United players gather to acknowledge the supporters at the Etihad
United players gather to acknowledge the supporters at the Etihad
The last time Manchester United won at the Etihad, the supporters were locked out. On Sunday, more than 3,000 enjoyed a lock-in across three tiers.
Ruben Amorim's rhetoric is music to United fans' ears and Amorim's chant was added to their derby day soundtrack. Sunday represented the two most meaningful victories of Amorim's brief tenure.
Beating City, even this poor imitation of the supreme City that has left United in their shadow, was a scalp. To do so with two of United's most gifted players stewing at home whilst fit marked another victory arguably greater than three points.
Amorim had total authority before he stepped foot in Carrington and he will be further empowered by his handling of Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho. On a day that United were often blunted by having two full backs on the wings while two wingers watched on television, another winger won it.
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Omari Forson came on for his sixth appearance for Monza at the weekend. Amorim magnanimously credited Erik ten Hag for bringing Amad into the United first team yet he was inexplicably sceptical of a talent whose £37million fee in 2020 was a rare piece of shrewd business by the club. It was only in February that Ten Hag started the limited Forson ahead of Amad.
"Now let's be careful with Amad," Amorim stressed, "don’t make the same mistakes we made in the past with the younger guys. Let's push him down a little bit, praise him, but the next game is a new story and he must continue to work hard."
Yesteryear, Rashford left the Etihad as the United poster boy and local hero. Nobody in the Etihad away end missed him and the probability is the majority welcomed the news he was not even on the United bus.
If Rashford was fortunate that the Doosan Arena's acoustics failed to amplify the booing from some of the 640 United fans on Thursday evening, he was not going to get away with failing to acknowledge his coach. Some may have dismissed that as insignificant at the time. Five minutes later, Amorim high-fived Joshua Zirkzee and Tyrell Malacia.
Zirkzee, for all his faults, ended the contest at City by carrying the ball well into enemy territory. At the final shrill, he ran almost as quickly to the United dugout, where he returned fire at some City supporters who had been goading him during the game. That attitude goes a long way.
The United players and staff lingered for a good while after the final shrill. In the press conference room, Amorim struck the right tone again, promising he would enjoy the result for ten minutes.
He had just emerged from a storm, though not the derby day showers. "I think for the fans it has a deep meaning, especially in this context, in this moment," Amorim opined. "But we had a difficult moment one week ago against Nottingham at home with the storm. Was a really tough moment after the game."
'Tough moment' does not sufficiently cover Rashford's decline. He has managed 15 club goals since receiving a salary hike of £325,000-a-week in July 2023. There have been high-profile off-pitch transgressions, appalling body language and friction with the matchgoers for nearly 18 months now.
United won without Rashford as he nursed a hangover at Newport County last season, an FA Cup tie they were always bound to cope without him. Rashford was never going to start the derby yet he has six goals against City and was responsible for United's last Premier League winner against them before Amad's 90th-minute decider.
Omitting Rashford was not as big a call as Garnacho's exclusion. Garnacho has been erratic this season but is still United's top scorer and their most totemic player. His bench berth in midweek signposted a possible recall at the weekend.
People at United say how shy Garnacho is. Any 20-year-old has a lot of growing up to do and Garnacho's progress is creditable when he relocated from Madrid to Manchester at the height of the pandemic aged 16 in 2020. His tardiness during the 2022 pre-season tour denied him any playing time in Thailand and Australia and now Amorim has seen something he does not like.
Garnacho is prone to particularly puerile behaviour on social media. Last month, he liked an Instagram post from the Ipswich Town midfielder Omari Hutchinson celebrating a goal he had scored - against United. That was the latest snafu. Ten Hag had to give Garnacho a talking-to in April over his online activity.
United are aware of speculation suggesting that Garnacho's younger brother, Roberto, is leaking United line-ups but insist his absence on Sunday was unrelated to that. Figures at the club have branded it "rubbish".
"For me, it’s important: the performance in training, the performance in game, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you engage with teammates, the way you push your teammates," Amorim said as he outlined why Garnacho and Rashford had spent their Sunday morning training at Carrington.
Those of us who cover the club can confirm Rashford is not the most engaged of individuals. This is someone who turned up for an interview and left his sports car's engine running outside for more than half-an-hour. During a separate interview at UCSD, Rashford started tying his laces, barely made eye contact and walked off mid-question.
Garnacho, like many Gen Zers, can sometimes give the impression he is an influencer through his Instagram page. All of this is harmless if the player is applying himself diligently and performing. It seemed nothing at the time but Garnacho had a disengaged air about him as he prepared to come on in Plzen.
Garnacho has grown up with a similar air of entitlement to Rashford and there have been a few recent shakes of the head when he has been substituted. Antony, an inferior winger, is a borderline cheerleader as he warms up and attentive. He had an impact in Plzen and helped United turn it around at City.
Amorim is not missing a trick. His name was among the Christmas carols the United fans belted out long after full-time. Rashford's and Garnacho's weren't.