Amorim can be Tuchel’s saviour with Man Utd U-turn after incredibly depressing England admission
“At the moment the four players competing in central midfield are Jordan [Henderson], Declan [Rice], Elliot [Anderson] and Ruben [Loftus-Cheek]. They are all very mobile players and there is not one deep number six, maybe John Stones but he left this morning.”
What an extraordinarily depressing quote that is, and for so many reasons. The way in which Thomas Tuchel breezes through several dispiriting barriers to England winning the World Cup next summer in the space of two sentences is almost impressive.
We’re not done with anger yet in the five stages of grief at Henderson being selected again, so we’re a ways off accepting he’s genuinely competing for a midfield spot and yet, when you look at the alternatives, we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him starting against Andorra on Saturday.
We would much rather see Anderson or Loftus-Cheek alongside Rice, but with this being the former’s first call-up and the latter’s first for nearly seven years, we’re prepared for Hendo doing his shouty thing and plenty of finger-pointing while displaying that all-important trait: mobility.
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Quite apart from questioning whether a 35-year-old can even be counted in a class of “very mobile players”, it’s hardly the exciting midfield characteristic one would hope is being picked out by the manager of one of the best international teams in the world as being key to success. “Wow, did you see how mobile he was there?” Jesus.
And why is there “not one deep number six”, Thomas? England need one. Obviously. Every football team in the world has one. England are not going to win the World Cup without one. So don’t replace an injured Adam Wharton – surely the best bet to fill that gap as things stand – with Loftus-Cheek. It makes no sense.
What about Angel Gomes? He’s starting in midfield for Marseille and was arguably the standout player of Lee Carsley’s caretaker reign. Archie Gray, maybe? It doesn’t really matter. This is the first of three international breaks before the World Cup and England need to be playing games of football with a No.6.
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And no, not John Stones. Why would you look to fix England’s biggest problem by weakening its second biggest? All things being equal, it should be Stones and Marc Guehi as the Three Lions centre-back pairing. Again, obviously.
Tuchel could do with a midfield bolt from the blue. Someone to come from nowhere to provide a solution; to vie with Wharton for that starting spot which he looks very much on course to merit but will also be his by default.
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Ruben Amorim could do England, himself, Manchester United and Kobbie Mainoo a massive favour in one fell swoop.
He desperately needs a partner for Bruno Fernandes. Casemiro is no longer up to it and Manuel Ugarte is yet to show himself capable while offering very little hope of that ever being the case. Mainoo meanwhile continues to be told that his only option of breaking into the first team is through ousting captain and talisman Fernandes. But why?
He’s a 20-year-old footballer who is by all accounts a hard-working professional who’s very clearly desperate to be playing football this season in order to go to the World Cup this summer.
We can think of no individual more open to being coached (imagine that?) into playing a slightly different role which would see him play every game for club and ensure his place in the England squad next summer. There’s literally no downside.
