Owen names Man Utd star who won’t play under Amorim as he predicts starting XI
Michael Owen has predicted Ruben Amorim’s regular Man Utd starting XI when he begins work at Old Trafford later this month.
The Red Devils moved quickly on Friday to appoint Amorim as Erik ten Hag’s successor after the latter was sacked on the previous Monday.
Amorim’s appointment has already excited Man Utd fans who are hoping they can finally get back to challenging for Premier League titles again for the first time since 2013.
Man Utd are currently 13th in the Premier League after just three wins in ten matches, while only Crystal Palace and Southampton have scored fewer goals than the Red Devils.
And Owen predicts that Amorim will stick to the 3-4-3 formation that has been so good to him at Sporting Lisbon, moving Man Utd away from a back four.
Owen reckons Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Leny Yoro will make up their back three once the latter – who has yet to play a competitive match for the Premier League club – has recovered from injury.
Predicting Amorim’s side at Man Utd, Owen told Premier League Productions: “I think that’s an important position for Ruben Amorim.
“Amorim has a reputation of having that central defender come into the midfield a little bit so that player has got to be decent on the ball.
“De Ligt and Martinez either side are aggressive defenders, they like being up against strikers, so that middle player has got to be good on the ball and Yoro fits the bill.
“I think if everyone is fit that’s the back-three he would pick.”
Some favourites under Ten Hag could be left out with Owen claiming that the new Man Utd boss will probably go with Manuel Ugarte over Casemiro.
“He can only pick 11 players and we did debate Ugarte or Casemiro, it was a bit of a toss of a coin between the two.
“But we just felt he would go with Ugarte because he’s played under him before, that might just tip it in Ugarte’s favour.”
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Former Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey added: “They won the league together at Sporting, Ugarte clearly understands the manager and will know what he expects from him in that position and in the formation he likes to play.
“Casemiro has had a great career and is still a quality player, I’m sure there’s more to come from him, but I think Ugarte just pips him given the experience he’s had with him previously.”
Owen thinks Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford will be deployed as two number 10s behind the sole striker in Amorim’s team.
The former Man Utd striker continued: “It’s important to mention that these two players play almost inside in a lot of his formations.
“They are not necessarily wide players so they come in and play more like number 10s and that plays into Bruno’s favour.
“With those players coming inside, you could ask, can Rashford play inside? I think he can. I think he’s got decent vision.
“He’s not going to play otherwise unless he ends up playing him up front instead of Hojlund. I think Rashford will start but it will be in that more inside position.”
Ramsey also gave his opinion on Rashford, he said: “Rashford has loads of quality. Hopefully he gets a new lease of life under the new manager and he can reach the levels he has in the past and be a bit more consistency.
“He’s an unbelievable player on his day. In this system, I feel he can be suited in the little pockets and holes.”
Andre Onana, Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot, Kobbie Mainoo and Rasmus Hojlund make up the rest of Owen’s predicted line-up for when Amorim has a fully fit Man Utd squad.
