Owen Hargreaves claims Ruben Amorim was ‘really frustrated’ with several Manchester United players in their 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town on Sunday.
Amorim’s reign got off to an excellent start at Portman Road as Marcus Rashford put United in front after just two minutes.
However, United failed to build on their lead and the visitors required an excellent save from Andre Onana to deny Liam Delay an equaliser for Ipswich.
Kieran McKenna’s side continued to push for a leveller and they found the net before the break as Omari Hutchinson’s long-range strike skimmed Noussair Mazraoui’s head and flew past Onana into the top corner.
Amorim admitted after the game that his players were struggling to adapt to their new way of playing and Hargreaves, who was positioned near United’s technical area during the game, has revealed that the 39-year-old was unhappy with Diogo Dalot, Joshua Zirkzee, Rasmus Hojlund and Rashford during various stages.
When asked about Amorim’s reactions in the dugout, Hargreaves told Premier League Productions: ‘He was pretty frustrated, I’m not going to lie.
‘He was right in front of me and he was really, really frustrated with a lot of things.
‘I think initially Dalot’s positioning, I think he was a little bit frustrated with that in the first half.
‘I think the midfield balance he didn’t really like, and when Zirkzee came on I don’t think he was overly happy with his positioning and Hojlund as well. So there’s a lot of stuff that needs a little bit of work.
‘Before the game, we saw all those smiles and all that charm from Ruben Amorim but during the game he was really frustrated, I think he realised this is going to be a lot harder than he envisioned.’
Hargreaves also admits he was ‘really surprised’ that Kobbie Mainoo was left on the bench and feels the 19-year-old and Manuel Ugarte will be Amorim’s central midfield pairing going forward.
‘If you think you’re going to play with Eriksen and Casemiro as a midfield two in the Premier League you’re going to struggle,’ Hargreaves said.
‘I thought Omari on that half turn had the beating of them every time. Once he got it out of his feet, with that close control and that low centre of gravity, I thought Eriksen and Casemiro were always going to struggle, I just thought in a way it was made for Ugarte.
‘I was really surprised Kobbie Mainoo didn’t come off the bench with the changes they made. Bruno Fernandes dropping deeper and Marcus coming off.
‘I think it’s going to take a bit of time to find what his best team is going to be.’
Hargreaves also believes United will continue to deliver disjointed displays as they continue to adapt to Amorim’s new system.
‘I expected a lot more but you have to credit Ipswich Town, I thought they played brilliant football,’ Hargreaves said.
‘Obviously the first goal Manchester United scored was terrific. I thought, ‘wow, what a start’, two minutes in, but basically after that they didn’t do any more.
‘Amad playing as a right wing-back being left-footed, I’m not sure, I think he played okay today.
‘I just thought after that start you go get another one but really the team that played after that I thought was Ipswich Town. They were by far the better team in the first half, in my opinion. I thought United were better in the last 20 minutes but after that start you would think, ‘let’s go attack’.
‘I thought [Alejandro] Garnacho was pretty quiet, couldn’t get on the ball, and Ruben Amorim, he looked really frustrated, in that first half especially.
‘I don’t think Marcus knew at times where he needed to be when the ball was in certain areas and Ruben was quite frustrated with that. I think maybe Garnacho comes off and Marcus plays on the left.
‘Even Zirkzee played as a No.10 and I don’t think that suited him. I think Marcus prefers to play on the left, and you could see that today.
‘To me there looked like four or five players playing outside their natural position and that showed at times.
‘Looking at that today I didn’t feel like it suited a lot of the players out there. I think the team will look different in a few weeks’ time. Ugarte will get in there, Kobbie will get in there, obviously Martinez, Yoro and Shaw, who I thought looked good when he came on. If it wasn’t for Onana they would have lost that game today. It’s going to take a bit of time, personnel wise, maybe not the best with what they have but this is how the manager wants to play and if you don’t fit you probably won’t be here very long.’
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