Owen Hargreaves singles out ‘terrific’ Man United star vs Ipswich but still has major concern

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Owen Hargreaves was impressed by one Manchester United star who was handed a new role by Ruben Amorim.

Ruben Amorim made several bold choices in his confirmed XI to face Ipswich Town on Sunday with a handful of players put in experimental new roles in his 3-4-3 formation.

It looked as though the players had taken to Amorim’s system brilliantly when Marcus Rashford fired Manchester United into the lead early on, but performance levels quickly slumped and United ended up drawing 1-1 against Ipswich.

Amorim conceded that United will have to “suffer for a long time” as they learn his style of play, but there were some promising signs that some players looked well-suited to his philosophy.

Noussair Mazraoui and Amad Diallo impressed in new roles, and Owen Hargreaves singled out the latter for praise.

Amad Diallo ‘terrific’ for Man United vs Ipswich Town

Amad Diallo had to wait patiently to get his chance under Erik ten Hag but he was handed a starting spot straight away by Amorim.

He repaid his faith immediately by bursting down the right, beating two players and setting up Rashford for the opener. Amad looked well-suited to the wing-back role but was pinned back defensively more than he would have liked.

Amad sent a seven-word message after the draw and urged fans to “trust the process” under Amorim. The 22-year-old definitely appears to have a bright future under the Portuguese coach, but Hargreaves is not convinced it will be as a wing-back.

Speaking to Premier League productions, Hargreaves said: “I expected a lot more [From United]. The first goal that Man United scored was terrific. Right from the back, everyone was involved, brilliant goal. Fantastic from Amad and Marcus gets on the end of it.

“I loved it. There were patterns of play, it was lovely. Everybody was involved. Amad was terrific. I thought, ‘what a start’, two minutes in, Marcus gets into a position he needs to be, Dalot is there, Garnacho is there. Great goal. Great start.

“Then basically after that, they didn’t do any more of that. I think Amad playing as a right wing-back being left-footed, I’m not sure. I think he played okay today and he did brilliant setting up the goal.”

The numbers behind Amad Diallo’s display vs Ipswich Town

In what was a fairly deflating performance from United, Amad was one of the biggest standouts.

He played like he had a point to prove, and that point is likely that he deserves to start. He should retain his spot against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday evening.

READ MORE: MUTV pundit names Man Utd star man of the match, ‘he was playing like it was his first ever appearance’

A glance at Amad’s statistics from the match proves just how effective he was on Sunday afternoon.

He only trailed United captain Bruno Fernandes in terms of key passes and his assist to Rashford means he now has three goals and three assists in all competitions despite fighting for a starting spot.