No quick fix for Ruben Amorim as United show familiar flaws in draw with Ipswich

“Make our team great again,” read a banner at Manchester United's away match at kick-off against Ipswich. Simple, but effective advice for Ruben Amorim.

Amorim has taken over at a club where expectations are higher than any other club in world football.

You have to win. If you don't, you will be shown the door, just like the six permanent managers before him.

When the first whistle blew to herald a new era at Portman Road for United, you could feel the tension in the away game. Football is about being able to dream. That better days could be ahead.

Just look at Ipswich Town: this time two years ago they drew 1-1 with Fleetwood Town in League One.

They went full Fleetwood to Hollywood.

And Amorim couldn't have dreamed of a better start as Marcus Rashford needed just 81 seconds to boost his away hopes.

United were back. Move over Man City.

But those 81 seconds were really as good as it could be.

United did not benefit from their perfect introduction.

The visitors were passive in midfield, with the axes of Christian Eriksen and Casemiro being overrun, creativity was low in the forward areas and goalkeeper Andre Onana had to come to their rescue to grab a point when they were 1- 1 draw. Sound familiar?

Amorim was a frustrated figure in the dugout at times.

Ipswich comfortably won the expected goals battle by 1.75 to 0.81 as Liam Delap was thwarted by some world-class stops by United's player of the match in goal.

Achieving what was probably an undeserved point may indicate small steps, rather than a giant leap, but it's worth remembering that Jurgen Klopp started with a dour 0-0 draw at Tottenham when Liverpool boss and Mikel Arteta drew his first Arsenal match 1-1. with Bournemouth.

Something to hold on to perhaps.

The good: Amad is flourishing in a new role

Amorim took what he knows in terms of structure and opted for a fluid back three/back five that he has used in his last 188 games as Sporting boss. United had not started with a back three in the Premier League since April 2022, when they lost 4-0 at Liverpool under Ralf Rangnick.

The main tactic and aim of this structure is to make the pitch as big as possible by playing the wing-backs very wide, thus encouraging the front three – in this case Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes and Rashford – to play very narrow and to play. within the width of the posts where they can be most effective.

These three lacked the service of a somewhat heavy duo in midfield, because it was the right full-back Amad Diallo who came to the fore in this system.

He looked like he had played there his entire career. That's how easily he found the balance between attacking and defending, all the while having to take on a very dangerous customer in Ipswich's Leif Davis.

The United youngster was the catalyst for the perfect start, showing great drive and intensity with the ball to send Ipswich back to their goal before providing the assist for Rashford to head home.

It was a performance full of desire to impress. Direct and lively with the ball, but also diligent and confident when called upon defensively. None more so than when he beat Davis after twenty minutes with a loose ball at the back post in the style of an accomplished full-back and ended up making five frees in the match – no player made more.

Ipswich did their best to address their perceived weakness without the ball, but they stood strong.

When Amorim announced the substitutions in the second half, Amad remained on the field. A huge show of confidence from his manager.

The Bad: Where Was the High Line? The creativity?

One of the most important characteristics of an Amorim team is its aggressive high line. However, there was no trace of it on Portman Road.

United defended deep, especially during the latter stages of the first half, as Ipswich rewarded their dominance, drawing pressure from the aggressive Town front line.

In Europe's major European leagues, only Man City, Benfica and Porto have played a higher defensive line (as measured by average starting distance) than Sporting since the start of last season – on average 3.5 meters higher on the pitch than the numbers from Man Utd under Erik ten Hag. .

It takes time to instill such cohesion and chemistry in the back line, so perhaps in just a few days on the court it was not surprising that the aggressive offside trap was not apparent, especially as Amorim was able to point out that he was not had the staff that matched that style.

Jonny Evans turns 37 in January and he was a weak link playing on the left of a back three – something he hasn't done for a decade. Seeing Amorim in the dugout, it was clear that he had been frustrated for the first 45 minutes by the way Ipswich were continually working down the right flank, through Omari Hutchinson and Wes Burns, throwing his arms in the air every time that pair put Ipswich in a dangerous situation. position.

Evans' brash challenge on Hutchinson midway through the first half summed up his play.

When Luke Shaw returned after 56 minutes, United improved significantly in limiting the pressure from that side as the match progressed.

But even then, the lack of creativity in the forwards prevented United from really putting pressure on Ipswich in the closing stages. This is of course a very tame attack from Manchester United, who have scored just 19 goals in their last 17 Premier League games – that's an average of 1.13 goals per game.

Of the ever-present Premier League teams at the time, only Everton averaged fewer goals per game.

Ipswich limited them to very few big moments, outlined by the paltry figure they registered just sixteen touches in their box. At halftime there were only four. Only once in Ten Hag's entire reign have they had less in the first half of a Premier League match and that was when they had one goal at Liverpool in 2023.

Progress has been hard to see, but this is clearly about the long game for United. Clearly, there is no quick fix.

If Amorim didn't know the task ahead of him yet, he does now.