The latest exhibit of Ruben Amorim’s honesty came through in his recent comments about “stealing” set-piece ideas from other teams, and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has now responded to it.
It can be argued that the evolution of Ruben Amorim at Man Utd started with a game against Arsenal, where Mikel Arteta’s men dominated set-pieces.
Amorim’s assistant, Carlos Fernandes, caught flak that day, and since then, United have steadily improved on set-pieces to now stand toe-to-toe with Arsenal.
United’s ten set-piece goals this season are the top of the league alongside Arsenal, and Mikel Arteta has now responded to Amorim’s claim that they have been ‘stealing’ ideas.
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
The speed at which Amorim and his staff at Old Trafford have improved Man Utd at set-pieces should fill fans with confidence about their competence.
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Amorim has regularly generated comparisons with Arteta, as the Spaniard also struggled to get going at Arsenal before making them title contenders.
It’s often said that imitation is the best form of flattery, but Amorim’s open admission about stealing set-piece ideas from another team even caught Arteta off guard.
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The Arsenal manager said it’s a part of the evolution of managers and everyone does it, but to talk openly about it is not something he expected.
He said: “We are all doing that, but it’s not about copying and pasting. Every manager tries to learn from other teams, their tactics, but it’s whether we talk openly [about it] or not.
“You see certain patterns in other teams and go, ‘this looks familiar’. That’s part of the evolution of any manager and every team, I think.”
Amorim needs to build on set-piece mastery
As said above, Amorim deserves immense credit for United’s turnaround on set-pieces, but the team is in danger of going too far the other way.
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United’s open-play threat has reduced since starting the season on fire, albeit without converting those chances.
Currently, especially against defensive teams, United look incapable of fashioning chances, relying solely on set-pieces to get them a goal.
That is, in general, a fine strategy to break the deadlock against stubborn teams, but it can’t be the only strategy to do so, because that limits the team’s ceiling.
Arsenal regularly dominate possession and have started scoring a lot more open-play goals, so their set-piece domination is the icing on the cake.
For United and Amorim, it’s the whole cake right now, which is not sustainable for an elite team, or a team that hopes to be elite eventually.