Ruben Amorim’s first training session at Manchester United generated more buzz than most clubs’ first-team games do and for good reason.
If Ruben Amorim was under any doubt on how massive the scrutiny is at Old Trafford, it would have been wiped away but it was also a huge advantage.
That is because Amorim’s first Man Utd training had only 11 senior players, meaning many youngsters were called up to make the numbers.
As a result, numerous exciting academy talents had the chance to showcase their credentials when a lot of eyes were on them and one player stood out in particular.
Jim Thwaites called up to Man Utd training
Manchester United’s academy is no stranger to supplying first-team talent and that conveyor belt has only gotten stronger in recent years.
Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho stand as poster boys of the current generation and before them, the likes of Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay, and Jesse Lingard held the fort.
The next generation seems equally, if not promising, and they’re making waves in the U18s right now, winning all nine of their fixtures so far, scoring 43 and conceding just four.
Four of those goals have been scored by a prodigy named Jim Thwaites who, at just 16, is a part of the U18s setup this season and impressed so much that he’s even received some U21 minutes.
Despite playing just 389 minutes of football, he has scored four and assisted two and just a cursory look at his goals reveals a pattern, one which is probably making United coaches giddy right now.
Of his four goals scored this season, two have come from free kicks, with his set-piece ability making him a clear standout in the current squad.
Man Utd’s set-piece woes
Thwaites’ ability could be a godsend in the future, considering United have been absolutely tragic at set-pieces, attacking or defending. Thwaites, at 16, is unlikely to help with the latter, but he’s taken good first steps towards addressing the former.
Last season, United were in the bottom-five teams when it came to goals scored from set-pieces, scoring just nine in 38 games.
From 98 corners, they scored just six goals but the worse statistic is that they created an xG of just seven. It means that not only was their finishing bad, but they just didn’t create any threat from corners.
Free-kicks weren’t much better. They had 15 free-kicks which resulted in a direct shot on goal and they scored none of those.
Three goals from 25 other set-pieces summed up an abysmal record for Erik ten Hag’s men which was so bad it prompted the club to sign a specialist set-piece coach, Andreas Georgson in the summer.
Still, the coach can make patterns and plays for set-pieces but the final delivery is up to the players. Outside of Christian Eriksen, nobody seems to be able to do it consistently.
United are easily leaving at least 10-15 goals on the field by wasting their set-pieces which, in a good season, could result in a double-figure increase in points.
Amorim called up the player who can address that gap in the future if he keeps his current form up.
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