Manchester United make hard work of putting in the hard work, but Amorim nails it this time | OneFootball

In a way it is difficult not to admire Ruben Amorim, the dogmatic Manchester United manager appointed specifically for his unwavering faith in principles which have broken myriad negative records, delivered a 15th-placed Premier League finish and produced one of the most miserable major tournament final surrenders in modern history.

The Portuguese, having realised that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have taken a Ludovico Technique-style approach to this infernal staring contest with a manager they have wedded themselves to for better or considerably worse, finally admitted he “would do 75% of things different” if offered the opportunity again.

While that does beg the question of precisely how much of this year-long agony was entirely necessary, it also suggests a level of hitherto denied malleability, the sort required for any coach to succeed.

But it leaves two intriguing points: what things would Amorim change? And far more fascinating: what would he not?

It might ordinarily be assumed that giving Newcastle 66% of the ball at Old Trafford would fall under the 75% of things Amorim would alter but when such a sacrifice of possession is made at the altar of victory, perhaps not.

And the first half especially was generally positive. Patrick Dorgu marked a fine performance on the right wing with a spectacular first goal for the club, Benjamin Sesko led the line admirably, Matheus Cunha sparkled and Lisandro Martinez helped pull it all together at the back as captain.

Yet as with the other wins Amorim has overseen at Manchester United, his 25th was underpinned by questionable calls and a sense of general chaos.

On the face of it, this was a Premier League win, lifting them to fifth in the table, with: a 19-year-old at centre-half partnering a player making his first start in almost a year; their three best forwards of the season either at AFCON or watching from the stands with a dodgy hamstring; a player making the second and longest appearance of his Premier League career at 45 minutes; another making his third Premier League career appearance, and first in a win; and someone playing his first game of professional football in more than seven months.

Ayden Heaven, Lisandro Martinez, Jack Fletcher, Tyler Fredricson and Tyrell Malacia is pure, unadulterated, found-down-the-back-of-the-sofa-in-time-for-Boxing-Day nonsense.

And it just about worked. Only by technicality of the scoreline, the most important technicality of all. But those are three crucial points all the same, the sort which these players and this manager would rarely have held out for in the past.

The awfulness of Newcastle helped. They had four times as many shots as their hosts in the second half and three-quarters of the ball but at no stage did they look particularly likely to decimate the deficit. Beyond the excellent Lewis Hall striking the bar it was an absurdly tiresome slog and a continuation of their away angst.

Those travel travails were summed up neatly by the moment in the second half when Nick Woltemade’s clever flick allowed Jacob Ramsey time and space to move into the area, at which point he stumbled over his own feet and collapsed to the floor.

Both were removed in a triple substitution around the hour mark which Eddie Howe designed to capitalise on the momentum that had long since settled in Newcastle’s favour. Yoane Wissa, Joelinton and Harvey Barnes entered as Manchester United were starting to sink deeper into their own half.

Yet at no real point did Amorim’s side look like caving in. Not when Sesko – and Manchester United’s pressure-relieving forward pivot – was taken off, nor when a bemused Casemiro followed. Not when the manager substituted his two most senior defenders with backs against the wall in the 88th minute.

Some of that is on Newcastle’s inability to create much of note. But it is also credit to Manchester United for digging in.

And it gave Amorim an opportunity to showcase a side of himself which has been lost in the mess of the last year: his charisma.

“Back four, clean sheet, Kobbie Mainoo is injured. I don’t need a press conference, we covered all the subjects, so can all go away and enjoy Boxing Day,” were his CliffsNotes from an evening in which Manchester United made hard work of putting in the hard work, only for it to actually pay off for once.