Ruben Amorim’s Man United, and the green shoots of coherence in a plan that at last seems to be working out.
Ruben Amorim’s Man United are a messy hodge-podge of square pegs in round holes. That is the general consensus.
But for one brief and flickering moment in the second half, it felt like the vision that Amorim has for this side finally showed life.
In the 53rd minute of a game that was meandering to nothingness, Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot ran at Arsenal’s goal like sharp horns of a raging bull. Dalot making a rampaging run with the ball, and Mazraoui covering grass with such velocity belying the fact that the man was fasting until the latter stages of this game.
From the left, Dalot pinged in a delicious cross that went over despairing Arsenal heads. Mazraoui, eyes gleaming and with the tantalising prospect of putting his side 2-0 up, swiped an equally sweet volley. For all intents and purposes that looked like it was in. Except, David Raya did not get the memo and stuck a leg out to brilliantly keep his side in the game.
The entire sequence from start to finish can be classified as Ruben Amorim’s footballing utopia. Wing back calling forward wing-back to bring attacking patterns into existence. United building in adherence to said system with metronomic and factory worker-like efficiency.
However, at the end of it all, it was all it was. A brief flicker. Declan Rice scored an equally impressive equaliser, both sides having equal and opposite chances to probably put the game to bed, and the sight of Mikel Merino wandering up top like iShowSpeed in the Sidemen Charity Game in search of scraps.
But squint a little (it is difficult for Man United fans to look at big pictures, but try it for once?), and you can see green shoots of coherence in and around the side.
In a Manchester United side constantly stuck between holding its own as a legacy club and fighting for its life under ownership resembling Dracula, Amorim and the young players are slowly but steadily growing into their own.
Ayden Heaven was a reassuring presence in his introduction in the second half. Casemiro and Eriksen might look like they are on washed alert in 2025, but when they rallied, they rallied well. Casemiro even created a chance for Rasmus Hojlund, but a mixture of hesitation and underconfidence meant it went abegging.
And then there was Joshua Zirkzee. Asking the Dutchman to lead a high-press with relentless energy is like asking a ballet dancer to participate in a B-boy dance battle. But Zirkzee did it, did it expertly, and almost snagged a cheeky little backheel that would have been just reward for the shift he put in.
And then to top it all off, there is Bruno Fernandes. The captain has been a constant topic of discussion with former Red Devils calling out his leadership credentials, but he continues to lead from the front like his life depended on it. His expert free-kick gave Man United a lead and a semblance of how important this man is. If you compare Atlas carrying the burden of a celestial body on his shoulders, and Bruno carrying the entire Manchester United team on his shoulders, you’d give the edge to the latter.
There is no denying the fact that Manchester United have a gulf in class if compared to the likes of Liverpool, or even Man City. But the flickers of what Dalot and Mazraoui showed yesterday are enough to believe that these green shoots can blossom into a full-grown ecosystem of sustained brilliance and control.
Till then, all that Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United have are these green shoots of coherence. Infrequent, frustrating. But green shoots nonetheless. And that is worth striving for.