Manchester United's new era under Ruben Amorim has, thus far, not been a success. Languishing 14th in the Premier League, and eliminated by Fulham in the FA Cup, the side looks devoid of both ideas and stability. But whose fault is it? Are the players not good enough? Or is the manager out of his depth? Adam Clery explains why it's simultaneously neither of those things... and both.
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00:00Hello everybody, Adam Cleary from 442 here, and Manchester United, that whole thing, um,
00:11well it's not going well is it?
00:13And all this despite numerous dweebs on the internet, such as yours truly, thinking that
00:18it probably would go quite well, doing videos saying it was probably going to go quite well,
00:23and yet they find themselves 14th in the league table, which is bad, and 14 points away from
00:29the Champions League, which is worse, and with less than half of the points Liverpool
00:33have, which is shocking.
00:35So something right here with these players and this manager and this system is quite
00:40spectacularly wrong, so, what is it?
00:47Now just really quickly before we start, right, small piece of housekeeping, this is my last
00:53video for 442.
00:57And I'm not going to get into the whole thing now, this video is about Manchester United,
01:00not me, Chester United, so I will tell you a little bit more at the end of the video,
01:05but just in case you don't get there, yeah, this is my last one, and I'm really sad about
01:10it.
01:11Anyway though, to business, Ruben Amorim's Manchester United, 14th in the league, and
01:14that is not an unfair reflection of how they've been under him.
01:18Since he replaced Eric Ten Hag, they have played 16 games in the Premier League, of
01:22which they have won 5, drawn 3, and lost 8, giving them 18 points.
01:28Now that, if you divide it by the 16 games, gives you like 1.1 points per game, which
01:34over the course of a season would give you around 41 points.
01:39Now crucially, over the last three seasons, that would not be enough to relegate you,
01:43like the days of needing 40 points to stay up are long gone, as the Premier League grinds
01:48it's very fists to dust in their attempts to quietly make the whole thing a close shot,
01:53but regardless, it would put you, in the last three seasons, here, here, and here, which
01:58is exactly where they are, are, and are.
02:02They have spent half a billion pounds, almost exclusively, to fend off any late survival
02:08chances that Wolves or Ipswich may have, which is, phew, that's insane.
02:14So clearly then, demonstrably, there is a big problem here, but what exactly is it?
02:19Well, even though the camera is on, I'm still not entirely sure how I'm going to articulate
02:25this, right?
02:26But it's not the players, and it's not the system, except it is actually both of those
02:33things because of the way they don't really go together.
02:36Like, think about it this way, right, you probably like ice cream, right, everybody
02:40loves ice cream, it's absolutely delicious, one of the best things in the entire world,
02:43and you also probably like sticking a cotton bud in your ear every now and then, even though
02:47you're not supposed to, I'm aware of that, to give it a good clean.
02:51But, even though those two things are good, you don't then want Ben and Jerry's to suddenly
02:55come out with maximum earwaximum flavour, do you?
02:59That would be, phew, that would be f***ing horrible.
03:02And so that, via quite possibly the worst analogy I've ever come out with, is how I
03:06would explain this version of Manchester United.
03:09This is Ruben Amorim's system, it's the back three we knew he'd play, it's the wingbacks
03:12we knew he'd play, it's the two sort of like floating attacking tens that we knew
03:17he'd play, and the single centre forward.
03:19And like I said at the start of the video, I will hold my hands up here, I was one of
03:23the people who thought, well it's not a perfect fit for every member of the squad, but it
03:27should still be pretty good, but the longer time goes on, it now looks like a worse fit
03:34than whatever John O'Shea was thinking here, with the whole jeans and shoe combo, straight
03:40to prison.
03:41And this is the thing, like I've seen a lot of people saying, well the system just doesn't
03:44fit the players, but what does that actually mean?
03:48Why doesn't this system fit these footballers particularly?
03:52Well, and this is going to sound like grotesquely oversimplified, right, but it's kind of all
03:57about running.
