Manchester United were badly beaten by Newcastle United in Michael Carrick’s first loss as the head coach of the club.
Manchester United will be bitterly disappointed with their first loss since Michael Carrick replaced Darren Fletcher in January, and their first loss in the Premier League this calendar year.
Anthony Gordon opened the scoring with a penalty just before the additional time in the first half. Bruno Fernandes brought down the former Everton winger, who finished past Senne Lammens with ease.
Casemiro managed a reply before the end of the first period, in the ninth minute of added time, with an excellent header from a Fernandes free-kick after Lewis Hall’s foul on Noussair Mazraoui.
William Osula clinched victory in the 90th minute with a curling effort past Lammens. The Dane knocked the ball past Tyrell Malacia and whipped the ball into the far corner.
Benjamin Šeško struggled for service against Newcastle. Both Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo failed to cross the ball into the Slovenian, on the rare occasion they looked up into the box.
Mbeumo needs to improve
In Carrick’s first matches, Mbeumo played as the centre-forward, with Amad on the right and Patrick Dorgu or Cunha on the left. Šeško was left out, but the front three often combined well with quick combinations outside the box.
With Mbeumo now playing on the right flank, Amad has dropped to the bench, and Šeško has led the line. While Šeško needed to come into the side, due to his goal output, dropping Amad has left United without a natural wide player.
Cunha and Mbeumo both prefer to cut inside while on the ball, and Cunha sometimes drifts from his position when United are in the build-up phase. Amad, though, knows he must stay wide and can beat his man before driving into the box.
For Carrick to get back to his best United side, he must move Mbeumo back into the centre of the pitch, and Amad must return to the flank, or the same issues will remain, regarding breaking down a low block.
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How can Carrick play Amad and Mbeumo?
One option for the former midfielder would be to drop Cunha to the bench and deploy Mbeumo on the left wing, but that wouldn’t get the best out of the Cameroon international, as he would cut inside onto his weaker foot.
Another would be to play Mbeumo and Šeško as a front two, with Bruno Fernandes moved out to the left wing. When Patrick Dorgu returns, this would work as he could get forward from left-back and hold the width, allowing Fernandes to move inside.
However, this could leave United overrun in midfield, as it would be just a midfield two once again.
Carrick may be forced to drop one of his front four, but it seems Amad cannot be that one if United are playing against a deeper block.
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