Ruben Amorim has been big on accountability, professionalism, and working hard for anyone to succeed at Man Utd, and that stance will be tested by one player vs Wolves.
Man Utd finally showed some grit and resilience in grinding out a win and a clean sheet in a 1-0 win against Newcastle on Boxing Day.
Patrick Dorgu was the star, while there were glimpses of redemption from Manuel Ugarte as Ayden Heaven continued his star turn.
Patrick Dorgu wins the man of the match vote🔥
Do you agree? Who was your man of the match?
However, one Man Utd star took a huge step backwards, and in a way that Ruben Amorim punishes the most ruthlessly. He must do it again vs Wolves.
Ruben Amorim went ‘berserk’ Joshua Zirkzee vs Newcastle
When a team wins 1-0 while largely hanging on with everyone committing themselves, there are never standout good or bad performers.
Wins like that are formed on the bedrock of everyone giving a solid 7/10 performance, which is why Joshua Zirkzee stuck out like a sore thumb against Newcastle.
Amorim has shown that he’ll excuse lack of goals, defensive errors, and even injury-proneness, as long as he sees honest effort on the pitch.
Honest effort is exactly what Man Utd fans struggled to see from Zirkzee against Newcastle, as even an exasperated Amorim was spotted going ‘berserk’ at the player on multiple occasions.
Despite coming on as a sub, there were countless occasions where he didn’t make the easiest possible run into the channel, or press the centre-backs to give his team some breathing room.
Benjamin Sesko hardly set the world alight on his start, missing a couple of good chances, but nobody could fault his effort, which made Zirkzee’s game look worse in comparison.
It’s not a good look for a player who is in the middle of a transfer rumour, because it raises questions of professionalism.
Zirkzee’s performance must have consequences
Amorim has said that he might be falling short of results on the pitch, but he has ‘guaranteed’ that he is not failing off the pitch.
Which Manchester United player has Ruben Amorim improved the most?
What he means is that he’s driving standards and engineering a cultural reset, which makes Zirkzee’s performance against Wolves worthy of having consequences.
The player simply cannot get away with a lack of effort, and Amorim must ensure that happens by snubbing him vs Wolves.
United aren’t blessed with attacking numbers as it is, but Amorim has said previously that he’d rather have his team lack certain options than bend the non-negotiables for a player.
Zirkzee broke those non-negotiables vs Newcastle, and Amorim must send the ruthless message that no player can get away with a lack of effort.
Unless, of course, he knows something behind the scenes about Zirkzee’s condition that the public are not privy to.
However, in the absence of such information, the clear perception is that Zirkzee’s game vs Newcastle must have consequences.
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