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Amad not featuring for Man Utd really has come out of nowhere.

He has been one of our best players over the last few months starting from the end of last season to the start of this and even won player of the month in August.

Fans were all excited and ecstatic to see the young man given his opportunities in the first team as his time at United hadn't been great. Amad was never really a first-team player for the first few seasons at Old Trafford and was sent on loan to the likes of Rangers and Sunderland, where he performed wonderfully.

His return to United from Sunderland last season gave us the hope that he would be a part of Erik ten Hag's plans for the upcoming campaign.

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While he picked up a hefty knee injury that ruled him out for 22 games in 23/24, from March onward, we started to see the best of Amad and why we were all waiting in anticipation for him to be in the team.

His peak in these last few months came in the 4-3 win over Liverpool in the quarter final of the FA Cup which propelled him to get a statue outside Old Trafford.

Well, it should've done 🤷‍♂️.

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That moment will live long in the memory and was key in us getting to the final which we ultimately won. That last-minute winner over LFC was also important in keeping Erik ten Hag in a job due to the fact that we went through to the sesmifianls and beat City in the final.

Amad doesn't score that, we go to penalties, it's anybody's game and we could lose. Do so, and no FA Cup and Erik ten Hag would've been long gone.

Some wouldn't have been opposed to the tbh.

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Amad then began this season a little on the slow side but was still better than most of his team-mates. He managed to get a goal in the 2-1 defeat at Brighton, a day after he lost his stepmother. Amad then received his player of the month award for August due to his good performances.

He also got an assist in United's 3-0 win at Southampton last month.

Erik ten Hag mentioned earlier in the season how "this has to be his year" after an impressive performance in the pre-season win over Rangers.

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And then, WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!

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After the draw at Crystal Palace, Amad has only played 5 minutes of league action in the next three matches. He did play almost 70 minutes in the draw at Porto but just 1 minute against Fenerbahce on Thursday.

This means that he has played just the 1 minute in the last three games and made just one start in the last five which was that 3-3 draw in Portugal.

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The manager has been rotating his team this season which isn't too much of a problem although when and who he chooses to rotate is at times a little confusing but rotation throughout a season isn't unusual.

All three of Amad, Rashford and Garnacho have been in and out of the side for each other but in more recent times, ten Hag has preferred to bring on Antony instead of Amad whenever the pair have been on the bench.

This really raised a few eyebrows as when looking at how the two players have performed for United, Amad is waaaayyyyy ahead of his Brazilian counterpart in terms of performances.

Antony before these recent substitute appearances hardly featured for the team and only started one game which was the 7-0 thrashing of Barnsley in the Carabao Cup. He scored a penalty in that game.

The £80m man has also played just 27 minutes of Premier League action as ten Hag hadn't used him in six of the eight matches.

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Every time the former Ajax player featured for United, he has been shite. There's been nothing about his game to make you even consider him coming on let alone starting whereas Amad is the opposite. He is similar to Garnacho in that he has that ability to make things happen whilst also playing in a way that is more suited to how the manager wants to in terms of that possession.

He is arguably our best right-winger and perhaps even best winger.

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The game against Fenerbahce really made people think that perhaps there's something going on behind the scenes with the player and ten Hag.

With the score at 1-1 and 17 minutes remaining, United needed something to try to help them get the edge over Mourinho. While there may not have been much in the way of options on the bench, one that could certainly make a difference was Amad.

Instead, ten Hag brought on Antony to everyone's surprise. He then got injured and was replaced by Amad in the final minutes. In those handful of minutes though, Amad did more than Antony has done for a long time. One can see that Amad is a player who knows what he wants to do and plays with confidence whereas Antony is the opposite.

The Brazilian had to be stretchered off which probably means he's out for a decent amount of time with what looked to be an ankle injury.

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Whilst on the touchline waiting to come on, Amad did NOT look happy and had to be cheered up by all three of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hake and Andreas Georgson before his substitution.

Yet what I liked most about his cameo was that he still played with a professionalism and will to try his best. We don't often get that with players in such situations and one wouldn't even blame him if he did perform poorly.

Erik ten Hag came out and tried to justify his decision to bring on Antony saying that "I must also reward the performances of Antony in training. Antony is a threat almost every training."

While that maybe true, we weren't in a position in that game to be taking risks with bringing on a player who's been poor for so long. We also aren't in a position in general to be sentimental as we're shite. 21st in the Europa League with three draws from three, 12th in the PL with just three wins from eight, and playing football that isn't easy on the eye and is quite inconsistent doesn't seem to be a club who can be taking such risks.

That's not a time to be subbing on a player like Antony as much as I do like the guy. Amad has been great for a while and should be starting or at least first substitute when wanting to change wingers.

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I don't have a problem with Amad feeling aggrieved. I would feel that way too. To know how you've been performing over the last few months and that you repaid the manager's faith by putting in good performances, yet get treated like he's been, will make one truly upset and frustrated.

Antony has done next to nothing in his time at the club and has shown us nothing of the player he was at Ajax. Amad has come in and played superbly in the time that ten Hag has given him his opportunities to a point where he was sort of undroppable and it was between Rashford and Garnacho to fight it out for that left-wing spot.

All of this is very unnecessary in my opinion. This lack of use of Amad has of course, sparked talk that perhaps there is something going on between the manager and player.

And for what?

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Unless Amad is being a bit of a knob in training and off the field, then I can understand why ten Hag isn't using him. There is the chance of that as we don't actually know what's going on behind the scenes.

But Amad doesn't come off as that type of character. He looks very determined and professional when it comes to football. He gives off the vibe that he absolutely loves the game and this club and would give everything he has every training session and every game.

Those are the type of characters we want at United. We don't have enough of them.

Amad is also a player and person that everyone seems to like and get on with pretty well which gives a further indication that he isn't a difficult person.

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Erik ten Hag has rightfully or wrongly, had such issues with players in the past during his time at United. Ronaldo and Sancho are the two major instances but the one that's closer to Amad's situation is what happened with Varane and the manager last season.

Out of the blue, the Frenchman was just dropped for no reason at a time when he was fit and playing well. It made no sense to leave him out as he missed a few games.

In a period a year ago, the French Rolls Royce was benched for whatever reason and missed games such as Man City, Everton and Newcastle two of which we lost. He was also brought on at other times for cameo roles much like Amad is now.

Varane and ten Hag then managed to solve their issues and the Frenchman was back in the team and was brilliant in the FA Cup final win over City.

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Perhaps that will be the case here? Perhaps not? Perhaps Erik ten Hag may not even be here long enough to resolve whatever is going on 👀🤷‍♂️.

But with Antony now injured, that is one less mistake for ten Hag to make and he has to use Amad more.

Thank goodness.

What do you think could be the problem between Amad and ten Hag? Do you think there's a problem at all?

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Background Images: Amad after scoring against Brighton | Creator: Steve Bardens | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Getty Images via Man Utd News | Erik tenHag | Creator: Ash Donelon | Credit: Manchester United via Getty Images - SuperSport