Man Utd don’t lose at Leeds and that’s just fine for negative Ruben Amorim

 Manchester United have only drawn 0-0 once since Ruben Amorim’s arrival. For an hour against Leeds United, it appeared they were heading for another, a result Amorim’s team selection suggested he would have accepted before kick-off.

There was plenty of criticism of Amorim’s starting XI at Elland Road as he lined up with eight defensive players in his adored 3-4-2-1 formation. Patrick Dorgu, a wing-back, was part of a front three alongside Matheus Cunha and an out-of-form Benjamin Sesko, whose poor touches, finishing and hold-up play epitomised his difficult acclimatisation from the Bundesliga to the Premier League. To be fair to him, he’s not alone.

Amorim knows Leeds don’t have incredible quality on the ball or the ability to freely play through teams, so selecting more defensive players makes a certain amount of sense. It does, however, make for an awfully dull game of football and points to a mentality problem: ‘don’t lose’ rather than ‘let’s win’. Against a newly promoted team, albeit one in good form, that feels wrong.

That team selection did allow Manchester United greater control, with the back three rarely tested against Premier League form striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, whose first real sniff at goal came from a free header that hit the post and had half of Elland Road convinced it was in. Leny Yoro ought to have been tighter to the England hopeful and also should have put the visitors 1-0 up with a header of his own, which would have done his confidence the world of good. He needs it.

There wasn’t much to report until Brenden Aaronson’s opening goal in the 62nd minute. Amorim’s XI was a contributing factor, but so too was the kick-off time, something we completely understand given the job West Yorkshire Police would have on their hands if Leeds vs Manchester United were an 8pm fixture.

It was all just a bit flat. Scheduling this fixture as early as possible is understandable, but it was also a bit boring. We are not condoning drunk and disorderly behaviour by any means, but we want these two great rivals to meet in the best atmosphere possible.