Manchester United will restart their Europa League campaign with a trip to Spain to face Real Sociedad, a competition on which their season hinges.
Ruben Amorim has downplayed Europe’s importance this season by preaching the big picture, but the implications of Champions League next season are impossible to ignore.
With an injury bug tearing through the squad, Harry Maguire and Manuel Ugarte latest absentees, Amorim called up five youngsters to senior training.
However, only two made the trip – Harry Amass and Elyh Harrison, putting Amorim under the scanner for not trusting young players.
He fought back against that suggestion by naming the 17-year-old wonderkid he was set to include in the squad even against Fulham last game but couldn’t.
He’s on the cusp of making his debut.
Photo by Chelsea Football Club/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Photo by Chelsea Football Club/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Ruben Amorim reveals Fulham selection regret
Amorim’s trust in the academy would have gotten stronger after seeing Chido Obi shine against Fulham after coming off the bench.
Obi outshone Rasmus Hojlund in limited minutes and that performance will hopefully convince him going forward that the academy players are worth throwing into the deep end.
However, Amorim naming an 18-man travelling squad for Sociedad raised eyebrows again as he left numerous youngsters behind.
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When faced with this question in the lead-up to the Sociedad game, he defended his corner by saying he needs to consider everything in all the squads, naming Amass as the player who would’ve been in the squad against Fulham.
Amorim said: “In the last game against Fulham, we also wanted Amass [in the squad] but he played the whole game against Arsenal [in the FA Youth Cup] so he wasn’t in our squad. We manage all the teams. We are taking care of the expectations on the kids.”
Harry Amass’ debut is long overdue
Amass has been tipped for a breakthrough since Erik ten Hag’s second season at the helm at Old Trafford because of United’s teething problems at left-back.
However, physicality has held Amass back, something he’s worked on tremendously in the last few months.
Then, it seemed like Patrick Dorgu’s arrival would hurt Amass’ chances but with no end in sight to Luke Shaw’s injury troubles, the time could finally come for Amass to make his long-awaited debut vs Sociedad.
He’ll be much more suited to Amorim’s back-three system which can hide his defensive weaknesses and more time playing in the academy has honed his overall game as well.
Being namechecked by Amorim is a positive sign that Amass can finally get some minutes against Sociedad.