Alex Keble analyses Ruben Amorim's first match as Manchester United head coach, which ended in a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town.
TV Info - Broadcasters
Manchester United supporters are well aware that Rome wasn’t built in a day; that the road ahead will be long and bumpy.
Nobody will be particularly surprised or concerned by a scrappy, awkward and largely disjointed 1-1 draw with Ipswich.
Ruben Amorim will have hoped for a better result and a better performance at Portman Road, but there were plenty of positives to be found in the United display – as well as a few negatives for the new head coach to mull over.
Here’s what went right and what went wrong on Amorim’s debut.
Early goal provides green shoots for new speedy attack
Within 80 seconds of kick-off, Amorim looked like a genius.
His decision to field right winger Amad as a right wing-back, mimicking the way he converted Geovany Quenda at Sporting, instantly paid off when the 22-year-old dribbled half the length of the pitch to assist the opener.
Man Utd formation v Ipswich
Marcus Rashford, another surprise pick as the centre-forward, scored the goal that appeared to justify Amorim’s first tactical decisions in charge.
It would prove to be the high point of the performance, although in the first half in particular, there were some neat combinations between Alejandro Garnacho, Rashford and Bruno Fernandes, close to one another at the tip of the 3-4-3 formation.
In time, Amorim’s use of inside forwards behind a striker will mean lots of quick interchanges in the No 10 space. In small bursts, we saw the start of that on Sunday.
Direct tactics and Amorim’s subs showed attacking bravery
We all saw the 3-4-3 coming and we all anticipated a more hard-pressing United set-up, but there was a big surprise in the aesthetic.
Man Utd were very direct, looking to play balls in behind to Garnacho and Rashford at every opportunity.
These often came from Fernandes, although everyone appeared under instruction to look for the through-ball straight away.
This is not how we had expected Amorim to play and some fans may be left nervous by the adaptation given that swapping possession football for a fast and direct style was precisely what went wrong for Erik ten Hag.
Indeed, part of the reason Man Utd never looked in control was their directness, preventing them from carefully gaining territory and often gifting the ball back to Ipswich.
But a more positive spin is that United were attacking and proactive, suggesting Amorim will be brave in his decision-making, something we also saw from his substitutions.
In the 68th minute a double change left Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte in central midfield and Luke Shaw and Noussair Mazraoui as outside centre-backs. In other words, it meant just one central midfielder and one central defender left on the pitch.
The changes didn’t quite work, and if anything further destabilised the United set-up, but if it’s a sign of things to come then United supporters can look forward to being entertained.
Midfield issues and disconnected press
For most of the 90 minutes Ipswich dominated the midfield battle, showing up the lack of youth and energy in the two-man midfield of Christian Eriksen and Casemiro as Omari Hutchinson and Liam Delap repeatedly dropped short to receive the ball and push Ipswich up the pitch.
That is to be expected, and in the future, Ugarte is likely to play a bigger role.
Of more concern is how United’s midfield – a problem area for some time – can be fixed within a 3-4-3 formation that expects so much ground to be covered by just two players.
Throughout the first 45 minutes Ipswich found joy down their right wing, creating chances because Garnacho was ahead of the ball and the two-man midfield couldn’t get out in time to help out.
This graphic below, showing the United players’ average positions, shows just how large the gaps are between the midfielders and the wing-backs.
This is always a concern in a 3-4-3 formation, because when it inevitably drops to a 5-2-3, there is a lot of space in front of the wing-backs.
Amorim solved the issue in the second half by swapping Fernandes and Garnacho around and dropping the inside forwards deeper, but considering the new head coach wants to play on the front foot, that is only a sticking plaster.
The second major issue was another one familiar to United fans: a detached press.
On several occasions the forwards pressed high only to find that the defenders were not pushing up to support them, leaving huge holes in midfield as the United team effectively split into two.
The most prominent example, and by no means the first, created the short period of pressure from which Ipswich equalised.
From then on, Ipswich were the better team: more organised, battling harder in midfield and probably deserving of the three points.
As if Amorim didn’t already know, here was evidence the task facing him is a big one.