03:58Like the way it's supposed to work, just to give you a quick refresher, is you have five
04:01players in defence, because you've got wingbacks, but also when you get into the attack, these
04:05two play a little bit nearer the goal, and then you end up with five players in the attack
04:10as well.
04:11However, in the Jeremy Dorgue video, the reason he was so appealing is because that is a lot
04:15of running for one player to do, and they don't really have anybody who's naturally
04:19very good at doing that, so he fixes that problem.
04:22But it's not just about one wingback.
04:24The actual two most important players when it comes to running are these two.
04:28Like at the risk of tooting my own cock far too many times in this video, go back and
04:32watch the ones we did about Amirim's system and why that made him so appealing to Man
04:36United.
04:37It pains to point out it's about getting those four players into isolated positions, directly
04:43attacking the space behind defenders, and then creating high percentage chances for
04:48a centre-forward to profit from.
04:50Like sporting topped all of these metrics in Portugal last season, but Man United by
04:54comparison are so painfully average at them in the Premier League.
04:58Like progressive carry distance, progressive carries per 90, they're not effective at getting
05:02on the ball and driving at opponents, that's what they really measure.
05:06As a result, chances created directly from take-ons, which is a measure of how many times
05:10you go past another player and then make a chance, they're second bottom in the entire
05:16league for that.
05:17And it should be more or less their whole attacking identity.
05:20The number of take-ons is bad, the number of successful take-ons is bad, their take-on
05:24percentage success is bad, like this is a system designed for explosive runners that
05:31really scare teams, and yet it's kind of full at the minute with like methodical passes.
05:36And in my opinion, the best illustration of why this isn't working, is Rasmus Hoyland.
05:42Like Victor Iocrez scored a million goals in this system last season because they were
05:46largely one-touch finishes created by his teammates directly taking on an opponent.
05:51And this is, I promise, the last time I'm going to be self-referential in this video,
05:55but I said this in November.
05:57F***.
05:58The objective is not to pass the ball to death around the 18-yard box, slowly waiting for
06:04a chance to get in.
06:05It is to drive, to run, we talked about this loads in the other video, to get to the byline,
06:11to get past defenders, and to square the ball to a natural finisher.
06:15And thus, for this Manchester United team, the most important bit of data for these four
06:21players are their carrying numbers and their take-on ability.
06:25F***.
06:26Like a lot is getting made of Hoyland having a bad 2025, but take this moment from the
06:30Fulham game at the weekend.
06:31The build-up has worked, they've played through Fulham, they've found Ericsson in a great
06:35position to attack this channel here.
06:38Except the number 10, who should be there to receive, turn, drive into the half-space
06:42and commit this defender, is here.
06:45It's Joshua Xerxe, and that's not me digging him out, that's not really his game at all,
06:49is it?
06:50He's a centre-forward, likes to drop deep, get involved in the play, that kind of thing.
06:52He's not an explosive, direct-running number 10, and as such he's not occupying the position
06:58one of them would.
06:59So instead, the ball goes out to Dalot, a full-back who is competent at getting up and
07:03down but by no means an expert dribbler.
07:05And of course the reason why they brought Patrick Dorgue was he would be better suited
07:09to this situation, but he's suspended, he's not here, so they've got Dalot instead.
07:13And what you would hope Dorgue would do in a situation that Dalot wouldn't is attack
07:17this space here, like blow past the defender and get into this area that Xerxe's left.
07:22And even at this moment here, just as he realises he can't do that, the ball could still very
07:26easily go instead of him with a little sort of slide pass, but the number 10 is still
07:31here.
07:32If he's here instead, then there's a great pass on, but he's not, and Dalot doesn't think
07:37he can win the 1v1, so he just gets his head down and runs to the byline.
07:41The result then is, rather unsurprisingly, a cross that somehow has to take three players
07:45out of the equation just to give Hoyland any hope whatsoever of getting on the end of it.
