Manchester United’s head coach, Ruben Amorim doesn’t seem to trust his players to hold the lead. But at some point, can he be blamed?
After dropping two points away against Tottenham Hotspurs and Nottingham Forest last month, Man United did it again on Thursday night. They threw away an opportunity to be in the 5th position of the Premier League table. The equalizer at the 83’ minute scored by Soungoutou Magassa gave West Ham a point to get out of the relegation zone.
It was also the same thing at Craven Cottage earlier this season, meaning that Manchester United have dropped eight points when they get the lead first, and only three other PL teams have dropped more this season.
Then look at the wins against Liverpool and Burnley came late into the game when United got ‘cornered.’ Even Brighton could make a three goal deficit into just one with little time remaining before Bryan Mbuemo scored his second goal and finished the game.
The only time Ruben saw his player leading comfortably was last Sunday, he made his substitutes later into the game like it was saying his team didn’t really have the subs to win the game.
Four of the substitutions during the game against West Ham could be characterised as defensive, and three of them were coming after the goal of Diogo Dalot. If the idea of the subs was to prevent West Ham from getting closer to the goal, they did not serve the purpose.
After the final whistle was blown, the second bad result at Old Trafford just in the space of 10 days, Amorim’s substitution was questioned by many. During the interview after the match, he was asked whether he was too conservative.
“No,” he insisted. “We are losing because of the second balls. Sometimes it’s not more men in front that you are going to win the ball. We had more men to put in the offence? Who? Who would be more offensive?”
Manchester United’s Subs Were Always Looking Defensive?
Ruben Amorim’s option at the front has been limited with the injury of Benjamin Sesko. A question would be: how many substitutions made by Amorim felt too conservative.
Certainly not all of them. There were some differences, like Ayden Heaven only got 45 minutes after his first start in the league. He was looking nervous and already got a yellow card only eight minutes into the game. After Heaven got booked, Leny Yoro spent the rest of the first half warming up and getting ready to replace Heaven in the second half.
Switching Dalot to Dorgu was a more surprising move, not long after he scored a goal. It was a like-for-like change and didn’t really change anything except introducing a left foot on Manchester United’s left flank with raw and more adventurous style player. More analysist of Manchester United can be found on Price In UK
Mason Mount for Joshua Zirkzee wasn’t a defensive change, but Mount didn’t really do anything either after he came.
Also read: Manchester United Transfer News Ahead of 2026 January Transfer Window – Price In UK
Amorim’s two other substitutions were more defensive and arguably less defensible, though: particularly his decision to replace one centre-back for another when chasing a goal with two minutes plus stoppage time remaining, even if Lisandro Martinez can play a line-breaking pass.
One of the most questionable decisions was subbing off Matheus Cunha for Manuel Ugarte. It was understandable that Amorim was lacking options in the bench, but looking at Ugarte’s number the questions were raised.
Manchester United’s record with Ugarte on the pitch this season makes for unfortunate reading. He was a 69th-minute substitute at Fulham, who then equalised in the 73rd. Chelsea, Liverpool and Brighton scored following his introduction off the bench too. Tottenham, down a goal, scored twice.
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| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal ARS | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 27 | 7 | 20 | 33 |
| 2 | Manchester City MCI | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 32 | 16 | 16 | 28 |
| 3 | Aston Villa AVL | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 14 | 6 | 27 |
| 4 | Chelsea CHE | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 15 | 10 | 24 |
| 5 | Crystal Palace CRY | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 23 |
| 6 | Sunderland SUN | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 14 | 4 | 23 |
| 7 | Brighton and Hove Albion BHA | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 20 | 4 | 22 |
| 8 | Manchester United MUN | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 22 | 21 | 1 | 22 |
| 9 | Liverpool LIV | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 22 |
| 10 | Everton EVE | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 17 | -2 | 21 |
| 11 | Tottenham Hotspur TOT | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 23 | 18 | 5 | 19 |
| 12 | Newcastle United NEW | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 19 | 18 | 1 | 19 |
| 13 | Brentford BRE | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 21 | 22 | -1 | 19 |
| 14 | Bournemouth BOU | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 24 | -3 | 19 |
| 15 | Fulham FUL | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 19 | 22 | -3 | 17 |
| 16 | Nottingham Forest NFO | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 22 | -8 | 15 |
| 17 | Leeds United LEE | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 26 | -10 | 14 |
| 18 | West Ham United WHU | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 16 | 28 | -12 | 12 |
| 19 | Burnley BUR | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 15 | 28 | -13 | 10 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton Wanderers WOL | 14 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 29 | -22 | 2 |
