Ruben Amorim questioned over how he uses "perfect" Man Utd player who is "devastating" in attack
Ruben Amorim has been playing one of his Man United players out of his natural position.
Man United managed to keep their four-game unbeaten streak going over the weekend as they drew 2-2 to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. It leaves Ruben Amorim’s side just one point off the top four in the Premier League, and looking like a serious contender for the Champions League places.
Amorim will turn his attention to next weekend when United face a tough trip to play Tottenham in a repeat of last season’s Europa League final. However, the United boss will have some tough line-up decisions to make.
Because of his 3-4-3 formation, Amorim has had to play some of his players out of position, and he did the same against Forest over the weekend. Goals from United came from Casemiro and Amad Diallo, who has been featuring as a wing-back, despite his attacking credentials.
Amorim told to play Amad in a more attacking role
After his excellent performance against Forest, Amad has been subject to discussions over his playing position for United. He is more of an attacker, but Amorim has been playing him as a wing-back, which has caused some criticism aimed at the United manager.
Former Premier League centre-back Ashley Williams said on Match of the Day: “[Amad is] a conundrum. He’s in the team because of his attacking qualities, but he can’t play in the number 10 position because Mbeumo and Cunha are playing really well.
“So he plays right wing back, and he finds himself in defensive positions, which isn’t his strength. When he’s going forward, he’s devastating. His goal, wow, what a strike! His technique is perfect. This isn’t a player you want defending.”
Despite Diallo’s impressive attacking form, it doesn’t look like Amorim plans to move him to a more attacking role, as there seems to be no way that he’ll drop Cunha or Mbeumo, but perhaps when fixture congestion hits, it is a move the United boss decides to make.
Diallo says the United players “believe” in Amorim
After the game, the Ivory Coast international was quick to praise his manager despite his impressive showing. Despite a lot of criticism surrounding Amorim, Diallo says that the players are fully behind their manager.
He was quoted in Goal.com: “We were in a good moment, winning three games in a row. We wanted to do the fourth, but we can learn from this and then try to do the best next time.
"As a team, we are learning every day with the manager, with Ruben, because we believe in his system. But I think today we are really disappointed because as a team we demand a lot.
“It wasn't easy at the beginning for him and for us," Amad added. "But the beginning was a start. Now we are trying to understand the system, and we are trying to do the best every game. We want to win every game because we want to bring this club to the level where they deserve to be."
Diallo and the rest of the United squad will hope to continue their unbeaten run next time out against Spurs, and potentially push up into the top four in the Premier League.