Ruben Amorim Defends Controversial Man Utd Tactics After Furious Gary Neville Rant

Substitutions and a return to his 3-4-2-1 setup against Wolves both left United fans seething.

Ruben Amorim is under fire once again. / Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty Images

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has insisted he was right to withdraw striker Joshua Zirkzee midway through Tuesday’s 1–1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, despite facing intense criticism from Gary Neville for doing so.

Having sprung a surprise switch to a 4-2-3-1 setup during the 1–0 win over Newcastle United at the weekend, Amorim had his side warm up in the same system before reverting back to his controversial 3-4-2-1 formation at kick-off in an attempt to confuse a side with just two points from their first 18 games.

The result was a disappointing 1–1 draw as Wolves ended an 11-game losing streak. Amorim’s tactics quickly came under fire, as did his decision to withdraw striker Zirkzee, the scorer of the opening goal, for teenage midfielder Jack Fletcher while the score was tied.

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“We were running around trying to recover the ball,” Amorim said in defence of his call.

“They overload with a lot of midfielders and we were struggling with that and sometimes you can attack better with less strikers.

“We played with three strikers, [Matheus] Cunha, Josh and [Benjamin] Šeško, and sometimes it is not the best thing to attack well.”

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Neville: Amorim Took Step Backwards

Gary Neville did not hide his concerns. / James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images

Prominent pundit and legendary former United defender Neville has rarely shied away from voicing his concerns over the team’s direction under Amorim, and he used his appearance as a commentator on the game to express his surprise at the return of the 3-4-2-1 setup.

“This isn’t right,” he said after just 20 minutes. “I’ve watched enough of United over the last five or six weeks to know what looks right and what isn’t right.”

As Wolves netted what was just their 11th goal of the season on the stroke of half-time, Neville added: “[United] have gone backwards. I’m not quite sure why they have changed. Wolves have probably been the better team.”

The sight of Zirkzee heading to the bench to start the second half proved equally confusing for Neville, who blasted Amorim for what he felt was a “bizarre” decision.

“[The substitutions] made Manchester United worse,” Neville told his Sky Sports podcast postmatch. “Every single substitution was bizarre.

“If Zirkzee wasn’t injured and that was a tactical substitution, it was a really poor one. Zirkzee isn’t Eric Cantona, by any stretch of the imagination, but he needed to be out there for physicality, for presence, for experience.

“And he’d scored. You couldn’t take him off. So I’m hoping he’s injured. I'm hoping he’s injured for Ruben Amorim.”

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Neville: ‘Baddest of the Bad’ From United

A bitterly disappointing result for United. / Molly Darlington/Copa/Getty Images

It was a truly deflating result for United, who looked to have turned a corner against Newcastle before making hard work of a home game against a side on track to be statistically the worst in Premier League history.

“That was the baddest of the bad, that,” Neville reflected. “They weren’t just booed off at full time. The fans waited in the stadium to continue to boo them.”

There was particular confusion surrounding Amorim’s decision to revert to a 3-4-2-1 setup which has underwhelmed throughout his tenure, and Neville urged the United boss to reconsider his approach to future games.

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“He doesn’t need to say, ‘I haven’t changed because of the media,’ because then he’s telling us basically that the media is in his head,” Neville continued, referencing Amorim’s prematch explanation that his tactical decisions have been dictated by a defiance to disprove the doubts expressed by journalists.

“The reason he’s had to change is because the performance levels with the 3-4-3 have been so poor and the results have been appalling.

“When I see that we go back [to three in defence] after five minutes tonight and I’m thinking, ‘No, Ruben, why have you done that?’

“The manager has to look at that and think, ‘I got that wrong, I complicated it.’”

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