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Ruben Amorim made multiple changes but still Manchester United ended up getting thrashed 1-4 by Newcastle United in their Premier League game at St James’ Park on Sunday.
The changes made no difference with Altay Bayindir, brought in in place of Andre Onana, culpable for the fourth goal while Joshua Zirkzee suffered an injury which might force him to miss the rest of the season.
The defeat exposed the visitors’ lack of physicality while also laying bare their transfer mistakes with Christian Eriksen and Manuel Ugarte starting in midfield as the hosts swarmed all over them.
All four goals were a result of mistakes with the Uruguayan’s mispass leading to the Magpies’ first goal while Diogo Dalot was culpable for the second, netted by Harvey Barnes.
Defensive mistakes galore
Noussair Mazraoui subsequwnrly slipped to allow Barnes to score his second of the day as Victor Lindelof and Leny Yoro hardly made a challenge.
Skipper Bruno Fernandes, who cut a frustrated figure when getting subbed off admitted that the goals were a result of mistakes while also claiming he was frustrated with his teammates that they could not produce the kind of performance he knows they are capable of.
“We gave some goals away, we were good in the first half and had some big moments. In the second half, we could not play as much as we wanted because we couldn’t break the lines against their man-marking. We didn’t do it well enough, and the goals are from our mistakes,” he told Sky after the game.
“My team-mates – I only get frustrated with them because I know how good they can be. I know how tough it is to represent this club. They want so much to give to the club, to win because they know how much they will be remembered if they win something with this club.”
Deserved criticism
He was asked about the team being overrun on most occasions this season and why they were struggling to run for the whole 90 minutes and he admitted that the criticism was inevitable given that the club are languishing in 14th position and will be finishing with their lowest-ever points tally in Premier League history.
“It’s the opinion of other people. I can’t make people have all the same opinion about me, about my players, about my team. And that’s it. Obviously, we’re not stupid.
“We know the position we are in and It’s easy to criticise because this club has never been like this. It’s never suffered in the last years the way we’ve been suffering this season. It’s normal.
“You need to be aware that you play for Manchester United. You know the criticism will be there. You’re going to get some credit when you do good things. You need to find the balance of the way to take it.”
Naturally, the topic shifted to the crucial Europa League quarter-final second leg tie against Olympique Lyonnais on Thursday and the skipper believed that the team have it in them to overcome the challenge.
Huge game coming up
He pointed to United’s displays in the big games in the league this season and urged the fans to create a memorable atmosphere to help the team against the French side.
“I don’t need to believe. I need to see what we’ve done in the past. And in tough moments, we have come out and doing great performance against great teams, against the biggest clubs.
“This season, if you look at our results against the biggest clubs, probably where we play our best football in decisive games, where everyone is watching.
“And this is going to be the one against Lyon. Big team in France. Big team with a lot of history in the European competitions. But we are Man United. So we have to step up.
“We have to do everything we can to win the game. And I’m pretty sure that my teammates and myself, together with all the staff, together with all the fans and the club, will be together to win that game.”
Feature image Stu Forster via Getty Images
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