Ruben Amorim saw his MUFC side pick up a decent point against second-placed Arsenal at Old Trafford in match 28 of the Premier League.
However, with the way the game panned out, victory should've been ours as there were ample chances to get the 3 points.
Two matches in a row now where we've drawn 1-1 yet might have come away with more.
1. Zirkzee isn't a striker
While he does put himself about a bit more than Hojlund, we can see that Joshua Zirkzee just doesn't seem to have what it takes to be a number 9.
That killer instinct and anticipation is missing from his game, he isn't necessarily the quickest in the box, and his finishing isn't deadly.
There was a really good chance set up by Garnacho in which, while it looked cool, his attempt probably wasn't one of an out-and-out goal scorer. They would've probably tried something a little more orthodox instead of an improvised finish.
Most ruthless strikers would've scored that chance.
He's also looked a lot better and more comfortable playing as a number 10. That is where we see the best of him as he can drop deeper and get the ball into feet which is more his game. Zirkzee also likes to try different skills which is a lot better suited to someone playing that deeper role.
And as we know with our strikers, they don't get many opportunities which can cause them to have a bad game. Other than that chance, Zirkzee had nothing.
2. Cross the ball!
Goodness gracious we don't cross the ball enough but when we do, we actually make things happen!
For some reason, especially our wing-backs, don't like to cross the ball and definitely don't put in the early delivery.
However, ALL of our best chances came from crosses. That one for Zirkzee, Mazraoui forcing a great save from Raya after a cross from Dalot and Bruno's late attempt was from a cutback cross by Mazraoui.
Amorim will be both delighted and upset to see this because this is a major aspect of what makes his system work. The wing-backs pushing forward and putting in the cross is exactly what Amorim ball is all about.
Why don't they do it more will be where he is frustrated.
3. Defensively sound
What I've been noticing is that regardless of who the manager selects as part of his back three/five, United do look to be a good defensive unit.
This time it was Yoro, De Ligt and an impressive Lindelof who returned to the starting lineup after quite some time. Even when Yoro had to go off at halftime, youngster and former Arsenal player Heaven came on and slotted in with relative ease.
Another aspect that I'm liking is that they can all play across the back line. We've seen all of them play in different positions yet still look very comfortable.
The system also works really well as when we're in possession, we still have three at the back and a CDM in front of them to protect our goal.
When we don't have the ball, the two wing-backs drop deeper to make it a back five whilst still having that holding midfielder in front.
When you have the consistency of players like Mazraoui and De Ligt in there as well, it makes the defense even better.
I actually don't worry much about our back line anymore. Other than Onana 🤣.
4. Casemiro resurgence?
The Brazilian has looked a lot better in recent weeks. While he still isn't what we saw in his first season at United, Casemiro has been performing at a decent level in the last few games.
For a long time, he didn't look like he even cared let alone whether he should be in the team or not. However, with injuries, Ruben Amorim has needed the exploits of the experienced midfielder to which he has responded quite well.
Yes he still isn't at the level we require but with his improvement in performances I believe our midfield has looked ok and I do think there maybe a chance that Casemiro is used a lot more from now until the end of the season especially if we play in this manner.
5. Ole ball is the way
This isn't me saying that we should abandon Amorim's approach and go for something more basic. Hell, the manager himself said that "in the future we're not going to play like that."
We know that this isn't the style we want to see at United. Even though it worked for this game and worked in the past, it isn't the style that we've been known for at this club and nor did it actually bring us any success.
It can work in the odd game and more so against the better teams but it isn't sustainable.
When playing against sides like Arsenal who are better and have more pressure on them because of this, United thrive. This allows us to play a more defensive game and look to frustrate the opponent while hitting them on the break.
That is peak Ole ball.
That is the only type of football a lot of these players can play in. With low IQ footballers, low IQ football is required which is why we actually looked decent for the whole game.
But when things are reversed and the onus is on us, we run out of ideas and don't know how to break down oppositions who do to us what we want to do to everyone.
We cannot be playing this type of football because it will get us nowhere. We've also already done this before and it got us nowhere.
Yes it's a hard watch at the moment and we are in a terrible position, but the sooner we sort the problem (the players) out, the better, which goes back to Amorim saying that is we don't try to get things right now and adapt to a more basic system to get results right away, in a year's time we'll be back in this same position.
This also gives us the chance to see even clearer that a lot of these players aren't good enough to play a more modern brand of football and need to be moved on.
Background Image: Bruno Fernandes scores free-kick v Arsenal | Man Utd 1-1 Arsenal | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)