Ruben Amorim’s tactical tweak for Lisandro Martinez was the difference again – Weekly Takeaway

Twice in the space of four days, Manchester United won a game late on due to a tactical tweak allowing Lisandro Martinez to push into midfield, where he made all the difference in getting United two wins on the bounce. Small tweaks from Ruben Amorim making big impacts on recent games, giving United vital points in both domestic and European competitions.
Thursday night’s battle with Rangers saw Martinez push up towards the edge of the box, where his perfect cross was met by Bruno Fernandes to get United a stoppage-time victory. Last night, United were in a position where they did not look like they would score if they were playing until midnight until Martinez again pushed past Rodrigo Muniz and his deflected effort looped into the top corner to give United a massive three points on the road.
Amorim said that ball-playing defenders nowadays are midfielders, and commented that ‘Sometimes because you don’t have a lot of space between the lines, you have to find this space and they are the players that have the game in front and they have to be there with the midfielders. So it’s really important.’ Allowing Martinez to play as a midfielder on the ball has been massively beneficial for United, as the Argentine has put this idea to work on multiple occasions, especially in recent weeks, as he started the month getting in behind Liverpool’s back line to fire United in front at Anfield.
This is something that has not only been utilised effectively by Lisandro Martinez though, as we saw Noussair Mazraoui do something similar against Bodo/Glimt, as he stepped up and put in a brilliant cross for Rasmus Hojlund, who equalised just before half-time. This has only worked when Mazraoui was used as the right-sided centre-back and is something that we won’t likely see when Matthijs de Ligt plays there, as his limitations on the ball do not see him move into the attacking third at all.
People have questioned Amorim’s system during his spell as United manager, and rightfully so as the results and performances have not been at the level fans would have expected them to be when he came in, but this tactical tweak has shown the positive side of this three at the back set up, especially when on the ball in the final third. Definitely something to look at moving forward.
Another important spell for United ahead, where they need to build more momentum off the back of two victories in a row, as they travel to Bucharest for the last Europa League match in the league phase before they welcome Crystal Palace in the league and Leicester City in the FA Cup fourth round. We have struggled to build off the back of wins recently and seemed to fall into a trap of taking one step forward, and two steps backwards, so hopefully it’ll be different this time around.