Michael Owen argued in favour of under-fire Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim and his controversial playing system.
Despite winning their last fixture before the October international at the expense of Sunderland, the Red Devils are enduring another slow start to the campaign. They have only collected 10 points from the first seven rounds, putting them 10th in the Premier League standings.
Therefore, tipping on Man Utd to finish in the Top 6 remains a risky bet according to the odds displayed by some of the most reliable platforms, including the ones that can be found on online bookmakers Ireland.
In recent weeks, a host of pundits, including Man Utd legends like Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney, have been pointing the finger towards Amorim and his 3-4-2-1 formation.
Michael Owen goes against the flow on Ruben Amorim
According to these football experts, Man Utd’s current squad is ill-suited for this playing system, and would cope better with a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 formation.
Those who have adopted this argument would point towards Kobbie Mainoo, who is considered one of the most talented players at the club, but can’t find a place in this formation and is reportedly seeking an exit. Moreover, club captain Bruno Fernandes is being fielded in a deeper role, much to the dismay of a large section of the fanbase.
Nevertheless, Owen isn’t buying this theory. The 45-year-old believes that Man Utd’s problems run deeper than the playing system, while reminding his fellow pundits of the poor football that was on display when Erik ten Hag was in charge.
“They have changed the manager numerous times since Fergie left,” said the former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Man Utd striker as reported by the Daily Mail.
“Then they blamed the players; spent billions on players and got some of the best players in the world, only for the club to be seen as a bit of a graveyard for players in the last decade. Next it was the people buying the players, so everyone wanted rid of them. Then it was the board, so the board was shuffled around when Sir Jim Ratcliffe got involved.
“Then it’s the fault of the facilities so they wanted to revamp the training ground and put plans in for a new stadium.Then it’s the staff, so half the backroom staff, physios, doctors, canteen lady, the whole thing, wiped clean and a new start there,” continued Owen.
“The latest one is it’s because they’re playing a back-three. If I’m not wrong, I watched Erik Ten Hag about a year ago playing a back-four, and it was some of the most awful football I’ve ever seen from a Manchester United team.”
Owen doesn’t blame Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system for Man Utd’s woes
Owen insists that winning or losing doesn’t entirely hinge on the formation the team is playing, but believes that the club must dig deeper to get to the bottom of this lengthy conundrum.
“Some great teams over the years have played with a back-three. I’m not saying that’s my favourite formation at all, and I’m not saying that Amorim is right to be steadfast in his beliefs in that formation. But I certainly don’t think all of United’s problems now are because they play with the back-three.
“It’s embarrassing if you’re going to say the main reason for the downturn is because they play a back-three. I mean, it really isn’t. They could go back to a back-four and play as bad as they did under Ten Hag, then the screams would be equally as loud.”
That all sounds rather sensible from Michael Owen.