“Never” – Luckhurst insists Amorim got a substitution all wrong despite Man Utd victory | OneFootball

Samuel Luckhurst argues that Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim commited a tactical blunder in the second half against Brighton.

The Red Devils extended their winning streak to three by beating Brighton by four goals to two on Saturday, much to the delight of the Old Trafford crowd.

The home side dominated the action from the get-go, and eventually scored the opener through Matheus Cunha, who finally opened his account for the club. Casemiro’s lucky deflection gave United a healthy two-goal lead before halftime, while Bryan Mbeumo made it 3-0 after the break.

Man United won their third match in a row

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Man Utd thought they had the three points in the bag at that stage, but the final half-hour witnessed an uprising from Brighton, who scored twice to reduce the gap to one goal. Nevertheless, Mbeumo’s last-gasp strike put their comeback hopes to bed.

For his part, Luckhurst believes Amorim’s complacent choices helped the Seagulls return to the contest, particularly Kobbie Mainoo’s substitution.

The Englishman is supposedly vying for a starting role with club captain Bruno Fernandes, but this time, the manager brought him in for Casemiro at the hour mark, which left the team without a natural holding midfielder.

Therefore, the journalist believes Amorim should have instead brought in Manuel Ugarte to maintain balance and close down the spaces.

“Amorim would normally never replace Casemiro with Mainoo and already it looks like he should have put Ugarte on to ensure there was a defensive-minded presence in midfield,” posted Luckhurst on X following Danny Welbeck’s superb free-kick.

Was Amorim for Bringing in Kobbie Mainoo for Casemiro?

Amorim eventually brought in Ugarte for Cunha in the 82nd minute, and they still conceded another goal.

Nevertheless, Luckhurst brought up a fair point, as the Man Utd manager had no reason to make an attacking-minded substitution while leading 3-0 with 30 minutes left on the clock.

That being said, it has been reported in recent weeks that Amorim and his staff have been working on transforming Mainoo into a No.6, so perhaps the coach felt it was an inviting opportunity to do some experimentation.