Manchester United 4-4 AFC Bournemouth match verdict and review
The Man Utd head coach has come under plenty of criticism in recent weeks from former players.
United climbed to sixth in the table after an enthralling encounter, which saw both sides trade blows before they settled for a point. Amorim's side led 2-1 at half-time after goals from Amad Diallo and Casemiro, but were behind shortly after the restart. Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha scored again as United regained their lead, before Bournemouth grabbed a late equaliser.
There was plenty of frustration at the manner in which United let their lead slip late on, though there was also plenty of encouragement with the attacking threat they posed throughout the match. United will have to improve when they travel to face Aston Villa this weekend, though Gary Neville believes there was a lot to like from their latest outing.
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Neville praises Amorim after Bournemouth draw
Gary Neville has been critical of Ruben Amorim in recent weeks but praised the Manchester United head coach for adopting such an attacking approach against Bournemouth.
"It was a stunning watch," he told The Gary Neville Podcast. "I was really critical after the Everton and West Ham games because of just the nature of the performance. I thought it was really bland. The Everton one where obviously he kept three at the back against 10 men and there's no urgency, there's no throwing a kitchen sink at it. Same against West Ham, letting large parts of the game drift.
"This was complete and utter opposite. I can live with that all day long in terms of a performance and a standard because they played with real intent, played the ball forward, always played at full pace. The way when United went 3-2 down and Ruben Amorim then went to 4-4-2 and did the right thing. Forget the system, he did the right thing. He got the right players on the pitch and were a massive threat.
"The second half was absolute mayhem. There were big boos after the West Ham and the Everton game but there weren't the big boos here after this game. There was disappointment but there were a lot of fans we've just seen stayed in the stadium to clap the team because they can live with that.
"If you're a kid coming to United, my two girls have come tonight, and they'll be thrilled walking back. They won't be happy that United haven't won, but they'll have seen a great game of football and that's what you come to Old Trafford for. You come for entertainment. Of course you come to see your team win, and I get it, you've got to go and win games, you've got to win trophies, you've got to win titles and we can turn this into that this is not good enough in respect of what's happened, but I think getting the entertainment bit right, the performance bit right, the style right, is absolutely critical at this football club. I enjoyed what I've seen tonight from those red shirts.
"Defensively I think it's to be expected when you think that De Ligt, Maguire and Martinez are not playing, and you've got obviously a couple of young defenders. It doesn't look like a defence that's going to keep clean sheets. You’re thinking before the game, you probably have to score four to win this game, and four wasn't enough; it needed to be five."
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