Manchester United’s misery in the Premier League continues with a defeat in North London.
James Maddison scored the only goal of the game as Tottenham beat Manchester United 1-0 on Sunday afternoon.
Ruben Amorim has not managed to get the Red Devils ticking in the Premier League and United’s head coach has now lost eight of his 14 league matches in charge.
United were looking for revenge against Spurs after the 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford in September. However, Sunday’s result means the North London side have won three times against United this season.
United have now slumped down to 15th in the Premier League table and have been leapfrogged by Spurts. Amorim’s side sit just 12 points clear of the relegation zone.
Amorim shows faith in youth
One of the positives of hiring Amorim back in November was that he boasted a good record with youngsters at Sporting Lisbon. Amorim gave 27 debuts to players at Sporting.
Due to United’s injury crisis, involving setbacks for Kobbie Mainoo, Amad Diallo, Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer, Amorim was forced to include seven academy stars on the bench against Tottenham.
Elyh Harrison, Harry Amass, Sekou Kone, Tyler Fredricson, Chido Obi, Jack Fletcher and Jack Moorhouse all featured in the squad.
Amorim left it late, but Chido Obi came on for the final three minutes of the match.
Joshua Zirkzee risk taken again
The last time he played in the No.10 position, Joshua Zirkzee was dragged off before half-time in a defeat to Newcastle United.
With attacking options running thin, Amorim took the risk to return Joshua Zirkzee to that position and thankfully the 23-year-old impressed much more than he did against Newcastle.
He was instructed to stay more central, almost in a supporting role to strike partner Rasmus Hojlund.
However, that did cause some issues of its own…
Ruben Amorim’s system criticised
It didn’t take long for club legend Gary Neville to pick up on a major flaw in United’s shape.
With Zirkzee playing central, United lacked anyone out on the right, meaning Bruno Fernandes had to repeatedly sprint over from central midfield to cover out wide.
Via Sky Sports, Neville said: “The two in midfield are split. It’s embarrassing. You wouldn’t see this in under-9s football.”
Patrick Dorgu stars on the left
Amorim raised eyebrows last time out when winter signing Patrick Dorgu started at right wing-back.
Paul Scholes questioned Dorgu’s positioning as it seemed he would arrive and solve Amorim’s left wing-back dilemma.
Against Spurs, Dorgu did start on the left, with Diogo Dalot back to his preferred right flank. The change worked well, with Dorgu impressing on the left.
He defended well and burst forward when space opened up. Among all the negatives at United currently, Dorgu looks like an astute signing.
Alejandro Garnacho goal drought continues
With Marcus Rashford and Antony out on loan and Amad now injured for the remainder of the campaign, Alejandro Garnacho has a golden opportunity to step up and take responsibility.
Garnacho hasn’t scored since the end of November when he found the back of the net in a 3-2 victory over Bodo/Glimt. He has regained Amorim’s trust, but his lack of composure in front of goal has proven to be frustrating.
After a wonderful pass from Fernandes, Garnacho missed a huge opportunity early in the game despite being afforded plenty of time and space. United cannot afford for their forwards to be missing chances like that.
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