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3 weeks ago
21 On Wednesday night, Ruben Amorim sustained his first defeat as Manchester United manager after failing to trouble Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
The 39-year-old had already warned about an incoming ‘storm’ in the leadup to the contest, alluding to an inevitable maiden defeat that would ensue sooner or later.
And the storm came alright in the shape of the menacing Gunners who had the clear upper hand in the big tilt of the midweek Premier League round.
Mikel Arteta’s men dominated the action in front of their jubilant home supporters, pouncing on their clear set-piece advantage to score twice from corner kicks through Jurrien Timber and William Saliba.
Moreover, Amorim’s selections raised some eyebrows, as the manager changed half of the starting lineup that seemed to be on song while pummeling Everton by four unanswered goals in the weekend.
Therefore, the Portuguese tactician had to explain his choices, revealing how he has been forced to manage his players’ minutes, as at least four of them don’t have the legs to play for the duration of the match.
“It’s not because I like to change all the time but we have to have all the squad fit,” said Amorim in his post-match interview (via Manchester Evening News).
“So, for example, Harry Maguire has a time limit, Tyrell Malacia has a time limit, Mason Mount has a time limit, Leny Yoro has a really time limit. So we have to manage winning games, different methodology, different way of playing, more meters to press and tomorrow we have to assess and the guys that are a little bit at risk to some injury will not play.
“So we have to have everybody to work, to play and to improve the squad.”
Ruben Amorim defends his choices against Arsenal
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 01: Ruben Amorim, Head Coach of Manchester United, looks on as he walks towards the tunnel at half-time during the Premier League match between Manchester United FC and Everton FC at Old Trafford on December 01, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)Moreover, Amorim felt he didn’t have enough time with the squad to prepare for a major Premier League clash against a title challenger.
“We didn’t have the time. We work a lot on building up. You can see the structure, you can see the idea, you can see the bounce when the centre-backs go to the midfielders, you can see that.
“But in the last part or last third you can see we need to improve, be more aggressive, more ideas but that part is more difficult to improve without a lot of training.
“I make the evaluation of the game regardless of the result. Like I said, the 4-0 (against Everton) you can take positive things, but we have to improve and you already knew that.
“But you can feel it in the stadium (at Arsenal), especially in the end of the first half you can feel they were not comfortable, you can feel it in the stadium. So you can take that.
“We had one day to put a strategy and they can cope with that, they broke – especially the right side of Arsenal with – a lot of players there, we manage to control very well. The difference today was the set pieces.
“You see a goal and then the momentum changes and it’s really hard for us to take full control of the game but we try it and was that: the set pieces.”
