Ruben Amorim will hope that the fruits of the hard work in pre-season are seen by his squad when competitive action begins, because a potentially dominant partnership is starting to click.
With the arrival of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Diego Leon, and Benjamin Sesko, the dynamics of the Man Utd squad have changed completely.
Bruno Fernandes is a deeper midfielder now, and even Mason Mount had a stint at striker against Fiorentina in the last pre-season game.
The 1-1 draw against Fiorentina, with United winning on penalties, won’t be remembered for a long time from a sporting perspective, but it could well be seen in years ahead as the game where a potentially dominant partnership started to click.
Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha of Manchester United interact with Ruben Amorim, Manager of Manchester United
Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images
Man Utd’s reformed right wing
It became a running joke in the previous years at Man Utd, when every fan’s first question to any post/comment from the club was, “Can he/they play right-wing?”.
The nadir of this state was reached when they bought Jadon Sancho, only for him to declare that he prefers the left wing more.
It will be a sign of great optimism for Amorim, then, that the pain point of every Man Utd manager before him is starting to emerge as his greatest strength.
Bryan Mbeumo’s partnership with Amad held a lot of potential before they had even played together, but after two games of seeing them in action, the predictions are coming true.
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Amad is learning to play wing-back in real time, while Mbeumo is nowhere near his absolute best fitness levels, and yet, there is a spark.
Against Fiorentina, where United didn’t have the best of times from an attacking sense, Amad was ever-present and could be seen directing traffic from his wing-back position.
Mbeumo regularly drifted out wide, playing in a similar role as he did at Brentford, allowing Amad to function as an underlapping wing-back closer to the goal.
It made the best use of both their strengths. Amad was basically a No. 10 and a wing-back wrapped into one, while Mbeumo was a No. 10 and a right-winger at the same time.
The zip on some passes was frustrating, and the off-ball movement understanding will come with time playing together, but the early signs are that the partnership on the right could be potentially dominant.
Bryan Mbeumo and Amad need to help each other
The irony of this partnership being potentially dominant when neither of these players is actually playing in their ideal position is striking.
Amad is an attacking midfielder, while Mbeumo is an inside forward from the right, so neither is in their preferred position.
That is why it’s so important that they learn to play with each other, because as they showed against Fiorentina, the sum of their parts is greater than their individual contribution to the team.
Both have excellent defensive work-rate, flourish in small spaces, and can beat their man off the dribble, with their ambipedal qualities making them a nightmare to defend against.
With both players looking to come inside on their stronger left foot, however, there needs to be an understanding of who overlaps/underlaps, and when.
This confusion often made for an overrun right side against United as both Mbeumo and Amad came inside, leaving space for the Fiorentina left-back to run into space.
These are the sort of chinks in the armour that will be sorted out only with playing time together. The early signs, however, are extremely promising.