Rio Ferdinand has explained why he ‘would have hated’ one tactic that Ruben Amorim is implementing at Manchester United.
Manchester United have endured a mixed beginning to the Premier League campaign, recording just two wins from their opening five matches.
Ruben Amorim’s men picked up a crucial victory over Chelsea at the weekend, having also edged past Burnley 3-2 earlier in the month.
However, they fell short against both Arsenal and Manchester City, while being held to a draw by Fulham. To make matters worse, they crashed out of the Carabao Cup at the hands of League Two side Grimsby Town.
After last season’s struggles, the setbacks have only added to the pressure on Amorim as he prepares for a pivotal stretch in the season.
Ferdinand completely agrees with Walcott over United tactic
One of the trends of United’s games so far this season has been the changing of the defenders in the backline mid-game. In all six fixtures, Amorim has substituted at least one of his centre-backs.
Last time out saw Leny Yoro replace Harry Maguire late on in the game and Chelsea would go on to score from a cross which the Englishman would have probably headed away.
Former Arsenal star Theo Walcott recently criticised this strategy and United legend Rio Ferdinand has completeluy agreed with his stance.
Sharing a clip about the situation from his podcast on X, Ferdinand captioned the post: “Why do we keep changing our centre backs during the game?! I WOULD HAVE HATED THIS!”
On the podcast, he stated: “I look at teams that win, right? Whether it’s my team, whether it’s the old Ruben Amorim teams with Tony Adams or with Martin Keown, Sol Campbell, or John Terry, William Gallas, now [Virgil] van Dijk and [Ibrahima] Konate, the same centre halves play every week.
“There’s a consistency with team selection, with that pairing at the back. Paris Saint-Germain, same two centre backs, all the way through, bang, winning the trophy.
“Consistency of players in that area of the pitch gives you a better chance to win. This chopping and changing is just, I find it wild – I don’t like it and I wouldn’t like it if I played.”
Amorim’s reasoning for United tactic is obvious
Most teams do not change their centre-backs in the middle of games but, at the same time, most teams do not have so much going through those players.
In Amorim’s back three, the two wide centre-backs are particularly important in and out of possession, having to step up into midfield to press while also progressing the ball down the flanks. They also must cover when the wingbacks are caught further up the pitch.
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Whatever people think of Amorim’s system, those two players are extremely important for it to succeed and if players are just a couple of yards off the pace, United could be punished. That is the clear reason why these wide centre-backs are regularly being changed up.
There is certainly an argument whether the amount of responsibility those players have is right, and it might be something Amorim has to look at if his team keep getting caught out defensively.
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