Jason Burt, Chief Football Correspondent
at Portman Road
Monday November 25, 2024
Ruben Amorim saw plenty of evidence of Manchester United’s shortcomings at Portman Road Credit: AP/Dave Shopland
Ruben Amorim did not react as Manchester United scored after just 81 seconds of his first game in charge. Instead the new head coach stood motionless on the touchline as if nothing of note had just happened.
The Portuguese had become only the second permanent manager in Premier League history to see his side score within the opening two minutes of his very first game (after David Moyes with Everton in March 2002). But there was no acknowledgement – even if the goal was, surely, a thrilling example of the type of incisive football he will demand.
By the final whistle we maybe knew why. Amorim had promised “you will see an idea” of what he wanted in this fixture. He was good to his word and this was a markedly different approach. The problem is does he have the players to execute it?
At times United were far better than they had been under Erik ten Hag, even after just a few training sessions. But at times they were also fortunate to claim a draw against a relentless Ipswich Town who attacked their weaknesses and will believe they should have claimed their first home win since returning to the top-flight after a 22-year absence. Instead they remain frustratingly in the bottom three.
United were indebted to goalkeeper André Onana who made two stunning saves to deny the impressive, hard-running Liam Delap. Onana’s instinctive first stop was arguably the save of the season so far as he thrust out his right hand to beat away a powerful close-range shot. He was indisputably player of the match.
So that is one position Amorim does not have to worry about as he kept his promise and imposed the 3-4-2-1 system that is his plan A, B and C. It will be his way or the highway and the United players will have to bend to his will if they are to succeed. They definitely tried to.
But the question is, can they? It was no surprise to see the thirtysomething trio of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen – who formed the central midfield pairing – and Jonny Evans substituted as Amorim tried to wrestle back control and provide more energy.
Frankly all three struggled against an Ipswich side who press the way United struggle to do. Changing that will be a key part of Amorim’s job as will building confidence and working out who he can trust.
A boost was to get Luke Shaw back on the pitch, for the first time since February in a United shirt, with Mason Mount, a player he likes, also returning.
Yes, players were missing and not least Leny Yoro – yet to feature through injury since his summer move – and two other centre-halves in Lisandro Martínez and Harry Maguire. Amorim will need options there if he is to always play three at the back.
No way Amorim can rely on Eriksen and CasemiroEvans, at 36, tried to step out and press Omari Hutchinson but never got close while Casemiro, at a creaking 32, failed to do the same as the Ipswich playmaker received the ball on the edge of the penalty area and deservedly drew his side level just before half-time. The 21-year-old’s first Premier League goal deflected up off Noussair Mazraoui – playing at right centre-back – to fly over Onana, but was no fluke.
For United, Kobbie Mainoo – on the bench – cannot come back soon enough because there is no way that Amorim can rely on Eriksen and Casemiro. Both have been fine midfielders but will be overrun as they were by Ipswich. Against better teams it could be carnage. Maybe one option will be to move captain Bruno Fernandes back there, as Amorim eventually did, and hope he can use his passing range.
By then, United were pragmatically playing longer to try to evade Ipswich’s press while they also benefited from Kieran McKenna’s side inevitably dropping a little their intensity as they had given everything in front of a wonderfully raucous crowd.
It will be interesting, in that context, to see whether Amorim persists with Marcus Rashford as his central striker. Rashford took his goal well, showing the determination to sprint into the penalty area and meet Amad Diallo’s cross, but after that struggled in the key task of this system: linking the play.
Campaign may turn into a brave ‘live’ experiment
The intriguing thing will be how Amorim, who successfully used Diallo as a right wing-back, makes it all work in the hurly-burly of mid-season with games coming thick and fast and so little time available on the training pitch. He talked about the need to use his whole squad and intends to do just that – and used all five substitutes here – possibly to test them out and see who can be trusted and who needs jettisoning.
It was not easy, for example, for Alejandro Garnacho as one of the two ‘No 10s’ behind Rashford.
In a sense it means this campaign for United may turn into a brave ‘live’ experiment of trial and potential error which could require patience from the fans and the club to back an obviously talented and charismatic young coach.
At 38, McKenna, the former United first-team coach, is a year younger than Amorim and is less experienced than him but is wily. He admitted he did not know who would play where in Amorim’s system but he quickly got to grips with it.
That will be the intriguing challenge for Amorim: can he succeed in the short-term with a group of players who do not appear equipped to do what he wants?
Little wonder Amorim admitted to some pre-match anxiety. If he did not fully appreciate the scale of the task – and surely he did – he certainly does now.