Manchester United: Rasmus Hojlund among three issues Ruben Amorim must solve straight away | OneFootball

The new manager takes charge for the first time at Ipswich on Sunday

All eyes will be on Portman Road this Sunday when, after three weeks of waiting since his appointment as the club’s new head coach, Ruben Amorim finally takes charge of Manchester United for the first time.

It’s quite clearly a long-term project, and there almost certainly will be pain along the way, with so many problems to fix both on and off the field at Old Trafford.

However, what problems does the Portuguese head coach need to solve right away ahead of taking on Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich side?

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Selecting a back three

Despite having six centre-backs in his new squad, Amorim might struggle to field half of them on Sunday with the injuries he has inherited.

Lisandro Martinez missed out on international duty with Argentina with a hip issue, while Victor Lindelof also returned early, joining Harry Maguire in the treatment room. Leny Yoro is back in training, but it feels unlikely he will be thrown in from the off, given he has been absent since early July.

Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are in a similar situation to the young Frenchman, albeit both have been injured for far longer, and starting either appears to be a risk not worth taking.

If all miss out, Amorim may be forced to start with a back three of Diogo Dalot, Matthijs de Ligt, and Jonny Evans, with Amad or Antony in a wing-back role if he is to stick to his favoured formation.

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One of United’s many issues under Erik ten Hag was the most basic: putting the ball in the back of the net. Some of it came down to poor finishing but, so often, it came down to even worse decision-making, and an inability to find Rasmus Hojlund.

Of course, some of this can be attributed to the player himself, and he does need to stop wrestling with defenders so much, but only Everton scoring fewer goals from crosses last season points to a much wider problem, and one that needs rectifying.

The template is right there with Viktor Gyokeres, who Amorim has helped turn into one of Europe’s deadliest strikers at Sporting. Having two no10s, or inside forwards, much closer to him, and width and crossing being supplied by wing-backs, feels like the right first step to help put Hojlund in a position to succeed.

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Embedding an identity

Certain managers have maybe had an identity in fits and starts, but it never lasted, and has been fully lacking since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement 11 years ago.

It’s also something Amorim has talked about since arriving in Manchester, outlining it as his main goal from day one at the club. He said: “To win time is to win games. But the most important thing for me is identity. So, since day one we will start with our identity.

“Of course we are going to prepare the games, but we will focus a lot on our game model. How to play, how to press, these small things, small details. You cannot go 100% on every detail because it will be confusing for the players. So, if I have to say one thing, my main goal, my first goal, is identity.”

No one should expect The Amorim Show in all its glory on Sunday, but the new man sticking to his principles, patterns, and 3-4-3 formation, would be a good opening sign.

Solving some, or all of these problems, alongside a much-needed three points, in what is very much a potential banana skin fixture, would make for a dream start.