Ever since he walked through the door at Manchester United, Ruben Amorim has lamented the lack of time to work with his players on the training pitch. How ironic then that given a free week at Carrington, United’s head coach appears to have driven them into the ground.
What on earth were they doing to lose so many men in such a short space of time?
When Amorim spoke to us at the training ground on Friday before the 12th defeat of a wretched Premier League season at Tottenham and admitted that it had been a bad couple of days, none of us realised just how bad.
Amad Diallo probably finished for the season with ankle ligament damage, Kobbie Mainoo out for around six weeks with a severe muscle strain, Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer ruled of the Spurs game with injury and Christian Eriksen and Leny Yoro through illness.
Given that United were already without Lisandro Martinez, Mason Mount, Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans and back-up goalkeepers Altay Bayindir and Tom Heaton, it took the total number of absentees to 12. Maybe a gentle game of keepy-uppy will suffice next time.
Amorim isn’t the first United manager to realise that this United squad isn’t robust enough to play the way he wants. Like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick and Erik ten Hag before him, the 40-year-old has learned the hard way that these players aren’t conditioned to operate at high intensity.
Ruben Amorim has learned the hard way that Man United cannot cope with a high intensity
A makeshift squad – with 12 stars out injured – produced an uninspiring performance at Spurs
Chido Obi was the only substitute Amorim felt comfortable bringing on from a youthful bench
The result is another raft of injuries just when Amorim hoped that he was getting bodies back for the final third of the season.
The other consequence was that United arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a squad patched up with teenagers.
Of the nine substitutes on the bench, eight had never played for the first-team. Sat alongside veteran Victor Lindelof were academy players Elyh Harrison, Harry Amass, Sekou Kone, Tyler Fredricson, Chido Obi, Jack Fletcher and Jack Moorhouse, plus 18-year-old Ayden Heaven who was signed from Arsenal in January.
In the end, Amorim only used Obi as an injury-time substitute for Casemiro, in contrast to Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou who was able to send five experienced players off the bench.
It was another proud day for a youth system that has produced so many bright talents for United, but also another indictment of how the club is being run.
By allowing Marcus Rashford and Antony to go out on loan in January, United were wide open to the kind of injury that has ruled top scorer Diallo out for the rest of the season.
Confirming the Ivory Coast international’s layoff, Amorim ran through the training camp from hell, saying: ‘Amad was alone, his foot was stuck in the grass, Ugarte was a kick. Toby and Kobbie felt something during training. Some players felt sickness in training.
‘In one week, we lost so many players. Sometimes we have one moment where everything is going wrong.
United were left with a bench full of teenagers (and Victor Lindelof) after piling up 12 absences
Amad Diallo, arguably Amorim’s best performer, is set to miss the rest of the season due to an ankle injury
Letting go of Marcus Rashford and Antony on loan has left Amorim with a threadbare squad
The game against Spurs was one of low-quality and the defeat leaves them 15th in the table
‘It is what it is. We have the kids. It is the hardest competition in the world and I am trying to be careful with them, but they will play.
‘We want to recover the players, I think we can recover some players for the next game. We have to be together to finish the season and start over.’
Postecoglou has endured more than his fair share of injury problems this season, so forgive him for not being too sympathetic towards Amorim after welcoming back five players here.
‘Welcome to my world,’ he smiled. ‘That was for one game, now do it for two months. I’ve looked in my office and I don’t see any sympathy cards.’
With wide men suddenly in short supply, Amorim was forced to play Joshua Zirkzee on the right and, to be fair, the Dutchman was the best of a bad bunch.
But he and Rasmus Hojlund haven’t scored in the Premier League since the first week of December, and United once again lacked creativity and confidence in front of goal as they drew a blank for the 10th time in the league this season.
Their best moment came during a flurry of efforts in the 10th minute when Guglielmo Vicario saved from Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho and Ben Davies cleared off the line from Diogo Dalot. Garnacho also lifted a shot over the bar with only Vicario to beat.
Casemiro played in the absence of Mainoo, Ugarte, Eriksen and Collyer, and looked about as sharp as you would expect from a 32-year-old making his first start since December 30.
What on earth was Amorim doing to lose so many players in such a short space of time?
Kobbie Mainoo picked up an injury in midweek meaning Casemiro was called upon in his place
Ange Postecoglou had little sympathy for Amorim, saying: ‘Welcome to my world’
James Maddison’s early goal, capitalising on Andre Onana’s error, for enough for a Spurs win
Spurs were able to cut through him and Bruno Fernandes far too easily at times, and the Brazilian spent more than half the game on a booking for his clumsy challenge on Son Heung-Min.
There were more problems in defence where Matthijs De Ligt played out of position on the left. ‘It’s not nice when you lose five players in one week, but that’s part of football,’ said De Ligt.
‘We can speak about the personal problems, the injuries, but Tottenham have the same problems. If you lose, it is never enough. I believe you have to deserve fortune – at the moment, apparently we don’t deserve it.’
Having already qualified for the last 16 of the Europa League, United won’t be involved in the play-offs on Thursday.
It means Amorim will have another clear week to work with his players, but you have to wonder if that is a blessing or a curse.
