8 hours Ago By Vatsal Gupta
Manchester United and Ruben Amorim are under the microscope again after another loss at Old Trafford ended their FA Cup defence this time. Fulham won 4-3 on penalties after a string of missed opportunities condemned Man Utd to a shootout, where Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee missed their attempts. Ruben Amorim had plenty of positives to pick from despite the result, from Chido Obi’s shining cameo to Joshua Zirkzee showing signs of improvement.
However, it was one of his own decisions that stands as the biggest criticism from the game, with the Man Utd manager betraying his own reputation with an indefensible call. Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty ImagesRuben Amorim betrays his reputation at Man UtdWhen Amorim arrived at Old Trafford, there were some clear selling points that made him an attractive, and in many ways, a natural candidate for Man Utd manager. He had a clear style of play which was attacking (yet to translate here but at least the vision is clear!), his charisma made him the perfect spokesperson for the club (already visible), and he gave a lot of debuts to young players at Sporting, a legacy at Man Utd as well.
Therefore, it was so jarring to see the Man Utd XI for the Fulham game and realise that the bench didn’t even have the full quota of players. There were only seven players on the bench instead of the allowed nine, and two of those were goalkeepers who were never going to come on. The rest five did come on, including Chido Obi who shone and Ayden Heaven for his Man Utd debut.
For a manager to not fill his youth bench with prospects again, even if he had no plans to field any of them, is an indefensible call. The mere experience of sitting on the bench at Old Trafford under the lights during a crunch cup fixture can be invaluable for youngsters, knowing the proverbial brass ring is so close. Amorim’s youth handling has been a question mark so farThis is not the first time Amorim has been under hot water for his handling of the youth prospects.
Fans criticised Amorim for his substitution strategy (or the lack of it!) against Spurs as well, when he did fill the bench with youth players but only gave Chido Obi a ceremonial three minutes.There are no excuses or mitigating factors either, as United’s youth system is arguably the best in England, competing at the top at the U18s level and many exciting players on loan. Furthermore, the senior players have often been completely hopeless and as Chido Obi showed, sometimes just the variety can create a spark.
What was an indefensible call to begin the game with aged even worse as both Heaven and Obi ended the game among the top performers. It’s time Amorim threw the dice on an exciting generation because the season is effectively a write off and most of the players he’s giving minutes to won’t be here next season..
