Manchester United again missed the opportunity to convert their dominance into points as they succumbed to a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa, but Ruben Amorim’s vision is clear.
After the nadir that was the game against Everton, where Ruben Amorim sat motionless as his seven defenders on the pitch failed to equalise, something has changed.
Not only did Shea Lacey and Jack Fletcher make their debuts against Aston Villa, but most Man Utd fans also won’t have a problem with the manner of the performance despite the loss.
Nowhere was that change more visible than in the performance of Patrick Dorgu, who had a bittersweet outing, as his role vs Villa made it clear that Amorim is preparing to welcome a January signing.
Patrick Dorgu’s role against Aston Villa
Patrick Dorgu has become somewhat of a backup player this season as Diogo Dalot has gone about silencing his doubters with a string of strong games.
However, once Amad left for AFCON, Dorgu was always going to enjoy a bigger role, and he came back into the first XI against Villa.
Amorim’s wing-backs have changed in recent games, most notably against Bournemouth, where Amad almost functioned as a natural right-winger in a back-four setup.
The same was visible against Villa, albeit not to such an extreme extent, as Dorgu was given full freedom to wreak havoc in the final third.
Both Dalot and Dorgu pinned Villa back by playing high and wide, and due to being on the stronger side, enjoyed plenty of overlapping runs in space.
Dorgu, in particular, found himself as the creator of the two best chances of the game – winning the ball back from Matty Cash for Cunha’s goal, and crossing for Cunha in the second half, which should have been a goal.
However, beyond those two chances, he was largely wasteful in the final third despite finding himself with the ball in dangerous situations often. (Heatmap courtesy Sofascore)
Clearly, the wing-backs are defenders in name only now that Amorim is moving to an expansive setup. Enter Antoine Semenyo.
Antoine Semenyo looks tailor-made for the LWB position
Antoine Semenyo recently had a successful audition at Old Trafford, but the wisdom of spending £65m on him in January was still questionable.
That is because United have a gaping hole in midfield, and Semenyo didn’t really have a natural role in Amorim’s setup.
Until now.
With the left wing-back basically a left-winger now, finding himself in the final third more often than not, it becomes the perfect role for Semenyo.
For Bournemouth, Semenyo plays as an old-school winger/inside forward, depending upon the wing he’s deployed on.
At United, he will have more clarity, effectively becoming Amad 2.0 on the opposite wing with his right foot on the left.
As the wide centre-backs become more comfortable running the channels, and the central centre-back jumps into midfield to engage attackers, the wing-backs will become attackers.
Dorgu’s role at Villa was a glimpse at how devastating Semenyo could be in Amorim’s setup.
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