Ruben Amorim took charge of his first Manchester United match as they played Ipswich at Portman Road; goalkeeper Andre Onana came to their rescue to earn them a point from a 1-1 draw; Amad Diallo took his chance but familiar failings were on show from his team-mates
Sunday 24 November 2024 19:59, UK
"Make our team great again," read a banner in the Manchester United away end at kick-off against Ipswich. Simple, yet effective, advice for Ruben Amorim.
Amorim has taken over at a club where the expectation is higher than at any other club in world football.
You must win. If you don't then you are shown the door, like the six permanent managers before him.
As the first whistle blew to signal a new era at Portman Road for United, you could sense the anticipation in the away end. Football is about being able to dream. That brighter days could be around the corner.
Just look at Ipswich Town - this time two years ago, they were drawing 1-1 with Fleetwood Town in League One.
They have gone full Fleetwood to Hollywood.
And Amorim could not have scripted a better start as Marcus Rashford took just 81 seconds to send those hopes in the away end soaring.
United were back. Move over Man City.
But those 81 seconds were really as good as it got.
United did not take advantage of their perfect introduction.
The visitors were passive in midfield with the axis of Christian Eriksen and Casemiro overrun, creativity was low in forward areas and goalkeeper Andre Onana had to come to their rescue to grab a point as they drew 1-1. Sound familiar?
Amorim cut a frustrated figure in the dugout at times.
Ipswich comfortably won the expected goals battle 1.75 vs 0.81 as Liam Delap was thwarted by some world-class stops by United's player of the match in goal.
Gaining what was probably an undeserved point points to baby steps then, rather than a giant leap, but it is worth remembering Jurgen Klopp started with a dour 0-0 draw at Tottenham as Liverpool boss and Mikel Arteta drew his first Arsenal game 1-1 with Bournemouth.
Something to cling to, perhaps.
Amorim went with what he knows in terms of the structure, picking a fluid back three/back five that he has used in his last 188 games as Sporting boss. United had not started with a back three in the Premier League since April 2022 when they lost 4-0 at Liverpool under Ralf Rangnick.
The key tactic and aim of this structure is to make the pitch as big as possible by playing the wing-backs very wide, which therefore encourages the front three - in this case Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes and Rashford - to play very narrow and play within the width of the posts where they can be most effective.
The service from a somewhat ponderous midfield duo was lacking into those three as it was the right wing-back Amad Diallo who came to the fore in this system.
He looked like he had been playing there all his career such was the ease he found the balance between attacking and defending, all the while being up against a very dangerous customer in Ipswich's Leif Davis.
The United youngster was the catalyst for the perfect start, showing great drive and intensity with the ball to send Ipswich back towards their goal before delivering the assist for Rashford to tuck home.
It was a performance full of a desire to impress. Direct and vibrant with the ball but also diligent and assured when called upon defensively. None more so than when beating Davis to a loose ball at the back post in the style of an accomplished full-back on 20 minutes and, in the end, he made five clearances in the game - no player made more.
Ipswich tried their best to target his supposed weakness without the ball but he stood strong.
When Amorim rang the changes in the second half, Amad stayed on the field. A huge vote of confidence from his manager.
One of the key traits of an Amorim side is the aggressive high line. There was no sign of it though at Portman Road.
United, especially during the latter stages of the first half where Ipswich made their dominance pay, defended deep which invited pressure from the aggressive Town frontline.
Across Europe's major European leagues, only Man City, Benfica and Porto have played a higher defensive line (measured by average starting distance) than Sporting since the start of last season - averaging 3.5m higher up the pitch than Man Utd's numbers under Erik ten Hag.
Instilling such cohesion and chemistry in the backline takes time, so perhaps it was hardly surprising in just a few days in the job that the aggressive offside trap was not on show, especially as Amorim could point to not having the personnel to suit that style.
Jonny Evans turns 37 in January and he was a weak link playing on the left of a back three - something he has not done for a decade. Watching Amorim in the dugout it was clear he was frustrated for the first 45 minutes with how Ipswich were constantly working their way down the right flank through Omari Hutchinson and Wes Burns, flinging his arms into the air every time that pair moved Ipswich into a dangerous position.
Evans' rash challenge on Hutchinson midway through the first half summed up his game.
When Luke Shaw returned on 56 minutes, United improved greatly at restricting the pressure from down that side as the match wore on.
But even then, the lack of creativity in forward areas held United back from truly putting the pressure on Ipswich in the closing stages. This is of course a very tame Manchester United attack who have scored just 19 goals in their last 17 Premier League games - that is an average of 1.13 goals per game.
Of ever-present Premier League teams during that time, only Everton are averaging fewer goals per game.
Ipswich restricted them to very little in the way of big moments, outlined by the paltry figure of just registering 16 touches in their box. At half-time that figure was just four. Only once in the entire reign of Ten Hag did they have fewer in the first half of a Premier League game and that was when they had one touch at Liverpool in 2023.
Progress was hard to see, but this is obviously about the long game for United. Clearly there is no quick fix.
If Amorim did not know the task ahead of him, he does now.
