How Ruben Amorim unleashed Marcus Rashford with game-changing Joshua Zirkzee role ahead of Man Utd v Arsenal

RUBEN AMORIM continued to show why he is the man to lead Manchester United forward with a 4-0 thrashing of Everton.

The Red Devils made light work of the Toffees at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Joshua Zirkzee and Marcus Rashford each grabbed a brace in the defeat.

While stars like Amad Diallo and Kobbie Mainoo showed super shifts.

United now face a tough trip to Arsenal in what will be the biggest test of Amorim's reign to date.

Here, SunSport's tactics guru Dean Scoggins explains all the tips and tricks in the latest episode of Tactics Exposed…

1. Joshua Zirkzee gets the best out of Marcus Rashford

It's taken three games, but it's a little more than what I expected from Rashford. In that first match against Ipswich he played as a nine.

In this match he played as one of the frontman's two inverted strikers. And what this game showed was a flying V, which is really exciting.

Zirkzee was the man who got deeper. What's really interesting is that Zirkzee's average position was deeper than the other two attackers. And so it's a new role. It's not leading the way as number nine.

And what it did, it freed Rashford. Because what it meant was that it gave Rashford the confidence to go further than he could.

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So when Zirzkee came in and linked the play, it meant Bruno started again in one of the more advanced positions. Only to relapse later.

Zirkzee's role caused the two players to run further. And they are central attacks that go beyond the central attacker.

Zirkzee is the nine. But a lot of people called it a kind of 3-4-2-1, which is not incorrect. What we saw in this game, however, was an adaptation to that. Where Zirkzee invades and those two attackers move on.

Rashford ran after him. And not just running behind. What was the difference here was that you came from behind with confidence.

Rashford spoke about it afterwards, where he talked about connections. And that's not just the connections between manager and players. That is connection between players.

We saw Garnacho with Hojlund. And with Bruno or Mount as another attacker. And then we saw Zirkzee with Rashford. And we can think of those as pairs of connections.

If Amorim wants to play in a way where he wants the striker to drop into the line, it will be Zirkzee with Rashford behind it.

If he wants to stretch the defense behind him, it will be Hojlund playing as a nine and making diagonal runs.

And then Garnacho is the busy player behind him. So right away, three games later, we're already finding connections.

2. Ruben Amorim's fluid tactics could undo Arsenal

Amorim started 21 players in three games. Under Erik ten Hag he played against 24 players all the time.

I don't expect them to go to Arsenal and win so early in the managerial era, but what they are doing there now is a bit of belief in the system and a bit of belief in Amorim's systems.

So what I mean here is that it's 3-4-3. But we already see that players can switch and go to different areas.

Kobbie Mainoo, who is unfortunately suspended for this match, and Bruno Fernandes switched positions, confident in each other that one of them could go forward.

What we also saw was a connection between Ugarte and Mainoo, where Mainoo went and where Ugarte was staying, which was great. Casemiro in the same way.

In the first game against Ipswich it was a clear, distinct 3-4-3 in the average positions. You saw it lined up. And then it was almost 4-4-2 in this match.

And that's very interesting looking ahead to Arsenal, because we've talked a lot about Arsenal defending in a 4-4-2 shape. So it's almost a man by man decision if he decides to go this way.

And the reason it became 4-4-2 is because as a right centre-back, Mazraoui is a more natural full-back. So Amorim is fine with drifting to the right.

And then Dalot plays at left full-back, a more comfortable full-back. He almost comes in and makes it a back four. And then Amad was the right wing-back, but was given the license to push forward. So you almost end up where a 3-4-3 becomes a 4-4-2.

I'm very excited because three games later, Amorim has turned a group of players who wouldn't know a tactic if it was thrown at them into a group of players who suddenly understand that they can move into different positions.

3. Amad Diallo's pressing play is the key to success

Amad played a big role in the way he applied pressure and chased people down the right.

And it was because of that shape, which allowed them to move almost into a four at the back, allowing Amad to chase the left back or the left winger and not have to worry too much about the ball being passed around. it.

Mainoo's role was really crucial: he was the trigger for Amad's press. He gets into the right inside position and gives Amad the freedom to chase the ball.

Amad was fantastic and really persevered. And if he does get it, the direct flight we talked about…

Then Zirkzee, Rashford, Bruno, all in the box because they know what he's going to do.

They know he won't pass because Amorim has told them: you are running into the area.

And both goals, the last one in which Amad played against Rashford, were just a small pass on the edge of the penalty area.

The first goal, get there, cross it. Okay, that's how they want to play. They're not going to play these through balls from 30, 40 yards away.

The attacking players on the edges of the penalty area are therefore not waiting for a pass. They shoot at the box.

4. Defenders will have to double Bukayo Saka

We look at Bukayo Saka. Odegaard and Saka on that right channel for Arsenal.

And already in that match against Everton, Amorim was planning ahead.

He's already looking, right, Martinez can't play, suspended. That's an in-game decision.

He has made a change. Shaw arrived. And what I think we will probably see is Dalot as the left wing again.

Or Mazraoui as a left back, depending on how he sees it. And then Luke Shaw as left center back.

And that actually means two left backs. Playing against Bukayo Saka. It's about balance.

Amorim likes complementary players on different sides of the pitch or in different positions. So one sort of tackler, dirty piece of work in midfield, and one baller.

You need to make plans for Bukayo Saka. You can't just leave, it's okay, we're going…

At West Ham you saw that if you don't have a good plan for Bukayo Saka, you see what happens.

5. New found focus on set pieces that already work

There is a tactic from Arsenal to get the forward postman under the ball. So Man United must pay attention to that.

If Zirzkee starts, put Zirkzee there. If Hojlund starts, put Hojlund there. Someone who is physical enough not to need a little push.

But let's focus on United for a moment, because for the first time I saw something I've never seen before this week. They did it against Bodo Glimt and they did it again for the game against Everton.

I've never seen a team, a professional team, practice angles on the field during warm-ups. You see teams lining up and playing little exchanges, back fours, you know, pushing up and dropping back.

Sometimes you see full-backs clip the ball down the line because they have a ball they want to pass to the wingers.

Never seen curves like that before. Man United was actually busy practicing corners in the warm-up. Maybe Amorim did so much on the training pitch this week that they didn't have time to take corners. So he said don't worry, we'll do it on the weekend.

He now shows off because Man United, who have had no idea about them for months and years, immediately had a corner routine.

They all ran from the edge of the penalty area to the six-yard line, essentially forming a wall of blockers. And all the Everton players were devastated, kicked it and headed towards the six-yard line. Marcus Rashford pulls away, side foot in.

It was delicious. It was a nice routine. And he had to score through the crowd. And whether it was his goal or not is a bit of a debate, whether it went in or wide.

But they all did their job. You saw Mainoo hold Tarkowski to make sure he couldn't get to Rashford. So immediately a corner routine. But they will have to do a little better defensively against that Arsenal juggernaut.