07:50And like at no stage of that move did it look for a second like Man United were going to
07:53open Fulham up.
07:55Let's go back to the start of it, and if you would just humour me here for a second, imagine
08:00this was the sort of player who thrives in this system, right?
08:03So he's not here, he's here, and Ericsson gives him the ball, he turns, and he immediately
08:07drives into that space.
08:09He would draw this defender towards him, and if he beats him, the ball across just requires
08:14a blindside run from Hoyland to potentially get a tap in.
08:18And even here, if it's a late run instead, he would still draw this defender towards
08:22him, leaving a massive amount of space.
08:25And it's not like an isolated example like that, this is a minute later.
08:28It's the same part of the pitch, Dalot's now stretched out this enormous gap between the
08:32full-back and the centre-back, meaning the area they want to attack is now wide open,
08:37so well done you, that's good work.
08:39But then where, oh where, is the run from here to here that Dalot could easily slip
08:44the ball into?
08:45Just doesn't happen, nobody makes it, they haven't got the kind of players who like to
08:48make it.
08:49And Hoyland, what does he do?
08:50He gets his head down, he runs to the byline, he tries to put another cross in.
08:54And don't get me wrong, Hoyland is having a bad season regardless, he's not reliably
08:58taking the chances he is getting, but he's supposed to be a very specific sort of final
09:04piece in a tactical puzzle that is currently just not working full stop.
09:09And his little FB ref cutout thing is actually quite depressing to look at, because look
09:14at the number of touches, and the touches in the opposition box, they're as bad as they
09:18could possibly be.
09:20And yeah, again, he should be doing more with the chances he's getting, but at the same
09:22time, when you are that young, and you are not getting found, and you're waiting for
09:26service that just isn't coming, what it must do to your head across the course of the game,
09:31the decisions you must make are just horrible.
09:34And this is what I mean about his teammates having to take some of the responsibility
09:37for this, because this is subtle, but it's maybe a better example.
09:40They get a quick throw, and they actually find Eriksen in the exact area that they want
09:44to be in, and he does get turned.
09:47Now if that is Sporting Lisbon, and one of the players they had, he absolutely then drives
09:51forward into the space, starts to commit defenders, chaos ensues, and then possibly in that chaos,
09:56Joque Reus can slip his marker, can be found with a pass, and gets a bit of a tap-in.
10:00But that's not what happens here.
10:04Eriksen just immediately crosses the ball into nobody.
10:09The whole approach is designed to get players in these areas, but the players that Amram
10:13has in those areas are really uncomfortable being there.
10:17And what I imagine must really sting, if you're a Man United fan, is this moment from Aston
10:24Villa versus Cardiff.
10:25I've highlighted Marcus Rashford here, and look at the exact area of the pitch he's trying
10:30to attack.
10:31Look how he goes at the back line with this run, and when the ball gets to him, he cuts
10:34it back and leaves a first-time finish for somebody.
10:37And again, that's not just a one-off example.
10:39Every single time Rashford got on the ball in that inside left channel, he looked to
10:44drive at the defence.
10:45It was the exact kind of performance you'd want out of somebody in an Amram system.
10:51And like f***ing hell, man, look what Anthony did for Real Betis the other day.
10:54He gets on the ball, and what does he do?
10:57He drives at defenders.
10:58He commits them, he draws them out of areas, and he lays on a first-time finish practically
11:04for a centre forward.
11:05It must be maddening to see that.
11:08I just want to see where you're going with that assumption.
11:12Don't get that twisted.
11:13That is not me saying that if only they'd held on to Marcus Rashford and Anthony, then
11:17this would all be so much better and fixed.
11:19There were many different reasons.
11:21They were doing nothing in this team, for example, why they had to be moved on.
11:25But I'm just saying you can't help but have a bit of sympathy with Ruben Amram, because
11:30clearly this is a team that isn't that well suited to playing his brand of football, and
11:34the players who were suited to it have had to be moved on.
