Pre-season is a time for testing and trying new combinations and tactics, and Ruben Amorim did just that against West Ham.
Man Utd kicked off the USA leg of their pre-season tour with a 2-1 win against West Ham in what was a game full of positives.
Ruben Amorim started with a strong team, with only Bryan Mbeumo’s Man Utd debut delayed due to him joining late.
The starting XI did well and played some good football, which was partly driven by the Man Utd manager debuting an interesting tactical wrinkle.
Ruben Amorim’s latest tactical demand from Man Utd
While most managers try to add layers to the team when they come in, Amorim immediately ripped up the playbook inherited and used 2024/25 as an extended testing pad.
It will hopefully put United in a better place in 2025/26, as he has been able to build on the work done in 2024/25, while adding new wrinkles to it.
Against West Ham, one such adjustment was spotted by MUTV pundit Liam Bradford, who observed that Amorim had the squad practicing in training what they eventually carried out during the game.
Immediately from the kick-off, the team showed an urgency to find Rasmus Hojlund with direct passes, either into the channels or to his feet.
Hojlund struck the post within 50 seconds, and that theme continued throughout as the team made full use of Matheus Cunha’s second-man runs off of Hojlund’s shoulder.
Players were instructed to move the ball forward quickly, in stark contrast to the sterile possession that United were often accused of having last season, especially against low blocks.
Against West Ham, United played the ball forward quickly, sometimes bypassing entire lines of the press, resulting in Hojlund finally being more involved in the game, either by holding the ball up or running beyond the defensive line.
Interestingly, it is an adjustment straight from Sir Alex Ferguson’s playbook that won him his final Premier League title.
Amorim’s demand reminiscent of Sir Alex Ferguson
Sir Alex Ferguson famously signed Robin van Persie for the 2012/13 season as he sought to address a lack of cutting edge in his team.
The rest of the Man Utd squad were told then that they had to find Van Persie at every opportunity, and at the earliest time possible whenever they had the ball.
The team adhered to the demand and played the ball forward quickly, solely focused on involving the centre-forward in the game.
Van Persie’s finishing ability and intelligence of movement were such that he used those instructions to devastating effect, gifting Sir Alex his final league title.
It goes without saying that Hojlund is nowhere near that level, but he showed encouraging signs the moment the team made a concerted effort to find him early at every opportunity.
There will be times during the season when United will need to recycle possession and slow down the pace of the game, as Amorim hinted at after the win as well.
But for now, especially against low blocks, quickening the pace of the game and getting the striker involved showed some good benefits.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
