Amad Diallo in on the wrong track, Amorim must take action – opinion | OneFootball

While Manchester United appear to be improving their form in recent times, it seems that Amad Diallo is not following suit.

Last Saturday, Man United did well to beat Chelsea 2-1 in front of the Old Trafford crowd, redeeming themselves after a harrowing defeat to Manchester City the previous weekend.

It was a decent team effort on Saturday, with United making the most of their one-man advantage to give themselves a two-goal cushion before half-time. Even after going a man down themselves when Casemiro was shown a red card, it was too little too late for the visitors, with United dictating the flow of play for the majority of the match in order to maintain control over the match.

Although there may have been multiple impressive players on the day who were worthy of praise, Amad could not be counted among them.

What went wrong

While making some great runs and often getting into great positions, Amad was largely ineffective when it came to delivering the final product.

Rather than taking effective shots and passing the ball to players who were in better positions to score than he was, the young winger opted to dribble past opponents, often losing the ball as a result of holding onto it for too long.

Taking just two shots the entire match, Amad was ineffective at assisting his teammates. He sent a decent cross to Casemiro, who managed to head the ball into the net to score for United, only for the goal to be disallowed. It turned out that while he was still in possession, Amad ran the ball out of play. Had he laid the ball off to Casemiro earlier, especially since the Brazilian was already available, a legitimate goal could have been scored.

In fact, being selfish with the ball is what limited Amad’s effectiveness with the ball, especially against competent Chelsea defenders. He failed to complete both of his attempted dribbles on the day.

What’s more, he made no key passes, while losing possession on eight occasions.

Still, it wasn’t just Amad’s own performance that was inhibited by his poor decision making.

Letting his team mates down

As a number ten, Amad has the duty to support his striker as well as other team mates in the middle of the park.

He failed at this job on Saturday, with striker Benjamin Sesko only getting eight touches of the ball. This, together with the fact that he could not register any shots on goal, are testament to the lack of service that he received from Amad as well as his other teammates. (Stats via Sofascore)

In fact, United legend Rio Ferdinand suggested that Sesko go so far as to emulate Ruud van Nistelrooy. While the former United striker lambasted his then-teammate Cristiano Ronaldo for a lack of service, Ferdinand suggested that Sesko follow his example, perhaps doing the same to Amad.

Still, there could be a simpler way to get Amad to change his ways if United manager Ruben Amorim is willing to take action.

The simple solution

All that Amorim has to do is openly communicate with Amad on the training pitch.

He needs to explain to him that while he may be a talented rising star, he will never be bigger than the club. As such, he needs to learn to become more of an asset to his teammates, particularly when they are in better positions than him, and avoid continuously going for glory.

After all, this is not the first time that Amad has done this. He also failed to provide support to his team mates in the embarrassing ELF Cup loss to Grimsby Town, a team far weaker than Chelsea.

While Ferdinand’s advice to Sesko is understandable, it is not necessary so long as Amorim takes charge of the situation as a manager should.

By making sure that Amad understands where he is falling short of expectations, he could get the youngster back on track while avoiding unnecessary locker room drama.

Featured image Ryan Pierse via Getty Images

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