1-1 without a striker starting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nIt was at Fulham last season that Amorim admitted he would rather have his goalkeeping coach, Jorge Vital, on the bench than Marcus Rashford. Vital has now replaced Hojlund. The Denmark international was not in west London on Sunday and is unlikely to get a kick for United again.<\/p>\n
The intention to sell Hojlund is understandable. He is not good enough to lead the line for United, he tallied three goals in his last 35 appearances for the club and they have replaced him.<\/p>\n
![\"Hojlund](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_GettyImages-2229921874.jpg\")
Hojlund has been underused since he stated his intention to stay<\/p>\n
But Amorim has cut off his nose to spite his face with a striker who has had one cameo since he bullishly told journalists in Chicago that he was intent on staying. United were crying out for a striker, bought one for \u00a373.62million, and have not started him.<\/p>\n
Watching Benjamin Sesko, you can see why. \u201cI think he needs time,\u201d Amorim admitted. \u201cIt\u2019s not easy. Sometimes you are on the bench and go to the game and the game is really fast, he\u2019s understanding that the game is even faster than the Bundesliga.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he is fighting, he had some good connections with teammates, I felt that when he was on the pitch we were not in our best moment and that can change the way you see a player.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Sesko](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_GettyImages-2231102558.jpg\")
Sesko struggled at Fulham<\/p>\n
All the more reason to play a No.9. United could have maximised Hojlund, scorer of two goals on his last start against Bournemouth in Chicago, until Sesko was up to speed. Hojlund might have been more sellable and valuable, too.<\/p>\n
Instead, Matheus Cunha has had to double as a centre forward when he earned his move on his playmaking prowess. He ought to have converted his chance from Altay Bayindir\u2019s punt, a scenario identical to Cunha’s majestic goal at the same end for Wolves last season.<\/p>\n
Swapping the old gold for the red of United puts a player in a different mindset. Even one as classy as Cunha. He has been as confident and swashbuckling as he was for Wolves, only when he faultlessly controlled the ball he could not place it beyond Bernd Leno\u2019s reach.<\/p>\n
![\"Cunha](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_GettyImages-2231897457.jpg\")
Cunha had chances to score<\/p>\n
United are in paradoxical form. Their attacking trident has created good chances and they are more fluid than rigid. Mason Mount had one of his most accomplished hours in a United shirt at Fulham. Yet they failed to get on the scoresheet and United\u2019s periods of play with Sesko, an actual striker, have been unproductive.<\/p>\n
Mount is the last United player to score from open play, against Everton three weeks ago. Since United touched down back on these shores, their two goals, against Fiorentina in a friendly and at Fulham, have been own goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a normal thing and when you reach this level,\u201d Amorim said about the no-striker strategy. \u201cCunha can play as a striker and as a 10 at his former club.<\/p>\n
![\"Amorim](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_GettyImages-2231110120.jpg\")
Amorim expresses his dismay<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt that during these last games with Mason Mount sometimes we are more robust in the way we play. So we are going to change according to the result and the opponent and try to win games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amorim\u2019s stubbornness is the same at the other end. Retaining Bayindir was a contrarian call. He is demonstrably not United\u2019s best goalkeeper and, though his afternoon at Fulham was devoid of a costly error, he was jittery again at corners.<\/p>\n
United need certainty in goal. Senne Lammens, the Belgian goalkeeper United are expected to sign, is not viewed as an outright No.1. So why persist playing the back-up goalie when the first-choice is fit enough to take the train to Euston?<\/p>\n
![\"Onana](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_GettyImages-2231837137-1.jpg\")
Onana was back but on the bench<\/p>\n
The prospect of United accommodating four goalkeepers this season is improbable. Tom Heaton is 39, has not played in two-and-a-half years and signed a new one-year contract in June. Bayindir has started in six of United\u2019s seven games since the start of pre-season and Onana has not played since the post-season tour match in Kuala Lumpur yet is adamant he is staying.<\/p>\n
Mount dropped back into midfield nine days after Amorim mentioned him as an option to fill in there. He had to after Casemiro, on a yellow card, diced with death by sliding in late on Sander Berge. Amorim immediately summoned his first substitutes.<\/p>\n
Starting Casemiro on a weekly basis in the Premier League is an admission of defeat. This is his last season at United and they recruited a replacement last year. Manuel Ugarte, totally devoid of confidence, does not appear up to it and the interest in Carlos Baleba would suggest some at United have given up on the Uruguayan. Erik ten Hag was not sold on Ugarte and Amorim, who coached him at Sporting Lisbon, has benched him.<\/p>\n
At Craven Cottage last season, Amorim admitted he felt like he had aged ten years at United. Worry signs are forming again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is now seven wins from 29 Premier League games for Ruben Amorim and the pre-season optimism at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,423,10384,99,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-372069","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-manchester-united-fc","13":"tag-rasmus-hojlund","14":"tag-ruben-amorim","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115088893569775110","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Samuel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_WhatsApp-Image-2022-01-24-at-140305.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"United](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_GettyImages-2231848370.jpg\")
United players trudge off after drawing with Fulham<\/p>\n