Ruben Amorim fielded a Man Utd XI vs Brentford that left nobody in any doubt as to where the priorities of the club lie this season but there was a huge missed opportunity.
Eight changes were made to the side which brushed aside Athletic Club 3-0 in a remarkable performance and even that backfired because Matthijs de Ligt got injured.
Youngsters like Tyler Fredricson got another chance to impress, while Chido Obi broke records with his maiden start for Man Utd.
Both impressed to varying degrees, but the youngster who’s ready to make an impact wasn’t even in the squad. Ruben Amorim missed a trick and it prevented a star from being born.
Ruben Amorim’s missed opportunity
Before the game, it was pretty much certain that the likes of Tyler Fredricson, Harry Amass, and Chido Obi would start as they were already on the first-team squad fringes.
Amorim had also confirmed that Noussair Mazraoui was ‘dead’ after Athletic and couldn’t possibly start another game just two days after.
He added that Patrick Dorgu was also ‘tired’ so the chances were that there would be wholesale changes to the increasingly demanding wing-back position.
There were changes, but only to one side, as Amass came in while Dorgu shifted to the right side, with fatigue clearly still hurting him.
That’s where Jaydan Kamason comes in, the flying full-back in the academy who’s become impossible to ignore this season but against Brentford, didn’t even make the squad.
Kamason has been thriving in the academy and with Mazraoui needing management and Dorgu tired, there was a clear way for him to at least come off the bench and limit Dorgu’s minutes.
Clearly, Amorim didn’t think he was as ready as his game at the academy level showed him to be and thus, the opportunity to create a star was missed.
Jaydan Kamason move would’ve been long-term
It’s all well and good playing the likes of Victor Lindelof and Christian Eriksen in the remaining PL games but the reality is that they won’t be here next season.
The same can be said for many other players too if Sir Jim Ratcliffe is ready to repeat Ruben Amorim’s Sporting trick at Old Trafford in the summer.
Therefore, it makes sense to start drip-feeding youngsters into the team and a better chance will never be here now that the league campaign is a write-off.
Amorim’s bench vs Brentford was effectively the XI that started against Athletic minus a few players so they didn’t really get proper mental and physical rest.
Putting players like Kamason, Jack Moorhouse, and Sekou Kone on the bench should be the play here from a long-term POV because testing their readiness is far more important than giving minutes to players who won’t be here in two months time.
Amorim missed a trick here with Kamason’s exclusion and the hope will be that the same is not repeated in the next PL fixture, again two days after the European fixture.
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