You can't say that Ruben Amorim did not try anything new.
But choosing a teenage 5ft 9ins with midfielder to play in the front for the first time did nothing to solve the goal crisis in Manchester United.
Eyebrows were certainly lifted when Kobbie Mainoo, 19, got the nod to visit the line for United as Crystal Palace Old Trafford.
Especially when the Portuguese manager mentioned not one but two senior strikers on the bank.
Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee watched while Mainoo took his place.
Safe to say, the experiment failed when Manchester United Zero scored and Palace scored two on another miserable afternoon for Amorim.
The role of Mainoo was not like an out-and-out NO9-in place as a NO9 to participate in the play.
It sometimes meant that he was more of a NO10, where he excelled on Thursday in the Europa League victory on FCSB.
And his average position reflected that, just before Bruno Fernandes with Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo further ahead.
In defense of Mainoo, he is not responsible for the rogue tactic that does not bear fruit because he did his best against a trio of towering Centrumhalves Palace.
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After all, he is not a striker and has six goals in his professional career – be the memorable against Wolves and Manchester City last season for his first European goal on Thursday evening, his first strike of the season.
Zirkzee has 47, Hojlund has 57 and Aston Villa -bound Marcus Rashford has 155 -a cent for his thoughts when graduated from the colleague Academy in front …
But in honesty towards Amorim it wasn't all bad either.
In fact, it started relatively clear with Mainoo Garnacho well and also on the post.
But that chance with six minutes on the clock turned out to be the only chance of the young person of the game.
In his 70 minutes on the field, Mainoo collected 31 touches in all – three in the penalty area of the Eagles – with 12 of his 15 passes successful.
He won three duels but lost nine and did not succeed in completing a single dribble while struggling to keep the ball up or stretch the palace defense.
Eventually Mainoo was removed with 20 minutes when Amorim sent both Zirkzee and Hojlund – but neither of them offered much more.
And with that, Amorim is not closer to knowing where or who will come in the second half of the season.
Diallo is the top scorer of United in the Premier League on six – three of which were late against Southampton – with Fernandes on five, three of which have been of the penalty spot.
The next one is Rashford on four – even though he has not been making a competition match since 7 December.
The transfer window of January closes closed on Monday evening and United does not seem to bring a striker to follow defenders Ayden Heaven and Patrick Dorgu to Old Trafford.
Amorim will be relieved to look at the list of fixture and see that it is Leicester in the FA Cup then.
The Leaky Foxes Defense has admitted 60 goals this season, including eight in two games at Manchester United during their now Boss Van Nistelrooy's short Stint in Interim-Affairs with the Red Devils.
But when attention returns to the Premier League away from Spurs in fourteen days before matches against Everton, Ipswich and Arsenal, who can trust Amorim to deliver much needed goals to achieve much needed victories and earn much needed points to climb up To climb from the 13th in the table?
With today's evidence it is not Mainoo – because Mainoo is a midfielder who struck the strange goal from time to time.
But is it Hojlund? Is the Zirkzee? Or should it be someone else?
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