Ruben Amorim might be about to try something new at Manchester United - two players won't like it
If Ruben Amorim's decision to start Kobbie Mainoo up front against Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon was his way of pleading with Manchester United's hierarchy to find him a striker, it fell on deaf ears.
United went into deadline day in desperate need of fresh blood in attack but they failed to add to the signings of Ayden Heaven and Patrick Dorgu.
It means they must operate between now and the end of the season with two strikers who have one goal between them in their last 29 appearances combined. Rasmus Hojlund is goalless in his last 13 appearances and Joshua Zirkzee has one goal in his last 16 games.
Amorim's decision to start Mainoo in the centre of the attack against Palace was possibly his way of showing United's decision-makers that he is rapidly loosing faith in his two strikers, who were signed in back-to-back summer windows for £108.5million.
Mainoo started brightly in United's latest home defeat, striking the post in the opening exchanges, but quickly faded. Nobody anticipated he would start as the false nine when the team news was revealed 75 minutes before kick-off.
Three days earlier in Bucharest, Mainoo produced his best performance of the season by some distance, starring as one of the two No.10s. After starting as the left-sided No.10 and spurning a great chance to give United the lead in the first half, he switched to the right after the break and created the opening goal before scoring the Reds' second.
Mainoo earned a lot of credit for his performance against FCSB and Amorim hinted the No.10 role could become the England international's new natural habitat.
"The Kobbie position today, we need time to understand the players, he was struggling a lot defending as a midfielder," said the United head