Amorim stung by lack of control in defeat to Bees

It was just one of many contradictions that add up to a lot of confusion about Manchester United, especially as regards where they go next.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

In this latest setback, the obvious focus was on how they struggled with Brentford's bombardment. United's own backline couldn't help but just look at high balls raining down on them. Ruben Amorim himself mentioned “long balls”.

And yet while that approach presented the Portuguese with his most immediate problem - particularly with how United quickly went 2-0 down to two Igor Thiago goals - it wasn't the main problem. Amorim lamented how “it's more that we play this game like Brentford wants to play this game. We never settle down into long possessions, long control of the game. We're never there”.

Amorim actually said the word “control” seven times, reflecting just how much the idea was on his mind. It certainly wasn't on the pitch.

“We can do better with the ball, we can have more control,” he followed. “We can control the ball. We can settle down the game. We need to have more personality to control the games, calm down the games, and to play better.” It’s hard to disagree with any of that, except for one last reference: “We have the ability and the capacity to control the game, to calm down the game.”

Do they really have that ability? They arguably don’t have the players. Amorim again went with Bruno Fernandes in midfield, and one issue quickly stood out there, too. The Portuguese kept trying to play game-opening passes. That’s fine if you’re a number 10, which Fernandes is supposed to be. Here, he’s at least notionally intended to be a controller, but doesn’t really look to play any of the obvious passes required for that role.