Rúben Amorim was missing one player who could completely unleash his new-look Manchester United after their 4-4 draw with Bournemouth.
Manchester United were held to a dramatic 4-4 draw by Bournemouth on Monday night, missing the opportunity to move into the top five under Rúben Amorim.
The hosts made a fast start and took an early lead through Amad’s close-range header. Bournemouth responded well, with Antoine Semenyo levelling, before Casemiro headed United back in front from a Bruno Fernandes corner just before the interval. Evanilson struck almost immediately after the restart to make it 2-2.
Marcus Tavernier then put the visitors ahead with an excellent free-kick. Amorim reacted with changes, and Fernandes produced a superb set-piece of his own to equalise late on.
Matheus Cunha quickly fired United into the lead, but Eli Junior Kroupi ensured the points were shared. Senne Lammens’ late heroics kept Bournemouth level, leaving United to rue a missed chance.
United missed De Ligt at the back
United’s back line was very suspect against Bournemouth. They had Leny Yoro at right-back, Ayden Heaven and Luke Shaw as centre-backs, and Diogo Dalot at left-back. Only one of these three players was in their natural position, and it was Heaven, the least experienced of the quartet.
Far too often, Bournemouth were able to cut straight down the middle of United’s defensive line, with Heaven often sat too far wide or not being able to cover ground quickly enough to close the space, but one man who can do that is Matthijs de Ligt.
De Ligt has been injured in United’s last three games, and they’ve conceded six goals. He’s been a stalwart in defence, and both his experience and leadership have been missed.
The Dutchman had played every single Premier League minute for the Reds before their 1-1 draw with West Ham earlier this month, and Amorim has admitted he is not sure when the 26-year-old will return to action.
De Ligt can unleash Amorim’s new-look United
Whenever De Ligt does return, he may be the one player who will be able to hand Amorim exactly what he’s looking for with this new hybrid defence.
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The new structure gave Amad much more freedom on the right-hand side and allowed Mbeumo to play a more central role, and the side possibly played their best first half under Amorim’s reign so far. It was refreshing.
It was the defence that held the side back. As mentioned above, they were far too easy to cut through. Still, with De Ligt’s return, whenever that may be, the side will improve tenfold in their defensive anticipation, organisation, and authority.
Losing Amad, Bryan Mbeumo, and Noussair Mazraoui to AFCON is a big but temporary blow. De Ligt’s return will be a brilliant, and hopefully permanent, boost to the side, and could unleash the full potential of the new system Amorim is designing.
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