Ruben Amorim does not appear to trust this Manchester United side to hold onto a lead. And on one level, who can blame him?
After squandering points when ahead at Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur last month, United did so once again on Thursday night, surrendering an opportunity to climb up to fifth-place in the Premier League table. Soungoutou Magassa’s 83rd-minute equaliser earned a point for relegation-threatened West Ham United.
It was a similar story at Craven Cottage back in August too, meaning that United have now dropped eight points from winning positions. Only three other top-flight sides have dropped more this season.
Then consider that the wins against Burnley and at Anfield came through late resurgences, but after already being pegged back. Even Brighton & Hove Albion cut a three-goal deficit down to one with minutes remaining in October, before Bryan Mbeumo’s goal put things to bed.
The only time Amorim has seen his players take a lead and comfortably defend it was last Sunday. He made his second substitution at Selhurst Park after 82 minutes, his third and fourth were in stoppage time — each the latest of their kind this season. If it ain’t broke, as they say.
The surprisingly uneventful end to that win at Crystal Palace was the exception this season, not the rule. And so it was not especially surprising that after Diogo Dalot’s 58th-minute breakthrough on Thursday night, Amorim gradually took steps to shore things up.
Ruben Amorim felt he needed to make changes because United were losing second balls (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
Four of the United manager’s five substitutions against West Ham could be broadly characterised as defensive, three of them coming after Dalot’s goal. But if the idea was to keep Nuno Espirito Santo’s side at bay, they did not have the desired effect.
Once the final whistle sounded on a second deflating result at Old Trafford in the space of 10 days, Amorim’s changes came under scrutiny. In his post-match press conference, he was asked if he had been too conservative.
“No,” he insisted. “We are losing because of the second balls. Sometimes it’s not more men in front that you are going to win the ball. We had more men to put in the offence? Who? Who would be more offensive?”
Amorim’s options have been limited by Benjamin Sesko’s knee injury, granted, and it is easy to act wise with the benefit of hindsight. A fairer question would be: how many of Amorim’s substitutions felt overly conservative at the time he made them?
Not all of them, certainly. There were few objections around Old Trafford to Ayden Heaven’s first league start of the season lasting only 45 minutes. The 19-year-old was, understandably, both rusty and over-eager. He was shown a yellow card after only eight minutes. Leny Yoro spent practically the rest of the first half warming up.
Switching Dalot for Patrick Dorgu was more surprising, coming not long after his goal, but it was a like-for-like change and if anything, introduced a left foot to United’s left flank and a younger, albeit rawer wing-back with a more naturally adventurous style.
Mason Mount for Joshua Zirkzee swapped one player in the front three for another. It was not a defensive change, nor could Zirkzee have much complaint.
Amorim’s two other substitutions were more defensive and arguably less defensible, though: particularly his decision to replace one centre-back for another when chasing a goal with two minutes plus stoppage time remaining, even if Lisandro Martinez can play a line-breaking pass.
The other change, 10 minutes earlier, had seen Matheus Cunha’s number go up. In isolation, that was understandable. Even though Amorim had few attacking alternatives in reserve, Cunha struggled on his return from a head injury. But was introducing Manuel Ugarte the right answer?
United’s record with Ugarte on the pitch this season makes for unfortunate reading. He was a 69th minute substitute at Fulham, who then equalised in the 73rd. Chelsea, Liverpool and Brighton scored following his introduction off the bench too. Tottenham, down a goal, scored twice.
Ugarte has played 362 minutes this season — only a shade more than a quarter of the total available playing time — but has been on the pitch for 14 of the 23 goals United have conceded.
The point is not to single out Ugarte or say each of those concessions or collapses were his fault. With and without comparisons do not work in this sport. There are too many other variables at play. You could make unflattering analyses for other players in this squad too.
Ruben Amorim’s decision to bring on Manuel Ugarte raised questions (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
The point is that if you are trying to protect a lead, bringing on your ball-winning midfielder is not necessarily a guarantee of keeping your opponents out, as Ugarte’s record this season demonstrates.
Sometimes, and especially if your opponents are sitting in the relegation places, pushing harder and harder for an equaliser and vacating space while doing so, then it is often better to try and extend a lead rather than protect it.
The criticism of Amorim’s changes in this game is not so much about who came on or who came off, but who had no involvement whatsoever. As for the fourth time this season, Kobbie Mainoo was an unused substitute.
It is December and Mainoo is yet to start in the league. The only other first team players of any seniority in the same boat are third-choice goalkeeper Tom Heaton, former bomb squad member Tyrell Malacia, and Martinez, who has only just returned from a 301-day absence.
Mainoo, in fairness, has not always taken the few opportunities that have come his way this season, and he is in danger of becoming a better player in his absence than he was when he was starting regularly. But even then, he is better than only two substitute appearances in the Premier League that total more than half an hour.
Overlooking Mainoo would be easier for many to accept if others coming on ahead of him were having an impact. Despite Amorim’s making more changes at centre-forward than any other position, no United substitute has scored. Only once has a substitute assisted.
It can be hard to trust this United side to protect and hold onto a lead, and therefore understandable when their manager feels it necessary to switch things up. But then there are also nights like this, when it is hard to separate those struggles to control and see out games from some of Amorim’s own decisions on the touchline.