“Ready to cope…” Rúben Amorim hints he already knows his best Manchester United line-up

Rúben Amorim has hinted that he already knows his best Manchester United line-up ahead of their Premier League tie against Wolves on Boxing Day.

Rúben Amorim faces a critical juncture in Manchester United’s season after a challenging week saw his side suffer two consecutive defeats.

United followed a thrilling derby triumph over Manchester City with a 4-3 Carabao Cup exit at Tottenham and a sobering 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth.

These setbacks have left United languishing in 13th place in the Premier League, marking their lowest-ever position on Christmas Day since the competition began.

Next, United head to Molineux on Boxing Day to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wolves, sitting 18th in the table, have been revitalized by new manager Vítor Pereira, who started his reign with a resounding 3-0 victory against Leicester City.

Amorim hints he already knows his best XI

Rúben Amorim has adopted a policy of heavy rotation during his opening nine games in charge of the club, initially citing the need for each of his players to adapt to his system which would in turn help him understand who fits his system the best.

However, in the lead up to the fixture against Wolves, Amorim was questioned on why he is still rotating, to which he replied that he no longer sees the need to rotate to see his players play, and that it’s instead now being caused by injury.

This could imply that he now knows what his ideal best line-up is, but he is simply unable to field it every game as he needs to protect players from injury.

“NIn this moment, it’s not rotation to see the players and prepare the future, it’s simply to not have injuries,” Amorim said on Sunday afternoon after the Bournemouth loss.

“Matta [Matthijs de Ligt] is sick. Harry Maguire did 90 minutes against [Manchester] City and cannot play three days before because in three months he only did 90 minutes one time against City, so we have to rotate him during the week and, today, he is playing.

“Kobbie Mainoo played, he returned from injury, so I have to think if he’s ready to cope with both games so sometimes I have to play two games at the same moment. Rasmus [Højlund] played two games, the third game today, I think we needed fresh legs.

“So, we are trying to address everything. I just want to win games because I know that there’s a long-term project and we are focused on that. But I also know that in big clubs you don’t have a lot of time, and you have to win games.

“So, I have a clear idea of the responsibility I have here but I’m trying to manage this team to not have injuries. If we have injuries, it’s a massive problem in trying to win games and manage all the players so I’m not rotating to see the future.

“I just want to win games and not have injuries. If we have injuries, it’s a big problem.” 

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.