11:38Which is not only really, really rough, but it's left him with this.
11:44And again, important to say, there are caveats, there are injuries.
11:47You would have Ahmad in this.
11:48Ideally, they've got to try and figure a way to get Garnaccio in it, may lose a miss as
11:52well.
11:53But when this system is successfully, that's the word I want, executed right, and you turn
11:57the back five into the attacking five, I don't know why I moved them all the way back just
12:01to move them back.
12:02Again, this is the five players you end up with in your attacking phase.
12:07They all of them have their qualities, I'm not disputing that.
12:10But if you are a Premier League defence, any Premier League defence, who here are you scared
12:17of?
12:18Who are you absolutely petrified that the ball might end up with?
12:21Like, I don't see a single player here who is going to reliably and consistently cause
12:26huge problems to Premier League defences.
12:29Like, Bruno Fernandes, the one player you would say they've got in that category, is
12:33usually here.
12:34Like, he's needed further back because he's so important to the way they build up through
12:38the thirds.
12:39And he only tends to find himself in these positions late in games when they're trailing
12:42and he's just got to do it all himself.
12:45But even that itself is a problem because if he feels like he's got to do it all, then
12:49he has to do it all.
12:50He's not pulling attention away or markers away from these players, giving them the space
12:55they need to thrive.
12:56He's just trying to do it himself on his own.
12:59Like, this is Fernandes' heat map from the Fulham game, right?
13:01And that is many things, but it is not a footballer with a clear or defined role.
13:07It is somebody who feels like he needs to help out in every single area and every single
13:12phase of the game.
13:13Like, he's trying to do the work of three or four different players because he knows
13:16that if he doesn't do that, they're going to lose that game of football.
13:19Like, these are his passes from the Everton match.
13:22And imagine just showing somebody that and not telling them who it was.
13:25Ask them what position they even think they were playing.
13:28You wouldn't know.
13:29Like, he's having to drop into the right back area.
13:30He's floating around as a 10 occasionally.
13:32And yet still, there's very little going on in the really important areas.
13:37And that's not because he's a bad player and he's being ineffective, but because there's
13:41just nothing going on in those areas.
13:44They're very bad at playing in them.
13:45And just the final point that, sorry, hang on.
13:48Oh God, sorry.
13:50Some graphics on my face there.
13:51The final point I'll make about this, right, is that these are Dorgu and Dalot's pass maps
13:56from the same game.
13:57Now, I'll bet on first glance, you can't even tell me which way they were attacking in this
14:04match.
14:05Like, it's actually quite hard to figure out, right?
14:07And tragically, it was in this direction.
14:11And that means that almost every single pass they made in the final third was backwards.
14:17There was a complete absence of anybody to get involved with in these major areas of
14:22the pitch.
14:23So when the possession was good, when they were able to get into the shape, they were
14:25in situations where they could not really impact the play because Man United just don't
14:31really do anything in these spaces.
14:34And just to make matters worse, these are all of their passes, yes, and I will now replace
14:37them with every successful take on both of these players did.
14:42Every time they took the initiative themselves, saw the lack of another player and got in
14:46there to make it happen, right?
14:48You ready?
14:49All right, a little drum roll.
14:51Ah.
14:52Ah.
14:53And when the system just fundamentally is not working, this is what it ends up looking
14:57like, right?
14:58So this is Fernandes, he gets on the ball and he gets turned.
15:00Now the objective here should be to find Xerxe, then for him to get turned, attack this space
15:06and then square it across for Hoyland.
15:08But not one single element of how the Amarim system is supposed to play actually happens
15:15here.
15:16Hoyland just wants it over the top immediately, so he's trying not to stray offside, but in
15:19the process, because he's not running, he's not stretching the defence, meaning it's all
15:23just this horrible condensed space that's now too small to safely find Xerxe.
