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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes summed up the feeling at Old Trafford after the draw with West Ham(Image: Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images)<\/p>\nManchester United were punished for not killing off the game on Thursday night as they dropped points against West Ham.Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes summed up the feeling at Old Trafford after the draw with West Ham(Image: Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Despite picking up a very good victory over Crystal Palace, there was a sense of trepidation ahead of Manchester United’s clash with West Ham on Thursday evening. Last time United were under the lights at Old Trafford, they came unstuck as ten man Everton picked up a deserved victory.<\/p>\n
In the second half of that fixture, United had plenty of the ball but offered very little attacking threat. Joshua Zirkzee<\/a> struggled to lead the line while build-up play, particularly down the left, often broke down. There were simply no solutions to turn to on the United bench, either.<\/p>\n This is why what happened against West Ham was not a shock. On this occasion, United<\/a> managed to score the opening goal through Diogo Dalot<\/a> but instead of pushing for a second and killing off the game, the Reds made changes to consolidate their advantage. Patrick Dorgu, Manuel Ugarte and Lisandro Martinez were all brought on, the latter after the Reds<\/a> had conceded.<\/p>\n The only attack-minded substitution was Mason Mount. who replaced Zirkzee. The Dutchman has had his critics but at least he was offering good link-up play and having left the pitch, United were ill-prepared to refocus on attacking if West Ham found an equaliser, which they managed from a corner.<\/p>\n After the game, Ruben Amorim<\/a> was quizzed about his substitutions. He initially said his plan was to win more second balls<\/a> after making the substitutions, but it was telling that Amorim also asked this question in reply: “We had more men to put in the offense. Who would be more offensive?”<\/p>\n This statement could be perceived as a message to the United boardroom. As he continues to overlook Kobbie Mainoo, who is more attack-minded than Ugarte but still obviously not an out-and-out attacking player, there were very few options Amorim would be willing to turn to.<\/p>\n Since the international break, United have played three matches without Benjamin Sesko. In those matches, United have had a maximum of two players who are offensively-minded on the bench – during the Crystal Palace game it was just Shea Lacey.<\/p>\n But the new norm at the minute is Mount and Lacey on the bench. Amorim simply does not have the options available to him to make attacking changes – even if he wanted to. Would throwing Lacey into the game on Thursday night have been helpful for the Reds? Probably not.<\/p>\n He is a young player who has a bright future but he needs to be eased in to senior football. Lacey shouldn’t be thrust into a game like that with an expectation to come up with a goal to kill the game off – not at this stage of his development, anyway.<\/p>\n