Ruben Amorim admitted Manchester United had worked on dealing with long balls over the top in training—only to see his side concede twice in that fashion during their 3–1 defeat to Brentford.
Much of the build-up to Saturday lunchtime’s clash was focused on the fact United have not yet won back-to-back Premier League games since Amorim’s appointment in November last year. After 20 minutes at the Gtech Community Stadium, it was clear the streak would continue.
Igor Thiago was the beneficiary to extremely generous defending from United. First, he profited from Harry Maguire’s failed attempt to deploy an offside trap, before Matthijs de Ligt was punished for getting completely lost under a long ball over the top.
Benjamin Šeško’s first United goal suggested the Red Devils could get back into the game, but when Bruno Fernandes missed a second half penalty, the life was sucked out of Amorim’s side. The final nail in the coffin was added by Mathias Jensen in stoppage-time—his swerving shot lasered past Altay Bayındır, who arguably should have done better in goal, to condemn United to a 3–1 loss.
Amorim: It’s Tough to Lose Again
“It's always the same to lose at this club, it hurts a lot," Amorim reflected after the game. “We need to think about the next one.
“Of course we want to win. We didn't control the game. We played the game of Brentford. First balls, second balls, set-pieces. All the crucial moments were against us. It's tough to lose again but we need to think about the next one.
“The first goal was a long ball. We worked on that in the week, and on set pieces. We knew the long balls were coming and one touch they had the opportunity. We need to do better.
“We didn't play our game. We only had control for some moments. But it was more or less all the same. We need to play our games, not the opponents', but they were stronger on that.“
The defeat means United have won just two of their first six matches of the season, with an embarrassing defeat to League Two promotion hopefuls Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup adding further salt to Amorim’s wounds.
Brentford, meanwhile, have leapfrogged United in the Premier League table—Thiago now only trailing Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘We Worked on That’—Man Utd Mistakes Laid Bare by Ruben Amorim Admission.
