The Europa League final loss to Spurs is probably Ruben Amorim’s darkest moment at Man Utd, which changed everything, and Ange Postecoglou has now poured salt on his wounds.
Sure, the defeat to Grimsby in the Carabao Cup, or the dispiriting loss to ten-man Everton at Old Trafford, were bad, but the Europa League final changed the entire trajectory of Man Utd.
Fewer games meant no chances for the academy (or Kobbie Mainoo), a lower budget for a transfer market charge in January, and more time to dwell on dropped points.
Ruben Amorim’s side put in a limp effort that day against Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs, and the Australian has just exposed how easy it was to make that happen.
Ange Postecoglou’s brutal Ruben Amorim verdict
On paper, Spurs vs Man Utd in a tournament final was as easy a game for a club with the pedigree of United as it could possibly be.
On one hand were Spurs, with no experience of winning “the big one”, and on the other side were United, who, in their worst moments, always seemed to come up with a statement performance in a marquee game.
However, what transpired on that fateful day of the Europa League final was beyond shocking.
Spurs nullified United completely by being pragmatic, and United looked out of ideas, which Postecoglou says on The Overlap was by design.
He said: “I had six or seven defenders at the edge of our box at one stage. I knew if we shut down Bruno, they weren’t going to score. I just felt with United, the way they set up with Ruben and how they would try to break us down, [they wouldn’t score]. We were really solid defensively as long as we scored.”
Postecoglou’s comments confirm what Man Utd fans realised later. Amorim had no plan B, and his plan A was to just get it to Bruno Fernandes and hope he creates a chance.
Amorim’s rigidity caused his failure at Man Utd
The Europa League final was a warning light, but Amorim’s charisma and communication skills fooled United fans into thinking that it was a bad day.
As it turns out, the problem was chronic, and the same rigidity condemned United to some of the worst losses in the club’s history.
Be it the loss against Grimsby or the 0-1 loss to a ten-man Everton at Old Trafford, Amorim just didn’t know how to navigate a team that wouldn’t fall for his “long ball, second ball” schtick.
Once the initiative was ceded to him, the plan simply became “Give it to Bruno and hope he produces a moment of magic”.
Postecoglou, for all his faults, recognised it last season. It ultimately caused Amorim to lose his job.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/vNsqRzt