Ruben Amorim fumed at his Man Utd players at Ipswich. (Image: Getty)
made his feelings clear in the dying stages as Manchester United laboured to an uninspiring 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town on Sunday evening. Omari Hutchinson’s long-range strike cancelled out 80th-second deadlock-breaker before neither side could find a winner in the second half.
The task Amorim inherited after walking into the job during the November international break became abundantly clear throughout the 90 minutes at Portman Road.
He stayed true to his promise of committing to his trademark 3-4-3 system from the get-go in East Anglia despite injuries forcing him to field a makeshift side.
Right-back Noussair Mazraoui started at centre-back alongside and 36-year-old Jonny Evans.
Meanwhile, Casemiro and Christian Eriksen (both 32) displayed a blatant lack of energy in midfield —a far cry from his high-octane duo at Sporting.
Amorim also missed the killer instinct in attack that he enjoyed from the likes of Viktor Gyokeres in Lisbon, emphasising the challenge that lies ahead in the coming weeks and months.
But the Portuguese coach couldn’t contain his anger after noticing his players failing to do the basics of what he had demanded from them this week.
Near the end of the match, Amorim rollicked United’s players for failing to effectively press as Ipswich searched for a gut-wrenching winner.
Man Utd drew 1-1 at Ipswich. (Image: Getty)
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After full-time, Amorim admitted that he thought his players were overthinking their actions throughout the stalemate.
“I think my players were thinking too much during the game,” the 39-year-old told Sky Sports.
“You could feel it. They were thinking not just on the ball but about where they were supposed to be.
“In the first half, we needed more physicality. We will have problems; the players will be confused sometimes.
“But we have to address, [from] this moment, the new ideas and try to be better next year at the same stage.”
On United’s poor decision-making, Amorim added: “That is a concern. We are doing some things not in the right moment. That is something we have to address.
“Everyone talks about the 3-4-3; that is not the concern. A system is a system, but the understanding of the game I think we have to improve a lot. We will need a lot of time to improve these things.
“It was a tough match. We lost some balls without pressure. We [only] had two days [of training], so they are confused, a little bit. They are really, really trying, and they want this.”