There is one unexpected statistic that highlights Ruben Amorim’s biggest problem he has to solve at Manchester United this season.
Manchester United have had a mixed start to the season and currently sit 10th in the Premier League table after seven games.
Defeats came against Arsenal, Manchester City and Brentford while the Reds secured victories against Chelsea, Sunderland and Burnley. The spoils were shared during their clash with Fulham.
Ruben Amorim’s side have shown positives and negatives in their performances so far this term but many fans were expecting more progress than there has been.
After the international break, United travel to Anfield to play Liverpool and then have fixtures with Brighton, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Reds will need to show major improvements and there is one area in particular that has to change in order for results to improve consistently.
Unexpected statistic highlights Amorim’s biggest problem
One of United’s major problems since Amorim took charge has been how they regularly concede the first goal in games and that has often come early on in the 90 minutes.
In all of the Premier League games they lost this term, the opening goals were scored by the opponents in the 13th (Arsenal), 18th (Man City) and 8th (Brentford) minutes of the matches.
Analyst Kees van Hemmen has also noted how United conceded a goal from the opponents first or second shot in all three of those games. In the games that United won or drew, they did not concede from the first or second shot.
While Amorim’s system is being scrutinised – and rightly so – it is much more difficult to see how a plan truly works when game-states are often changing in your opponents favour so early in matches with minimal shots on goal.
It is demoralising for a team to come into a game with a plan and then to be 1-0 down within 20 minutes after one or two shots at their goal, but how is Amorim going to fix this?
Lammens can help solve this issue
United need to start games better and dominate play more in the early exchanges. They did this against Chelsea and Sunderland and were rewarded for their efforts.
But the biggest change that can be made is the introduction of Senne Lammens, who impressed on his debut for the club against Sunderland.
Altay Bayındır is not the sole blame for these early goals conceded, but it seems clear that a more commanding and calm presence behind the backline will help United in these situations.
Once the team are back in action, Amorim needs to solve this issue one way or another, because it will be impossible for United to progress if they are conceding early goals every other game.
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