Patience is the name of the game after Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United stumbled on their first test, drawing away at Ipswich Town 1-1.
The job was always going to be a big one and anyone thinking everything would be fine with a half-fit team after a couple of training sessions was fooling themselves.
Ruben Amorim also looked like he realised the magnitude of the job after the game and the focus was on placing building blocks and committing to an identity.
Amad’s performance was a clear standout but just a casual look at the game will also make it clear that another one of United’s long-running problems was also close to being addressed.
The Rasmus Hojlund and striker problem
Manchester United had started winning games under Ruud van Nistelrooy, emerging victorious in three out of his four games but one issue remained.
The wingers just didn’t get the striker involved enough, and the striker didn’t do enough to get involved through intelligent movement or effort.
Especially when Rasmus Hojlund played, it seemed like United were playing with ten men plus Hojlund, as he was so peripheral he might as well not have played at all.
That is reflected in the stats too. With just 1.38 shots/90, he is in the bottom one percentile of all strikers in top-five leagues in Europe this season, a remarkable stat for a striker.
On average, he touches the ball 3.4/90 in the opposition box which puts him in the bottom four percentile of all strikers in top-five leagues.
Worse still, he is in the bottom seven percentile when it comes to progressive passes received so not only is not getting involved enough, his teammates are allergic to passing to him.
Considering how explosive Viktor Gyokeres was for Sporting, this was the first thing Amorim needed to address at Old Trafford and on the evidence of the small sample size vs Ipswich, the building blocks are there.
Rasmus Hojlund vs Ipswich
Hojlund’s involvement vs Ipswich can be summed up by a single stat. With two touches in the opposition box despite playing just over 20 minutes, he had already equalled or exceeded that metric from his last four games individually.
That is remarkable, considering Hojlund played as a starter against Chelsea and PAOK, for example. He had just one touch in the box vs Chelsea despite playing 84 minutes.
His teammates involved him more and Amorim’s insistence on paying quickly and vertically ensured that his runs were not ignored.
Most importantly, the removal of the inside-forward role in Amorim’s setup ensured that the wide players, wingbacks in this case, didn’t make their game predictable and ignore Hojlund.
Rashford’s opener will provide Hojlund with hope that his teammates, especially from out wide, will pick him out now if he makes that dangerous run.
Amorim said after the game that everybody will play and will be needed in this intense run of fixtures so the Dane can expect to start vs Bodo in the Europa League.
In a game where the result was not up to scratch, some positives can surely be taken and the involvement of the striker in the game was a big one that is flying under the radar.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
