Manchester United legend Gary Neville labelled his old club “the worst pound for pound football team in the country” as they were comprehensively defeated 2-0 by Newcastle United.
The fallen Premier League giants began the evening 14th in the table, having lost five of their last seven games in all competitions, and with manager Ruben Amorim already under huge pressure after replacing sacked boss Erik ten Hag in November. The Portuguese coach issued a rallying cry before the game, which saw him recall axed striker Marcus Rashford to his matchday squad.
But he did not look to the England star when he hauled off underperforming forward Joshua Zirkee – who made his exit to ironic cheers from fans in Old Trafford – after just 34 minutes. Sky Sports pundit Neville slammed the United faithful for their “brutal” treatment of the Dutch summer signing, before delivering his damning verdict on the team as a whole.
Goals from Alexander Isak and Joelinton consigned the Red Devils to another crushing defeat. United will now end 2024 below seventh in the table for the first time since 1989 – here are five things Amorim got wrong against Newcastle.
Picking a midfield two of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen
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United’s veteran stars Casemiro and Christian Eriksen have shown time and time again that they do not have the physical attributes required now they are both the wrong side of 30 to live with the energy of most Premier League midfields, yet Amorim picked them in a central pairing that was overrun by the visitors and their duo of Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes.
Talking on Sky Sports at half-time, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher said: “We were speaking about that on this show 18 months ago. That is on the manager. These players can’t run. We know that. That is on the manager for putting those two players in that position, in this system, which has a major flaw.”
Carragher said the area either side of the midfield pairing was “huge”, with them unable to cover it – something that should be apparent to a manager of Amorim’s experience. The introduction of Mainoo helped, but by then it was too late.
Making an example of Joshua Zirkzee
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With little over half an hour gone, Amorim decided to substitute Zirkzee. Yes, he had barely made an impression on the game as he struggled to cause Newcastle any problems on the left of the United attack.
But as fans cheered and jeered his exit, with the embarrassed star heading straight down the tunnel, before reappearing with a coat over his head, it was hard not to feel sympathy for a player that had been made the proverbial sacrificial lamb.
Amorim must be careful not to alienate a player United spent a significant amount of money on in the summer – whatever fans think of his displays in a red shirt so far.
Not using Marcus Rashford
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Marcus Rashford made his return to the matchday squad against Newcastle for the first time since he publicly admitted he is looking for a new challenge away from Old Trafford. But then he sat getting splinters on the bench as Rasmus Hojlund toiled fruitlessly up front.
Amorim didn’t call on his wantaway star when he dragged off Zirkzee after little more than half an hour, instead strengthening his midfield with Mainoo, then chose to pick Alejandro Garnacho to replace Casemiro around the hour mark.
Mega flop Antony was the next cab off the rank, as underwhelming winger replaced defender Matthijs de Ligt with less than 10 minutes left on the clock. So what was the point of picking Rashford in the squad at all?
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Martinez mismatch
United continue to ship goals all too easily and in recent weeks, diminutive centre back Lisandro Martinez has often been at the scene of the crime. That continued against Newcastle.
He started the game in a back three with Harry Maguire and De Ligt, but the United captain couldn’t live with Isak or Joelinton. The former rose between ‘The Butcher’ and the motionless Harry Maguire to open the scoring with one header, before the latter towered over Martinez to score his side’s second goal with another.
Carragher observed: “Martinez has been awful. He has been caught out more in a back three than he was in a four.”
The Argentinian was hooked shortly after picking up a booking on 65 minutes by Leno Yoro, before De Ligt made way too, with Amorim shuffling his deck yet again.