For so often, it was the man on the other side of the Manchester United – Man City divide who was accused of tinkering and experimenting with his team selection at the worst possible moment.
And, as Tottenham Hotspur shattered Manchester United hearts during Wednesday’s deflating Europa League final, Ruben Amorim resembled a coach enduring his 2021 Pep Guardiola moment.
Four years after Pep Guardiola made the fateful blunder of lining up against Chelsea in the Champions League decider without a natural defensive midfielder, the man in the Red Devils dugout committed a whole litany of tactical sins as a miserable season ended in the most fitting manner imaginable.
Alejandro Garnacho was furious with his limited role off the bench. And, while the combustible winger could certainly have articulated his frustration a little better, he probably had a point.
The decision to leave out Manuel Ugarte also saw Man United’s one-paced midfield struggle to get a grip on Ange Postecoglou’s outfit. Starting Mason Mount over Garnacho was arguably the biggest blunder of the lot, meanwhile.
Rio Ferdinand explains Mason Mount error in Manchester United loss
His inclusion forcing a largely anonymous Bruno Fernandes into an ill-fitting deeper role, Mount mustered a grand total of 25 touches during his 71 minutes on the pitch.
It is no coincidence that, when Amorim finally changed things, Joshua Zirkzee and Garnacho immediately helped carve out the sort of opening Man United had spent the previous hour-and-a-bit trying and failing to create.
“I was sitting with Gareth Bale, [Paul] Scholes, Glenn Hoddle, all of us were sitting there going ‘When is he going to change it?’,” sighs a bemused Rio Ferdinand.
“I just thought the game needed a spark. Rasmus [Hojlund] wasn’t getting any balls, Mason Mount wasn’t getting high enough to effect the game. Amad, second half, wasn’t really doing what we was doing in the first half.
“We just had no cutting edge, no ability to play direct balls behind the team and say ‘run onto it’. We just looked flat. I know we started putting them on the back foot and putting the ball into areas but the keeper has made one [difficult] save.
“If you go into a final and the goalkeeper makes one save, you don’t deserve to win the football match.”
Ruben Amorim criticised for picking Mount over Alejandro Garnacho
Technically speaking, Manchester United actually mustered six shots on target to Tottenham’s one; Brennan Johnson’s fateful scrambled effort with 42 minutes on the clock.
Garnacho’s fizzing effort forced Guglielmo Vicario into action moments after he was belatedly introduced, while the Tottenham glovesman had to be alert to tip aside Luke Shaw’s last-throw-of-the-dice header in stoppage time.
Now, while Mason Mount helped inspire the semi-final victory over Athletic Bilbao with two sublime finishes at Old Trafford, Ferdinand cannot help but feel that – if Ruben Amorim could turn back the clock – he would have stuck more faithfully to the approach which had served United well in Europe.
Garnacho, after all, had started every single match in the knockout stages until Wednesday’s final.
“I think he went a bit conservative,” Ferdinand argues. “I’m not saying Mason can’t score and can’t be a threat but Mason is not the type of player who is going to get you up the pitch,”
“If you get up the pitch and you’re in and around the box and you want a finisher, he can finish. He can be decisive. But if you want someone who can do good well for you in transitions and get a team on the back foot, someone like Garnacho can be your outlet.
“We didn’t have an outlet.”
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