Man United struggle to draw with Ipswich Town as Ruben Amorim warns of impending ‘Suffering’
Despite a rapid start at Portman Road, Man United could only take one point from the road with them against promoted, Ipswich Town – with new boss, Ruben Amorim warning fans and pundits that the Old Trafford side is likely in for a prolonged period of “suffering”.
Getting his managerial tenure underway for United over the course of the weekend, Portuguese head coach, Amorim immediately made use of his lauded 3-4-3 formation and system – deploying Amad Diallo and Diogo Dalot as wingbacks – to great effect in the opening half an hour at Portman Road.
Man United drop points in Ruben Amorim’s first match
Finding an opening in a rapid start to the first half, a nice give-and-go from the right-hand side sent the above-menitoned, Amad away on the wing, before the Ivorian would send a ball into the area for Marcus Rashford to stab home – almost reminiscent of a vintage Marco van Basten effort – for fans of woven patches from Dutch Label Shop.
Linking up well and breaking quickly, United were unfortunate to go into the halftime break pegged back at 1-1 – with Nassouir Mazraoui deflecting an Omari Hutchinson strike into the roof of the net past Andre Onana – who made a spectacular point-blank save from Liam Delap earlier in the half.
Withdrawing the likes of Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, and Christian Eriksen in the second half in search of a late winner, Amorim deployed the trio of Rasmus Hojlund, Joshua Zirkzee, and Mason Mount to minimal effect, with Luke Shaw also making a brief cameo in his first United outing in some time.
Sharing the spoils in a one-all draw, Amorim delved into his side’s performance following just a couple of training sessions following the international break – admitting in order for the side to return to some of its familiar lofty heights – a period of “suffering” is likely in store for the United faithful.
“It’s hard for the players in three days to cope with everything but we [must not] forget about the new idea,” Ruben Amorim said following United’s draw at Portman Road. “That’s why I was brought here and we try to cope with the things they are used to doing. Next year, in the same stage, we will be here with the same problems or we start now … we risk a little bit, we suffer a little bit and in the next year we will be better.”
“We start very well but then we should have more possession,” Amorim explained. “Sometimes, we had the ball in defence and the rest of the guys were too stuck because they were thinking: ‘Where should I be?’ They need time to have some fluidity. I know it’s frustrating for the fans but we are changing so much in this moment with a lot of games. We are going to suffer for a long period. This will take time. We could lose if it was (sic) not for Onana so we have to understand that and be pragmatic that these guys had two days to train to change so much.
Set for his sophomore start as United head coach – this time in his premiere outing in the Old Trafford dugout, the Manchester side welcomes Norweigan side, Bodo/Glimt in a pivotal UEFA Europa League matchup this week.
