Ex-England striker Michael Owen (Picture: Premier League)
Michael Owen has predicted the team Ruben Amorim will pick once he takes over at struggling Manchester United.
Amorim will take charge of the fallen Premier League giants on November 11 after he was named as Erik ten Hag’s replacement at Old Trafford.
Regardless of their result against Leicester City on Sunday, Manchester United will be in the bottom-half of the table when Amorim arrives from Sporting Lisbon.
Amorim has favoured a 3-4-3 system for most of his managerial career and ex-England striker Owen expects him to implement that formation as soon as begins the job.
Owen envisages a back-three of Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Leny Yoro, who was signed for £52m over the summer but is yet to feature for the Red Devils due to a pre-season injury.
‘I think that’s an important position for Ruben Amorim,’ Owen said of the central defender as he predicted the team Manchester United’s new boss would pick on Premier League Productions.
‘Amorim has a reputation of having that central defender come into the midfield a little bit so that player has got to be decent on the ball.
Ruben Amorim is preparing to take over at Old Trafford (Picture: Getty)
‘De Ligt and Martinez either side are aggressive defenders, they like being up against strikers, so that middle player has got to be good on the ball and Yoro fits the bill.
‘I think if everyone is fit that’s the back-three he would pick.’
Moving to the midfield, Owen suggested Amorim would pick his former Sporting star Manuel Ugarte ahead of Manchester United’s £70m signing Casemiro.
Amorim’s wing-backs could be Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw, though the England full-back is yet to get any minutes this season after enduring more injury problems.
Owen’s predicted Manchester United team under Amorim (Picture: Metro)
‘He can only pick 11 players and we did debate Ugarte or Casemiro, it was a bit of a toss of a coin between the two,’ Owen said.
‘But we just felt he would go with Ugarte because he’s played under him before, that might just tip it in Ugarte’s favour.’
Ex-Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey then added: ‘They won the league together at Sporting, Ugarte clearly understands the manager and will know what he expects from him in that position and in the formation he likes to play.
‘Casemiro has had a great career and is still a quality player, I’m sure there’s more to come from him, but I think Ugarte just pips him given the experience he’s had with him previously.’
Casemiro could struggle for game-time under Amorim (Picture: Getty)
Amorim often opts to play two No. 10s behind his striker and if that trend continues at Old Trafford, Owen expects Red Devils captain Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford to get the nod.
‘It’s important to mention that these two players play almost inside in a lot of his formations,’ Owen added.
‘They are not necessarily wide players so they come in and play more like number 10s and …read more
Source:: Metro
