Rio Ferdinand singles out the ONLY Manchester United forward who’s a “real threat”, it’s not Amad

Rio Ferdinand has singled out the only Manchester United forward who he believes is a “real threat” under Rúben Amorim after goalscoring woes.

Rúben Amorim’s tactics have come under increasing scrutiny following a poor run of results in the Premier League.

While Manchester United have progressed in both the Europa League and FA Cup, their league form has been disappointing, with eight defeats in 14 matches under the new head coach. Many believe the team are struggling to adapt to his 3-4-3 system.

A key issue has been United’s wastefulness in front of goal. Despite creating 49 big chances in the league this season, they have squandered 43, with multiple attacking players enduring lengthy goal droughts.

The debate over the cause of these struggles continues. Some argue the system lacks flexibility, while others believe the squad simply isn’t clinical enough to take its chances.

United’s only real threat in front of goal

Against Tottenham Hotspur last week, United failed to score once again under Amorim, with those such as Joshua Zirkzee, Rasmus Højlund, and Alejandro Garnacho missing chances, despite the side having six shots on target.

However, with Amad injured for the remainder of the campaign, former United centre-back Rio Ferdinand has explained that he feels the only attacking threat in Amorim’s current side is 20-year-old Garnacho.

“Well, you look at the front line, you’ve got Højlund, Zirkzee, and Garnacho right now, who are the three fit strikers that we’ve got. There’s eight goals between them.

“Now, we’ve gone past halfway in the season, we’re going to the final stretch of the season, they’ve got eight goals between our attacking players. So, when you look at it like that, where’s the goals going to come from? And then you think, oh, do we need to get Bruno a bit higher?

“With Garnacho, it’s weird, isn’t it? You see people saying ‘you’ve got to let him go, he’s going to generate the money’. He’s our only threat. He’s our only real threat, who runs at people, who takes the ball. I said this on the show last week: he’s the only one with the balls who goes, ‘you know what, give me the ball’.

“His finishing might not be clean, his final pass might not be as clean as it might be in two or three years with development, but he’s the only one you can go, ‘you know what, he’s always running in behind, he’s always looking to hurt the opponents’, and he don’t look scared.”

Garnacho’s attacking threat is not enough

Ferdinand is right when he says that Garnacho is one of the few players at United who consistently looks to drive forward with the ball at his feet, but the Argentina international has failed to score in his last 18 appearances.

His only goal under Amorim came against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League where he scored from close range into an empty net, and in this period, he has also contributed just two assists in that time, too.

However, Garnacho is not the only player who has failed to provide a consistent goal threat – the whole squad has been faltering. Zirkzee has just two goals in his last 18 appearances, while Højlund has not netted in his last 15 games.

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Even Amad, the club’s top scorer, had no goal involvements in his last six games after his hat-trick against Southampton in January.

United have no consistent goalscoring threat despite Ferdinand’s words on Garnacho, and it’s a problem Amorim must look to fix with immediate urgency.

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