Rúben Amorim has revealed what Manchester United had been working on ahead of their Premier League fixture against Brentford, but it didn’t do much good.
Manchester United suffered a 3-1 defeat to Brentford on Saturday, their third loss in six Premier League games under Rúben Amorim.
United began on the front foot but were undone early when Igor Thiago broke clear to score in the ninth minute, before striking again soon after to double the hosts’ lead.
Benjamin Šeško pulled one back with a scrappy finish, yet the visitors failed to build on the goal before half-time.
Amorim turned to Kobbie Mainoo and Leny Yoro in the second half to shift momentum, and United briefly looked brighter. However, a penalty saw Bruno Fernandes denied from the spot after a lengthy delay.
Late attacking changes made little difference, and Brentford confirmed victory in stoppage time as Mathias Jensen thundered in their third.
Amorim explains what happened in United training
United’s 3-1 loss against Brentford highlighted once again the club’s frailties in defending against physical sides, with even United’s larger and more powerful assets being scrambled during set pieces and counterattacks.
Speaking with TNT Sports after the fixture, Amorim explained that his side had been working on defending long balls and set pieces during the week of training, although it clearly had little effect.
“Of course, we want to win,” Amorim said after full-time. We didn’t control the game. We played the game of Brentford. First balls, second balls, set pieces. All the crucial moments were against us. Tough to lose again but we need to think about the next one.
“The first goal was a long ball. We worked on that in the week and on set pieces. We knew the long balls [were coming], and one touch, they had the opportunity. We need to do better.
“We didn’t play our game. We only had control for some moments. But it was more or less all the same. We need to play our games, not the opponents, but they were stronger on that.”
Amorim must work on retaining the ball instead
United’s weakness in defending in the box and against set pieces is no new information – it was a central theme of last season and appears to still be a significant issue within the squad.
Despite the squad having worked on it for over two weeks in training, it’s clearly been utterly useless, and Amorim would do well to change tack and instead delve into the more central and root issues causing United’s lack of form.
More than anything, United have been failing to retain consistent possession and spells of dominance on the field. The passing accuracy from Amorim’s side was an average of 81% on Saturday afternoon; however, key passes and touches were often loose, overhit, or resulted in the wrong decision.
If United are instead able to improve their ability to retain the ball and dominate games, defending set pieces and consistent long balls will naturally become less of an issue, as any opponent will have much less time on the ball to target the side’s defensive weaknesses.
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