3-1 defeat at Brentford, many United fans had seemingly begun to lose faith in Rúben Amorim and his system, with some fans even beginning to question his position as head coach.
His lack of willingness to adapt and change his system throughout his time at United had become a source of great frustration amongst United fans, and subsequently led to heavy criticism in the media due to his reluctance to change, despite a plethora of poor results.
Due to being forced into taking in the job mid-season last year, many United fans, including the club’s board, provided Amorim with leeway for mistakes and poor results due to the lack of time he had with the players on the training ground, and his inability to make transfers to really mould the squad as he wished.
However, following a 15th-place finish and the disastrous defeat to Tottenham in the Europa League final, patience had begun to wear thin, and with heavy defeats to City and Brentford, including a humiliating defeat in the Carabao Cup against Grimsby Town, Amorim has been under major pressure to change, or he may have to face the same fate as those before him
But in recent weeks, we may have finally been able to see some adaptations to the system that have seemingly worked wonders for United, and might be able to fully kickstart the Amorim era.
Amorim’s new tactical approach
Just before the international break, United hosted Sunderland at Old Trafford in a clash that was a must-win game for Amorim and his side, and following Mason Mount’s early opener, everything was going smoothly when United fans began to notice changes.
Previously, out of possession, United would drop into a 5-2-3 shape, leaving the midfield exposed and providing opposition teams the chance to win the midfield battle and take control of the game as a result.
However, against Sunderland, United opted to go with a more traditional 4-4-2 shape off the ball, with Bryan Mbeumo looking to play off Benjamin Šeško, acting as a second striker to make runs in behind. This then made United more of a threat on the break, as well as providing a more dangerous pressing shape.
United have also looked to mix up build-up options, now commonly opting to go long from the keeper, aiming to win second balls and mitigate the risk of losing the ball in dangerous positions during build-up, with the most effective example of this would be for Mbeumo’s opener against Liverpool, where these tweaks are on display.
Man Utd growing in confidence
With United winning three on the bounce since the initial implementation of these changes, the growing confidence among the United squad is clear to see and was evident in their performance against Brighton.
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Paul Merson on Sky Sports said he believes that United have begun to ‘turn a corner’, and could be quoted as saying: “The big players are performing, and you can see the confidence has returned.”
One of the players whom Merson is likely referring to here would be Casemiro, whose recent resurgence can also be credited to an increased level of confidence following the recent upturn in form, with the number 18 rolling back the years with an immense performance against the Seagulls on Saturday.
Merson could also be quoted saying: “It’s still early days, but that win tells me they are slowly building some momentum.”, which is a fair assessment with United fans needing to remain level-headed, but can now go into the Forest game with the confidence and belief that this team will be able to make it four wins in a row.
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