Ruben Amorim experienced defeat in the Carabao Cup as Manchester United crashed out of the quarter-finals.
Tottenham beat United 4-3 in a game that had no shortage of drama or goals.
Ruben Amorim made five changes to his United team that won the Manchester derby last weekend. This raised a few eyebrows as Alejandro Garnacho sat on the bench and there was no place for Marcus Rashford in the squad.
United’s head coach decided to rotate with fixtures coming thick and fast over the festive period.
This led to Altay Bayindir getting the nod over Andre Onana and Christian Eriksen tasked with partnering Manuel Ugarte in midfield. The Turkey international was at fault for two of Tottenham’s goals which ultimately cost United the win.
Ruben Amorim identifies another Manchester United weakness
Everyone knows United tend to struggle defending set-pieces, but Amorim has identified another weakness that he must address.
United are physically weaker than a lot of teams they play and that was evident again on Thursday night. Amorim needs his players to be fitter and stronger to contest with these teams consistently.
Speaking after the match on Thursday night, Amorim told MUTV: “We know that this team [Spurs] play with a high line. When they switch sides, they try to push us so we tried to take advantage of that.
“I felt a little bit a lack of physicality in those balls because we had the position and we have to work on that. Overall, it was a good match but there is no taste in that. We didn’t win, we need to focus on the next game.”
Matthijs de Ligt was a huge loss for Manchester United
It doesn’t help that United were without Matthijs de Ligt due to illness.
The Netherlands international is one of United’s most physically imposing defenders and his absence was felt. Harry Maguire could’ve stepped in as a replacement had he been available, so the England international was missed too.
Manuel Ugarte had lots of defensive work to carry out in midfield since Eriksen rarely had anything to offer in that department. It kept the Uruguayan busy but he couldn’t win every battle by himself.
Hopefully, De Ligt returns in time to face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday.
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