Neville & Carragher note an Amorim choice that always backfires following ’embarrassing’ Man United display | OneFootball

Sky Sports pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher shed some light on a tactical decision that never pays dividends for Ruben Amorim as Manchester United suffer another defeat.

The Red Devils’ darkest period shows no signs of ending, as the club finishes the year 14th in the table after suffering a third straight defeat in the league for the first time since 1979.

This time, it was Newcastle United who inflicted the damage on the despaired Old Trafford faithful, winning the contest 2-0 thanks to an early onslaught. Alexander Isak and Joelinton scored almost identical goals, meeting crosses from the left flank and heading the ball past Andre Onana.

Amorim decided to shake things up by introducing Kobbie Mainoo in the middle of the first half, much to Joshua Zirkzee’s dismay. While the young midfielder’s entry certainly helped, it wasn’t enough to change the outcome, as the Magpies managed to maintain their two-goal cushion until the final whistle.

For his part, Carragher had noticed before the start of the contest that the Red Devils never score from open play when Amorim plays Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot together on the wings, suggesting that the defensive-minded wingbacks have been impeding the team’s attacking threat.

Neville & Carragher identify stark wingback issue for Ruben Amorim

His colleague Neville picked on the stat as United once again failed to find the back of the net with the Moroccan and Portuguese darting the flanks.

“There was a graphic shown before the game by Jamie Carragher that showed that when Manchester United have played Mazraoui and Dalot, the more defensive wing-backs, they haven’t scored a goal in open play,” said the former Man Utd captain during his appearance on Sky Sports.

“Which is stark. And it is happening again in front of our eyes.”

Moreover, the 49-year-old berated the team’s first-half performance, which only slightly improved with Mainoo on the pitch.

“Since Mainoo’s introduction, it has been better for Manchester United. The first half-hour was embarrassing, as bad as you will see.”