Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Ignoring Kobbie Mainoo is widely accepted as Ruben Amorim’s greatest mistake, but another case is rivalling it in terms of being indefensible.
Much has been made about Ruben Amorim and how he couldn’t recognise the talent of Kobbie Mainoo in his Man Utd XI.
Michael Carrick has since made a mockery of that stance by building an unstoppable team around Mainoo, making Amorim look silly.
That gaffe is now being rivalled by his (mis)handling of another Man Utd wonderkid after watching the Atletico game.
Manchester United v Atletico de Madrid - Pre-Season Friendly
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Getty Images
Shea Lacey looks ready for Man Utd
The 2-1 win against Atletico was Man Utd’s best performance yet, considering the quality of the opposition and the club’s absentees.
Bryan Mbeumo scored both goals, and the first one was a penalty won by Shea Lacey, whose tricky feet were too hot to handle for Atletico.
That was the peak of a performance that grew more impressive by the minute, as Lacey had the Atletico defenders on skates.
He played a fearless attacking game, testing the goalkeeper from all angles, taking his man on off the dribble, and finding dangerous spaces on the pitch.
You could see in real-time that Lacey was studying Atletico’s setup, and evolving his game rapidly as he learned how to break it down.
That is the sort of footballing intelligence that can’t be taught, and is the most transferable skill set to the senior level.
That makes it all the more puzzling how Amorim never trusted him when the stage was handed to him for empowering Lacey.
Ruben Amorim didn’t trust Lacey
Carrick is giving Lacey a space in the team when he has a fit Mason Mount, signed two midfielders, and Bruno Fernandes is playing further forward.
Getty Images
In contrast, Amorim once had Amad and Bryan Mbeumo out due to AFCON, Bruno Fernandes played a deeper role, and he didn’t have enough midfielders in a setup which needed two No. 10s.
He still didn’t trust Lacey enough to play him beyond giving him a debut, despite the youngster looking ready for more minutes.
His clock remained stuck on physicality, when the technical ability of Lacey is what the team needed the most during that time.
A proper stint as one of the two No. 10s during that time could have given United a proper first-team player during a difficult time.
Instead, he’s effectively starting from scratch this pre-season, and showing why Amorim made a huge mistake by not trusting him.
Chalk another Amorim decision down as indefensible.