Ruben Amorim clears major misunderstanding about his team selection, he has a ‘clear idea’

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The results might not be consistent at the moment under Ruben Amorim but the long-term project was always clear and the games are not stopping anytime soon.

The next one, away at a resurgent Wolves who have made a managerial change of their own, has suddenly become much more tricky than it was before the change.

They beat Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester City 3-0 away from home to kickstart their new era and with this being their first home game under new management, it has all the signs of a huge banana asking for United.

Ruben Amorim has made changes to the team in every game so far, a necessity because there is a game every few days but also an opportunity because he’s getting to test every member of the Man Utd squad.

Ahead of the game, he has cleared up a major misunderstanding behind the rationale of his team selection, which has seen some bold calls every game.

Ruben Amorim on Man Utd team selection

Amorim is yet to name an unchanged XI from game to game since arriving at Old Trafford and with fixtures coming thick and fast, it’s a safe bet to assume that won’t happen anytime soon.

So insistent has he been on rotation that, at times, the top performers from a particular game have been dropped for the next one.

It has now happened with Amad, Joshua Zirkzee, and even Marcus Rashford, before he disappeared from the squad altogether.

That has led to many theorising that Amorim is using what is effectively a written-off season to give each player a chance to audition for a future at the club.

However, with the results not always up to the mark, he was asked whether he can “afford” to rotate players and stray away from his best performers just to give others a chance.

He used this opportunity to clear up a major misunderstanding many have about the rationale behind his team selection-

He said: “In this moment, it’s not rotation to see the players and prepare the future, it’s simply to not have injuries. Rasmus [Hojlund] played two games, the third game today I think we needed fresh legs. So, we are trying to address everything.

“I just want to win games because I know that there’s a long-term project and we are focused on that. But I also know that in big clubs you don’t have a lot of time, and you have to win games.

“I have a clear idea of the responsibility I have here but I’m trying to manage this team to not have injuries. If we have injuries, it’s a massive problem in trying to win games and manage all the players so I’m not rotating to see the future.”

Ruben Amorim is playing the media game smartly

While avoiding injuries is undoubtedly the primary motive behind rotation, as seen with him dropping top performers of a match for the next one, even he can’t deny that getting to see the whole squad in action will help him make decisions on their future.

Gary Neville recently said that was a “massive positive” for Amorim because, in Neville’s opinion, many players at the club are just not good enough.

In a certain way, having this slump and finding out the reality of these players is much better than some mythical new manager bounce dragging this squad to respectability this season before the problems appear again.

United have been stuck in that vicious cycle for nearly 12 years now and something had to give for that to break. Amorim’s rotation and insistence on doing things his way could be just the tonic needed.

He’s then extremely smart to not admit he’ll have more information about his players this way because that just throws the spotlight on a fringe player every time they start a game.

The two benefits of his methods are clear but he’s only accepting one in public because he’s playing the media game smartly.