Paul Scholes admits he got it wrong over Ruben Amorim’s decision vs Athletic, praises three ‘sharp’ Man Utd stars
Ruben Amorim elected to go for experience with his team selection and was repaid in spades, with the likes of Harry Maguire, Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, and Victor Lindelof playing an important role in the win.
Paul Scholes admitted after the game that he got it wrong with what he said about Amorim’s XI before the game and three players in particular had a hand in proving him wrong.
Paul Scholes got it wrong with Ruben Amorim’s decision
Scholes has never been someone to dish out praise in an unqualified manner so for him to even accept that he got it wrong is quite a big thing.
That’s exactly what he did after United’s win vs Athletic, because the former Man Utd star had criticised Amorim’s team selection prior to the game.
It was widely expected that a draw would be a great result for the club before the game and Scholes had criticised Amorim for selecting a team that was ‘too negative’.
He had claimed that United chose a team with eight defensive players when, poetically, the two defensive midfielders ended the game with goal contributions!
Scholes said after the game: “Yeah, I think I said before the game that it was quite a negative team they picked as well. Harry Maguire looking sharp on the wing, yeah, great play, into Ugarte, one of the older midfield players, onto another older midfield player in Casemiro.
“Athletic had a couple of chances but the one header really was the one big chance for them to be able to manage to take it, and United have capitalised on that.”
System>Personnel for Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd
Amorim has always maintained that people get too stuck up about the system when it’s just a way of putting numbers on the pitch.
Like the shape is fluid throughout the game, so are the roles of players playing in that shape, a fact which was clearer than ever vs Athletic.
Despite starting eight defensive players on paper, Patrick Dorgu, Noussair Mazraoui, Casemiro, Manuel Ugarte, and even Harry Maguire regularly found themselves in the final third.
They might have been defensive players on a teamsheet but they were given ample freedom to attack the box and create overloads from which goals were created.
Amorim will feel extremely vindicated because the player-turned-pundits have become a problem at Man Utd in recent years so this one gives it back a bit!
