After a chastening defeat in the Manchester Derby, the pressure has been amped up on Ruben Amorim.
Even though United found space multiple times in behind City’s block, they could never make use of it and had the wrong players on the end of things in the final third or couldn’t take the chances afforded to them.
They retreated into a deep, low block at times that wasn’t compact, allowing City’s forward, like Jeremy Doku, to exploit the spaces in United’s midfield.
Though United had chances, it was mainly at the end when the game was well out of reach.
With new signings Bryan Mbeumo, the injured Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko needing time to settle in, it seems as though every footballer that leaves Old Trafford tends to thrive.
Rasmus Hojlund opened the scoring on his Napoli debut, Marcus Rashford was making things happen vs Valencia with an assist, and Mason Greenwood was another former player who scored the first goal for Roberto de Zerbi’s Marseille as they beat Lorient 4-0, whilst the former United player also assisted another goal.
With De Zerbi’s side welcoming Spanish Giants Real Madrid in the Champions League this week, the performance did not go unnoticed by Xabi Alonso’s scouts watching the game in preparation for the Champions League fixture.
According to a report in Spanish newspaper Defensa Central, the performance was a ‘serious warning’ to Madrid’s scouts, with the scout’s report remarking ‘He is very good, we’ll have to control him in open spaces’
Real Madrid are all too familiar with Greenwood, having played him before when he was with Getafe and know the academy product is ‘a powerful striker who can make a difference from any angle on the pitch’.
Greenwood finished as Ligue 1’s joint top scorer last season with Ousmane Dembele on 21 goals.
His spell in France is also likely attracting his former employer’s attention, and it will be interesting to see whether he makes his mark against Real Madrid.
