There’s not much to celebrate for Ruben Amorim at the moment, so he would be delighted to hear that Man Utd might have found two foundational pieces despite the latest defeat.
The 3-0 loss to Man City ensured Man Utd’s sole win this season remains against a newly-promoted Burnley side, courtesy of a last-minute penalty.
When the season has gone so off the rails, so quickly, it’s hard to find positives in players, even though someone like Bryan Mbeumo has gathered plaudits, and Matheus Cunha has shone as well.
Mbeumo did well against City, too, while Cunha missed out due to injury, but Ruben Amorim has been told he might have found two other foundational pieces to build his team upon despite the loss.
Bruno Fernandes, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt, Bryan Mbuemo, and Leny Yoro of Manchester United warmup ahead of the Premier League match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Etihad Stadium on September 14, 2025
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Defensive axis of Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt shines
It’s hard to express confidence in a defence that gave away three completely avoidable goals to a team of Man City’s quality.
Having said that, one would be doing an injustice to the performance of Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt if they were lumped together with their partner.
Luke Shaw had a nightmare game and was responsible for probably all three goals in some capacity, with the result being Yoro and De Ligt getting dragged into a 3-0 scoreline.
Both players did well in their roles, as De Ligt duelled strongly with Erling Haaland, while Leny Yoro shackled Jeremy Doku to the best of his abilities despite systematic flaws in Amorim’s setup.
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Transfer insider Graeme Bailey, speaking on the Beyond The Back Four podcast, said that the pair ‘looked good’ vs City, and can be foundational pieces.
He said: “Yoro and De Ligt looked very good at the back at times. They could be a foundation which Man Utd build upon. The formation we can debate all the time but I think there’s some very good players there.”
Ruben Amorim needs to prove he isn’t holding them back
The script has flipped under Ruben Amorim from previous managers because Man Utd fans can see that the players have not given up on him.
There’s nothing unprofessional/downing tools going on this time. If anything, the structural issues are so clear that Amorim is catching flak.
He needs to prove that the system isn’t holding the players back, because there are just too many square pegs in round holes at the moment.
He is justified in saying that the numbers on a formation aren’t set in stone, but if Bruno Fernandes is playing away from goal, or Amad is spending half the game tracking the winger, then the formation clearly is responsible for holding these players back.
Could De Ligt and Yoro perform better in a back four? Luke Shaw has already said he misses playing as a left-back, so his performance as a centre-back has a mitigating factor.
These are the uncomfortable questions facing the Man Utd manager, and the only way to quieten them is by winning games.