Manchester United 'warrior' changed Ruben Amorim's mind and gave him a simple summer transfer decision
The Man Utd highlights and talking points from the Premier League defeat to Brentford at the weekend.
Ruben Amorim was expected to make wholesale changes to his Manchester United starting line up against Brentford, and that is what we got. There were only three survivors from the midweek win over Athletic Club, with Chido Obi handed his first senior start for the club, while Tyler Fredricson and Harry Amass were also named in the starting line up.
United fans might have hoped to see even more academy graduates in the side, but this was a reminder that many senior options also need valuable playing time as Amorim contemplates the next stage of his rebuild. Mason Mount and Kobbie Mainoo caught the eye with decent contributions to the clash, though the youngsters largely struggled.
Obi redeemed an anonymous display with a bright end to the match, while Fredricson was arguably the best United defender in the match. Amass struggled with the intensity in what was a damining reality check.
Record-breakers
A key reason Ruben Amorim was hired as Manchester United head coach was his track record of nurturing youth talent. We have had to wait a while for the opportunity to see them play, but the trip to Brentford was a real statement of intent. Chido Obi became the youngest player to ever start a Premier League match for the club, breaking the record held by Mason Greenwood, while it was also the youngest starting line up they have ever used in the history of the competition.
Jim Ratcliffe famously declared an ambition to sign ‘the next Kylian Mbappe’ rather than spending huge amounts on established stars, and in Amorim, he has a head coach who is aligned with that sentiment. Obi was one of those high-potential players United signed last summer, and with agreements already in place for Diego Leon and Enzo Kana-Biyik to join at the end of the season, it is a strategy that is set to continue.
Amorim might have simple summer decision
Although most of the attention was on the eight players who came into the Manchester United starting line up against Brentford, there was also plenty of interest in the three who remained in the team. Patrick Dorgu moved to right wing-back so that Noussair Mazraoui could be rested and Manuel Ugarte partnered Kobbie Mainoo in central midfield. The other decision was quite remarkable.
Alejandro Garnacho could quite easily have left United in the January transfer window and is still a contender to leave in the summer, if an appropriate offer comes in. United don’t want to sell the Argentine, but given his possible sale would count as pure profit on the books, it might be difficult to reject a bid, particularly if they don’t have the Champions League windfall.
It doesn’t mean they should though. Garnacho has now played in 54 of the club’s 55 matches this season and has started the last 13 matches across all competitions. The only time he wasn’t involved was the Manchester derby win over Man City when he and Rashford were dropped for ‘performance issues’. It could have been the end for Garnacho under Amorim, instead, it was the making of him.
He has not only proved to be a warrior with his fitness, but also with his mentality. Against Brentford, he set the tone with a great assist and gave United faint hope of a comeback with an even better finish. He would be difficult to replace in terms of ability and work ethic.
A fresh injury scare
Manchester United fans would have settled for an even heavier defeat if it meant they did not have any fresh injury scares. Instead, they lost by a single goal, and also lost a star player. Matthijs de Ligt only played 35 minutes on his return to the starting line up before he was withdrawn, in what was another blow to Ruben Amorim.
It is not only that De Ligt suffered a setback, but the fact that Harry Maguire had to play over an hour, while Luke Shaw and Leny Yoro both played a half each. United will hope they do not need to offer too much defensive resilience against Athletic Club on Thursday night, though this was a reminder of how porous the defence still is.
Maguire is now certain to start in the heart of the defence for the Europa League semi-final second leg, and with Yoro likely to occupy the other role, there is still a vacancy in their next starting lien up.