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Railston: Ruben Amorim's strongest Manchester United Xi is finally taking shape - and this is…

Amorim is learning about his players.

Ruben Amorim is slowly becoming synonymous with rotation at Manchester United.

Amorim has only managed four United fixtures - Ipswich Town, Bodo/Glimt, Everton and Arsenal - but he has made it clear he will continue to change his starting teams.

United dealt with an unprecedented injury crisis last season, so it makes sense for Amorim to rotate his squad, and it may be a little while before he settles on his strongest line-up.

Amorim made six changes against Arsenal on Wednesday night and United had next to almost no attacking threat in the contest, which gave the 39-year-old food for thought.

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"We want always two players [strikers] with different characteristics for changing the game but in the future, we'll have a structure or a base that is more clear in the team," said Amorim recently.

"We started this job now and now we have a lot of games. We are changing some details in training. The load is different - I'm not saying better or worse, it's different.

"The way we play is different. Sometimes we have more pressure and we have to make bigger distance running. We have a lot of players returning from injury. Kobbie Mainoo was a little risk because he was supposed to play just 60 minutes. Noussair [Mazraoui] was clearly in difficulties.

"Luke Shaw wants to play more but we have to control it. So we have to rotate the team but in the future, we will have a different system and you'll see more of a starting XI."

Amorim promised supporters would eventually see a settled XI, so what could it look like? Goalkeeper Andre Onana is the obvious place to start, as he is enjoying a wonderful season and has been United's best player in the calendar year of 2024, so he is a certainty in the line-up.

The first-choice back three also seems straightforward after Leny Yoro's return. The youngster made his debut against Arsenal and looked unflustered by being thrown into the deep end.

Yoro is expected to start with Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez for the remainder of the season and it will be fascinating to see how his campaign unfolds after his absence.

Which players start as the wing-backs is more contentious but Amad and Noussair Mazraoui have been two standout performers in the dressing room and should get the nod.

Kobbie Mainoo made his first appearance under Amorim against Everton and could form a solid partnership with Manuel Ugarte, who played the best football of his career at Sporting.

Bruno Fernandes cannot be dropped and that leaves two other positions in the 'strongest side'. Marcus Rashford has been in goalscoring form since Amorim's arrival and deserves a place in the team, which means there would be a decision between Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho.

Starting Hojlund would mean playing Rashford on the left. However, Garnacho is the team's top goalscorer and has earned his starting role in United's strongest line-up on current form.

What the strongest line-up could look like.

Amorim's strongest XI: Onana, Amad, Yoro, De Ligt, Martinez, Mazraoui, Ugarte, Mainoo, Fernandes, Rashford, Garnacho.

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