Amorim’s Reality Check: A Disaster Performance, But We Scraped Three Points
After the disappointing loss against Villa and with Bruno, the heart of our team, missing, expectations for this game weren’t high. It felt like a 50-50 toss-up, much like the team itself. I was keen to see the squad, especially with a personal wish to see Martínez at CDM – that would be interesting! But with Amorim at the helm, you can never be certain, can you?
Amorim’s Baffling Press Conference Comment
The manager’s pre-match comments felt incredibly strange. For a manager who’s been here for over a year, saying this felt like a punch to the gut:
“I’m starting to understand that playing a PERFECT 3-4-3 will take time and money, so I have to ADAPT my playing style to get the best out of my players.”
Mate, you’ve been here for over a year, and you’re *now* realising this? What was the context? Because on the surface, this is just sad and demotivating to hear. It’s so unlike the Amorim we thought we knew.
Tactical Chaos: Four Left-Footers?!
Then the lineups dropped. Yoro was benched. People instantly thought, “Aha! We’re back to the 3-4-3!” But no, it was a backline of Martínez, Heaton, and Shaw, with Dorgu at LWB and Dalot at RWB. Seriously, why would you have a backline of four left-footed players? It made absolutely no sense.
As soon as the whistle blew, it became clear it was a back four: Shaw at LB, Heaton and Martínez as CBs, and Dalot at RB. Dorgu was playing RW. Midfield was Mount, Ugarte, and Casemiro, with Cunha at LW and Sesko up front. But even then, in some situations, we shifted back to a 3-4-3. It was a confusing mix of 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, and 3-4-3. Great for confusing the opponents, sure, but probably even more confusing for our own players!
First Half: A Glimmer, Then Dorgu’s Spark
The first half was… alright. Nothing amazing, but we looked more composed. We were running more, winning second balls, and seemed solid. Newcastle only really created chances through Murphy’s incredible crosses from the right side – they looked inch-perfect, but we cleared and blocked them well. Tonali also had a good game for Newcastle; he was their only midfielder really performing.
The deadlock was broken by none other than Dorgu! Who would’ve expected him to score? An amazing left-foot volley-ish shot, bottom left. A great goal. Apart from that, Cunha had a very good game, but nothing else truly stood out.
Second Half: A Disaster Performance Unfolds
The second half started with a straight switch: Mount off for Jack Fletcher, likely due to an injury. And that’s when the disaster performance truly began. As the match statistics show, we started giving up possession. Newcastle began to dominate the ball and showed far more intent than United. They ended the game with 67% possession to our 33%, and 16 shots to our 9, despite us winning 1-0. This clearly highlights the disaster performance we witnessed.
It felt less like “if” and more like “when” Newcastle would score. Amorim made more defensive changes, bringing on Yoro for Casemiro and Zirkzee for Sesko. Newcastle, with Gordon, started creating chance after chance. There were close misses and a handball shout for Newcastle, which VAR checked and didn’t give.
United were under immense pressure. By the 70th minute, it was all Newcastle. We looked tired, lazy, and completely out of ideas. From the 60th minute onwards, we were just trying to save our lead. That’s not the United way. Playing so badly in the second half, just banking on a clean sheet and creating absolutely nothing, was poor, especially for a Boxing Day fixture, the sole Premier League game.
Newcastle kept putting in cross after cross after cross. We were clinging on to a one-goal lead. The 90th minute arrived, followed by seven minutes of additional time, which felt like an eternity. I honestly didn’t feel positive; I was convinced we’d concede. Lammens had to make many high claims, which he did perfectly, but it was a truly depressing performance to watch. In those additional minutes, the sheer number of crosses they put in was insane. I was almost laughing at the absurdity of it all. At that point, I just wanted the three points.
Three Points, But We Must Criticise
We got the big win. A depressing win, perhaps, but a big win nonetheless. I’ll take the three points, but we absolutely *have* to criticise that performance. I don’t think we even ventured into their box in the second half. But, in the end, we got the three points, and we take them.
Till next time, Yanited! Yanited! Yanited!
UNITED SCRIPTED. 
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