15:28Now what Fernandes should do in that situation is go across the pitch and find the other
15:33ten because he's got that kind of ball delivery in his locker.
15:36But if we go and look, there isn't one.
15:39He's not there.
15:40They were sort of using Agaté in this role, who's like a defensive midfielder, and that's
15:44just never where he's going to stand.
15:47But just imagine if in this situation they had some sort of lightning fast, rapid, brave,
15:51aggressive ball carrier standing exactly where he should be.
15:55Fernandes, I think, could quite easily find him with that pass and then Everton, from
15:59here, would be in real trouble.
16:02But they don't, do they?
16:03They've got Xerxe and Agaté, so he just goes over the top and Everton sweep up.
16:08Except, no, they don't just sweep up, they make three passes and they completely play
16:12through Manchester United getting behind and that's where that weird nobody wanted
16:17the ball goal comes from.
16:19And that is the real cost of having a system that keeps breaking down because, yes, your
16:22attacks don't work and you're not effective at doing that, but then everybody goes slightly
16:27mad trying to get the ball back because they're not really sure what the best thing to do
16:31is.
16:32Teams hurt you as a result of it.
16:34So overall, the point I'm trying to make is it's not really Amram's fault.
16:38This is a good system that works very effectively, that can be really dangerous, and these aren't
16:43bad players.
16:44There's clearly a lot of talent in this expensively assembled squad, but when you take this particular
16:49group of players and this particular brand of football and you put them together, nothing
16:55happens.
16:56Now, I, as I've already said twice, thought that something would happen.
16:59I thought this would be quite good, but that is why I make videos on YouTube and directors
17:05of football are paid untold millions to make these decisions.
17:10And so to answer the question, what is the problem?
17:12Well, the problem is that they hired a manager who exclusively plays high energy, direct
17:17running attacking football and asked him to just magically apply that to a team mostly
17:22assembled by a manager who believed in high pressing and rotating positional play.
17:27And if the solution to what's going wrong here is to ask Amram to get back to basics,
17:32go to a back four, stop trying to do this, just do everything nice and simply, then what
17:36you've really given him is a caretaker's job.
17:39And you could have had Van Nistelrooy do that for a fraction of the cost.
17:43Now, full disclosure, I do think this will get better for Manchester United, but I don't
17:49think it'll get much better.
17:50I don't think it'll get better quickly.
17:53So yes, that's it for me in the grandest possible sense.
17:58As I mentioned at the start, this is my last tactics video for 440.
18:02We'll have a bit more information about it.
18:04I'll do a little video explaining what the situation is later on in the week.
18:08It's all very exciting.
18:09It's all very good, but also enormously sad because I love this.
18:13I love doing these.
18:14I love you lot.
18:16So change, change is fun.
18:18You will probably like the change, but change is also scary and makes me do this.
18:22And so now more than ever, I would encourage you to check out the old socials at Adam Cleary,
18:26C-L-E-R-Y, Twitter, Instagram, all the other ones.
18:29I forget what they're called because announcements will be being made there.
18:32And if you like these kinds of videos, then you will like said announcements.
18:37But of vital importance is the fact that 442 is not going absolutely anywhere.
18:40So if you haven't already subscribed to the channel, there's going to be some wonderful
18:43things happening here as well.
18:44So there's nothing stopping you from clicking that as well.
18:47There's plenty of love to go around.
18:49The 442 socials are in the corner of the video.
18:51The latest issue of the magazine is in shops now because that's where magazines live.
18:56And until, until next time, wow, I didn't really think this through.
19:01Oh, that's got me right in the heart.
19:03Until next time, we'll do a thing where I say all the things.
19:07I'm not going to say all the things now, but I will say thank you very much for watching.
19:12These are my favorite thing I've ever done.
19:14I love you enormously and I will, I will see you very soon.
19:20Bye.
19:21Bye.
19:22Bye.
19:23Don't leave me.
19:24Bye.
19:26What am I going to do?
19:27Bye.
19:28Bye.