Ruben Amorim might be safe in his job, but he’s certainly not a popular man in Manchester due to his various tactical decisions, one of which has been among the most controversial.
From leaving Kobbie Mainoo to play for a few minutes here and there to completely ignoring young players like Ayden Heaven, Ruben Amorim has made many unpopular decisions.
The results cure everything, which, unfortunately for him, have been absent, even though the 2-0 win over Sunderland provided calm during the international break.
That calm will restart in chaos when Man Utd visit Anfield to resume club action, and one of Amorim’s most controversial decisions can age into a masterstroke at Liverpool.
Ruben Amorim resisted fan pressure with Senne Lammens
Such was the timing of signing Senne Lammens that he could have feasibly debuted in the Manchester Derby away from home.
United were starting a run of games against Manchester City, Chelsea, and a tricky away trip to Brentford when they signed Lammens.
Altay Bayindir was looking shaky in every game, and there were calls to throw Lammens in at the deep end, even if he made mistakes.
However, Amorim resisted fan pressure and, despite losing two of those three tricky games, kept Lammens away from the starting XI.
The Man Utd manager would later go on to say that it was to help Lammens acclimatise to English football, but the real acclimatisation comes by playing, which he wasn’t.
Lammens’ debut finally arrived in the most obliging game, at least on paper, when Sunderland visited Old Trafford.
Lammens shone on debut, helping United keep their first clean sheet of the season with some smart saves and commanding goalkeeping.
It would be a huge surprise if he doesn’t start against Liverpool now, and if he does well, regardless of the result, Amorim’s controversial decision will be a masterstroke. Here’s why.
The narrative around Lammens has changed
What has happened due to Amorim’s decision is that Lammens was allowed to come into a relatively low-pressure game, or at least as low-pressure a game gets at Man Utd gets.
He wasn’t facing a rampaging Erling Haaland on his debut, didn’t have to start in a must-win game against Chelsea, and avoided a “English Football trial by fire” at Brentford.
Instead, he was allowed to ease into the league against a team whose attacking threat was largely nullified on the day, and he got “Are you Schmeichel in disguise” chants for doing the bare minimum.
Confidence is a big thing in football, especially at a club that deals in extremes like Man Utd.
All of a sudden, Amorim’s decision to give him a debut against Sunderland means the narrative around Lammens has completely changed.
He’s in an upbeat mood, the squad instantly trusts him, the fans are looking forward to giving him leeway, and, most importantly, he’s approaching Anfield with a positive mentality.
Even if he doesn’t have a good game at Anfield, he has credit in his bank. He could have debuted against City and performed well, but this could age as a much better decision.
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