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Wes Brown and Siobhan Chamberlain delivered their honest review of Manchester United’s performance when they fell to a 2-0 loss to West Ham United on Sunday afternoon.
Speaking to MUTV after the match, the pair of former Man United stars took a moment to not only reflect on the decision-making of manager Ruben Amorim but the team’s performance as a whole following what was a bitter result to accept.
“I think he’ll be hugely frustrated, but I think he’ll be pragmatic. I think he’ll try to find the positives out of the game.” Chamberlain stated. She added that the midweek match against Athletic Club may have left the squad exhausted, before insisting that “this is no excuse” and that Amorim would have looked to draw the attention of his players to the positive aspects of the match.
“It does take quite a lot out of you, getting to a final. The hype around it, how it happened. The noise, some of the players haven’t experienced it,” Brown continued, seeming to agree with Chamberlain’s assessment of how the Europa League match may have caused some fatigue among the squad.
While it appeared as if Chamberlain and Brown were advocating for some of Amorim’s regular starters to rest, Chamberlain warned the United manager against providing his players too much rest, adding that no matter how much training they do, it’s not the same as real-match experience.
“I expect to see a very strong side out against Chelsea before the Europa League final in 10 days’ time,” she declared, refusing to let Amorim’s lineup today off the hook, however they may have felt after the Athletic showdown.
Although this is one of many disappointing results for United, what makes it even more frustrating is that United were fresh off an impressive 4-1 victory over Athletic Club, seemingly overcoming their previous struggles up top.
Sadly, this sudden improvement in form ceased, with United proving unable to find the back of the net against a vulnerable West Ham despite creating a vast number of chances.
United took a massive 20 shots on goal, largely overshadowing West Ham’s nine attempts.
They also had 13 free-kicks, providing themselves with some prime opportunities to exploit the visitors’ defence from deep within the final third.
Due to this crushing defeat, United have been leapfrogged by West Ham in the Premier League table.
Now, United find themselves in a shocking 16th position, with only Tottenham Hotspur and the three already relegated teams below them.
It just so happens that Spurs are United’s opponents in the Europa League final, perhaps handing United some confidence, given that their opponents are struggling as well.
Featured image Marc Atkins via Getty Images
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