Manchester United were hammered at Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon as Ruben Amorim’s side were ripped apart at St. James’ Park.
Ruben Amorim’s full focus appears to be on the Europa League, but there will be an inquest any time Manchester United suffer a heavy defeat.
United lost 4-1 at Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon, turning in a concerning defensive display ahead of facing Lyon on Thursday night.
Andre Onana was left out of the United side, but Altay Bayindir didn’t exactly impress against Newcastle.
Noussair Mazraoui didn’t cover himself in glory at the back, but pundit Thierry Henry focused his attention on Leny Yoro.
Thierry Henry on Leny Yoro
United invested big money in Yoro over the summer, landing the young centre back in a huge move from Lille.
An early injury stifled Yoro’s impact, but the Frenchman has been impressive in recent weeks.
Yoro couldn’t stop Harvey Barnes from driving through the United defence to make it 3-1 to Newcastle on Sunday, and Thierry Henry offered some surprise criticism.
Henry told Sky Sports that Yoro was looking for an offside decision from the linesman as Barnes carried the ball through the United side.
Yoro appeared to have a glance over to the sideline, but it was really unclear whether he was looking at the linesman or whether he was looking towards the bench.
Yoro surely won’t have expected an offside call, and may instead have been looking for a foul on Mazraoui in the build-up – or some kind of guidance from Amorim.
Still, Henry picked out Yoro for criticism by suggesting that he wanted the linesman to bail him out after conceding a goal.
Henry claimed that he had ‘never seen that before’, offering somewhat bizarre criticism for Yoro for a mere glance.
“I invite everyone to stay on Leny Yoro,” said Henry.
“First and foremost, he’s going to try and play offside. It’s a great finish from Barnes, but please, stay on Yoro and what he is asking for. I don’t know what he’s looking at.
“Are you looking at the linesman and trying to see if he’s going to bail you out, on what I don’t know. I don’t know if he thought there was an offside, we all know it’s a goal.
“What are you looking at? I actually don’t know, I’ve never seen that before,” he added.
Manchester United fans on Thierry Henry comments
United fans have been left baffled by Henry’s comments, taking to social media to share their bemusement.
‘Whenever United have a top-class talent in their hands, pundits choose to go extra on them, it’s weird and bizarre. Yoro wasn’t even bad and has been immense for weeks. He’s 19 years old. Weird from Henry,’ said one fan.
‘This is bizarre analysis from Henry to say the least. Singling out Yoro for doing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Very odd,’ said another supporter.
‘I like Henry as both a player and a pundit, but his comments about Yoro were odd… Criticise the defending as much as you want, but acting like defenders don’t look at the linesman desperately hoping for a decision is weird, you see it basically every time a goal goes in,’ added another fan.
‘What’s so strange about a defender looking at the linesman when a goal is conceded? It’s a defender’s natural instinct,’ said a United fan.
Yoro will be looking to bounce back from Sunday’s defeat when United take on Lyon this Thursday.
United certainly need to be better defensively against the Ligue 1 side, and Yoro – who scored in the first leg – could be crucial given his experience of French football.
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