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Manchester United fans can be forgiven for being angry at their side’s humiliating position in the Premier League and the fiasco that has been INEOS’ reign – and Ruben Amorim’s – at the club so far.
A battling draw at Everton, some say “lucky”, yesterday was another example of how chaotic United have become.
There can be no argument that United lack firepower up front, but 16 goals from the last eleven games could be seen as a slight improvement, especially as those games included Arsenal and Liverpool away and the squad was reduced by two forwards, Marcus Rashford and Antony, even before the probable player of the season, Amad, received a season-ending injury.
Two goals away at Everton should be enough. The fact is that of the nine teams that lie between United and the top four, only four – Villa, Brighton, Brentford and Spurs – have conceded more than United. Brighton owe that honour due to a 7-0 thrashing by Forest this month, while Villa conceded 10 of theirs in three games.
An interesting fact about United’s goals scored and goals conceded under Amorim is to compare United’s record with that of previous manager Erik ten Hag’s at the same stage last season. United were lying sixth in the table, compared to 15th. But they had only scored six more goals (36 vs 30) and had only conceded one fewer goals (36 vs 37) than this season.
The problems were already there, they just have not been fixed yet, and they were masked last season by a flattering and deceiving league position. However, at this stage, there is a big difference between the problems in attack and those in defence: with the personnel at Amorim’s disposal, it is hard to see how the attack can improve until next season. He is squeezing what little juice there is out of a pretty small and withered bit of fruit. But at the other end, there are no excuses.
Despite the hysteria in the media and social media about the players’ suitability to Amorim’s three-at-the-back system, most of the goals conceded this season have come as a result of one of two things: set pieces, or individual errors. United seem to be making progress in defending set pieces, but individual errors continue to plague them.
Against the Toffees yesterday, we saw all-too-familiar frailties. Diogo Dalot made some spectacularly poor choices; Andre Onana parried several shots that could and should have been caught; Harry Maguire got outjumped by Doucouré on several headers, was beaten for pace a number of times and was arguably lucky not to concede a last-minute penalty; Noussair Mazraoui failed to clear the ball cleanly on a number of occasions.
Of course, defenders all make mistakes but it is the sheer volume of them at United that is the problem.
There is, perhaps, a solution, or at least a partial one. The Red Devils lost a Rolls Royce defender last summer when Raphael Varane left, but it is surely now time to allow the 2025 model, Leny Yoro, to start more games. Yoro made a few errors himself in the earlier games but every time he has played recently, he has looked a class apart.
Yoro is elegant on the ball, “gets” Amorim’s three at the back and chooses runs forward intelligently, he’s confident with the ball at his feet, he is fast and makes few mistakes.
The Frenchman has a 93% passing accuracy this season, on a par with De Ligt and significantly better than that of both Maguire and Mazraoui. For a team aiming to play a possession-based game, this is a crucial stat.
There is a reason that United were battling the likes of Real Madrid for the 19 year old’s signature. He is one of the most naturally gifted defenders to have emerged in world football in a long time. With little to play for in the league now this season, starting Yoro in place of either Maguire or Mazraoui is surely called for and will put down a marker for the future.
Replacing Maguire with Yoro will immediately inject the defence with more pace, better ability to play out from the back and better positional awareness. Replacing Mazraoui on the other hand could free up the Moroccan to take over from the struggling Dalot at right wing back.
It’s time to unleash the player in United’s squad that has the clear potential to be world class. What are we waiting for?
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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