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Ruben Amorim will be under no illusions as to the mountain he has to climb to get Manchester United back to the top of world football as his new-look side capitulated to a dreadful 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth today.
Here are three things we learned on a bitterly disappointing Sunday afternoon at Old Trafford.
1. Tyrell Malacia is not Premier League standard
To be fair, after 550 days away injured, no-one can expect the Dutchman to hit the ground running on his comeback, but there must be serious concerns about his pace and passing ability.
As a young understudy to Luke Shaw, Malacia showed signs of promise in the early days at United but now at 25 years of age, it is looking more and more that that promise is not going to be fulfilled.
If Amorim persists in playing Malacia from the start, he is effectively getting fit and learning on the job, which is something United cannot afford right now. This has to be the end of that experiment, with substitute appearances only for the foreseeable future.
2. Set Pieces are still a shambles
United have been shaky at set pieces for some time but specialist Andreas Georgson looked to be making progress. However, he has been demoted under Amorim with assistant coach Carlos Fernandes taking the role.
With the new system we have to understand that time is needed for such things to be ironed out but with United conceding from set pieces in virtually every game since Amorim’s arrival, this has to be the most urgent matter for training and perhaps Georgson should be leant on a little more.
3. United need a centre forward in January
Both Rasmus Hojlund and Josh Zirkzee have shown signs of promise in a United shirt but both are falling way short of the level required for a Premier League side. Whilst left wing back remains a priority for the Red Devils, Amorim must now be looking at signing a forward as a matter of even greater urgency.
This won’t be an easy task given the financial situation, especially part way through the season, but a rabbit needs to be pulled out of the hat if United are to salvage anything from this desperately disappointing campaign.
To be fair, as three things we learned, some might argue that these are three we already knew, but they were certainly underlined today in no uncertain terms.
Featured image Matt McNulty via Getty Images
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