Ruben Amorim has used the pre-season effectively, tinkering in these four games to get the combination right for players already at the club, and how to best fit new signings into the team.
Bruno Fernandes and Amad have been the two players, in particular, who are getting used to new, and potentially permanent, positions.
Matheus Cunha also played as a striker in the 2-2 draw against Everton, while the likes of Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw, and Toby Collyer have played in new positions as well.
Fortunately, the one player whose acclimatisation to a new position solves Amorim’s biggest problem is doing a fine job of it after struggling out of the blocks.
Ruben Amorim’s problem of plenty with Amad
Ruben Amorim played Amad as his right wing-back in his very first game as Man Utd manager, but the lineup was so unbalanced then that there were no clear takeaways.
The picture muddled up further when a team lacking in attacking quality repeatedly looked towards Amad for goals, prompting a necessary shift to No. 10.
However, with Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo’s arrival, and Amad simply being too good to be dropped to a rotation status, a new challenge faced him.
Right wing-back needed to become his permanent position, and Amorim has set to work this pre-season to mold Amad into his Geovany Quenda at Old Trafford.
The Ivorian was peripheral against Leeds and West Ham in that role, often struggling to get forward at the correct moment, and being too preoccupied with his defensive duties.
Amorim played him at No. 10 again vs Bournemouth, and he starred with a goal. However, with Mbeumo’s Man Utd debut coming vs Everton, it was back to wing-back.
An exciting partnership between Amad and Mbeumo saw the building blocks laid vs Everton, as Amad came away from the game with plenty of credit to his name.
Amad at right wing-back solves two problems
Amad’s bounce-back performance at right wing-back vs Everton will cause a huge sigh of relief across Man Utd because it solves two big issues.
Amad’s attacking gifts are just too good to be left out of the starting XI, and neither Diogo Dalot nor Noussair Mazraoui is adventurous enough to be a first-choice wing-back.
Now that Amad is looking increasingly comfortable in that position, it solves both of those problems at the same time.
Amorim can now make a tactical selection based on the opposition, with Dalot playing as the safer option against teams who will test United, and Amad playing as the flying wing-back against teams who sit back.
That is the kind of tactical flexibility every manager yearns for, and Amad’s form at wing-back has given Amorim exactly that.
The sample size of good form needs to be bigger to pass a definitive judgement on this, but the early signs suggest Amad, Cunha, Mbeumo, and Fernandes can all play in the same team.
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