There’s an opportunity in every crisis and that’s something Ruben Amorim will be well aware of, having dealt with one crisis after another at Manchester United in a short time.
The Man Utd manager is now facing another mini-crisis at Man Utd after admitting that his plan for one player in his team failed against Bournemouth.
As always, however, he can make the best of this situation because that plan failing can lead to a new star being born against Athletic Club.
Here’s what happened against Bournemouth and how Amorim can use it to create a star in the biggest game of United’s season.
Ruben Amorim’s plan for Luke Shaw fails
Amorim took a huge risk for the game when his starting lineup was announced, with the XI being pretty much full-strength outside of some subjective calls.
Selecting that XI just three days before United’s biggest game of the season, against a team that is notoriously physical was a gamble, to say the least.
Nowhere was this truer than in Luke Shaw’s case, starting his first Man Utd game in 14 months and playing 99 gruelling minutes in two positions!
Amorim admitted after the game that the plan wasn’t for Shaw to play the full game, but his desire to win led to him exceeding his advised limit for minutes.
That’s a dangerous game to play with any player but even more so with Shaw, who can have one setback after another when he’s returning from injury.
Now that he came through the unexpectedly heavy workload against the Cherries, it would be a huge surprise if he starts against Athletic too.
Enter Amorim’s opportunity to create a star.
Harry Amass should start vs Athletic
It was the choice expected to be made against Bournemouth but now that it wasn’t, combined with Shaw’s heavy workload, the path is clear for Harry Amass to start at the biggest stage.
Amass has broken out with some sparkling performances in the league but has a solitary Europa League appearance to his name, the famous night against Lyon.
With Diogo Dalot’s injury and the need to manage Shaw’s minutes after the weekend, it would be a huge statement of trust by Amorim if Amass is handed the starting berth against Athletic.
It’s exactly the kind of sink-or-swim game where stars are made and nothing Amass has shown so far should make people believe that he’ll sink.
Patrick Dorgu and Amass’ partnership showed exciting glimpses vs Wolves and if they can repeat the same at the brightest stage, then United will have saved millions in the market.
It’s time to create a star in Europe. That’s Man Utd tradition.
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