Ruben Amorim can manage a few laughs after his AC Milan side defeated Man Utd, but one Man Utd star made him look silly regardless.
We should be wary of passing sweeping judgements based on one pre-season game, regardless of how “personal” this occasion felt with Ruben Amorim in the opposite dugout.
Man Utd were exposed out wide quite easily, and the 4-2 defeat looks ugly, but it would be foolish to crown Amorim as a vindicated martyr after this game.
That is because one player still managed to make him look silly in Man Utd vs Milan. He is Michael Carrick’s breakout star.
Shea Lacey continued good pre-season form
The breakout star of the pre-season has been Shea Lacey, who became one of the few players to play at least a minute in every pre-season game bar one.
Against Milan, he got 30 minutes off the bench, and even though the team conceded with him on the pitch, he can hold his head high.
Lacey’s style of play is such that the game state doesn’t matter to him, since he is extremely intelligent.
He started on the right this time when he replaced Amad and showed a different side to his game compared to when he starts at No. 10.
Despite Milan finding themselves in plenty of space and cutting through United at will, Lacey managed to hold his own on and off the ball.
He helped Diogo Dalot off the ball, and always looked to make something happen in the final third.
He combined well with Bruno Fernandes, and his doggedness earned multiple appreciations from the Man Utd captain.
In terms of raw stats, he managed to create one chance and was fouled once as he made the most of whatever little time he got on the ball.
Amorim would have understood after watching Lacey that he missed a trick not trusting the youngster when he was Man Utd manager.
Ruben Amorim will regret his Shea Lacey decision
Lacey is Carrick’s breakout star, but he should have been Amorim’s, especially considering the circumstances last season.
Lacey was fit and firing when United’s first-choice right wing was away for AFCON, but Lacey didn’t get a sustained run in the first team.
He did get his debut under Amorim, but you always get the feeling that Lacey’s physical stature held his potential back under Carrick’s predecessor.
Against Milan, Amorim would have seen that Lacey more than make up for his lack of “looking athletic” by “playing athletic”.
More importantly, this was not a one-off. Lacey has impressed in every pre-season game so far, while this was Amorim’s first win as Milan manager.
Who is really looking silly between Lacey and Amorim then?
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