Pundit fears Man Utd will be ripped to shreds by proper teams unless Amorim can adapt key area

Former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has warned Ruben Amorim that his midfield tactics will be exposed by the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City going forward.

Amorim‘s first outing as United boss at Old Trafford ended in victory as the Red Devils saw off a gallant Bodo/Glimt side 3-2 in the Europa League courtesy of goals from Alejandro Garnarcho and a Rasmus Hojlund double.

The Portuguese coach opted for a central-midfield pairing of Manuel Ugarte and Bruno Fernandes with Mason Mount and Garnacho playing behind Hojlund in his maiden win for the club.

But Hargreaves feels United will need to play a three-man midfield when they come up against Arsenal in the Premier League next Wednesday, with Everton their opponents this weekend.

“I think they’ve got a lot of good players. Do they have the players capable of winning the Premier League or Champions League? Probably not. That’s going to take time to sort the recruitment out,’ Hargreaves told TNT Sports.

“The most important thing is that they get results. Obviously Everton at the weekend is a tough game but at home you’d expect them [United] to win that game.

“Tough fixtures, especially the Arsenal one coming up after that, but they need to find a way to get results. Today they didn’t play brilliantly but they found a way to win the game which is the most important thing.

“I don’t think he has the personnel that he had at Sporting. I think if you’re going to play two in there [midfield], they need to be two super-athletes and cover the distances.

“I’m not sure they have that as such. I think they’ve got some really good players, different players but he might have to tweak it that maybe one of the No.10s drops in and one of the wing-backs gets a little bit higher for the width. But I think playing two in there against an Arsenal or a [Manchester] City, I think that’s going to be really, really difficult.

“I think it’s a work in progress, we need to be patient but we’re getting there.”

READ MORE ➡️ Seven Primeira Liga players Ruben Amorim could sign for Man Utd: Gyokeres, Carreras…

Mainoo tipped for massive role in Amorim’s starting XI

Hargreaves also believes Kobbie Mainoo, who is yet to feature in either of Amorim’s games as manager, will play a key role in United’s engine room going forward.

“It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Kobbie Mainoo, such a special young player, you’d think he’d kind of almost walk into that midfield,” Hargreaves said.

“Ugarte I thought played really well today, there are a lot of people who are going to get opportunities.

“It was nice to see Hojlund step up and score some goals. He’s a super talented young man, I think there’s so much potential in him and that’s the good thing about Ruben Amorim, he’s brilliant with young players, we saw what he did with Viktor Gyokeres. I’m sure he could do that with Rasmus Hojlund as well.

“There are so many different options to come. It’ll just be exciting to get [Leny] Yoro back fit, [Luke] Shaw back fit, [Noussair] Mazraoui plays amazing every time he plays, there’s a lot of potential here.”

Latest Man Utd news: United urged to re-sign Pogba and land striker / Juve pushing midfielders towards Manchester

Manchester United have been told it would be a “brilliant idea” to re-sign free agent midfielder Paul Pogba, with an observer advising Ruben Amorim to resist the temptation to bring back another former star, but having also named the “deadly” striker the Red Devils should look to sign.

Meanwhile, Juventus technical director Cristiano Giuntoli reportedly held transfer talks with Manchester United and Manchester City about the possibility of selling two of their players in January.

Both Man Utd and City have been linked with a whole host of players ahead of the winter transfer window and, according to Gazzetta dello Sport claims the sporting director was in Manchester this week as the Turin team allegedly want to sell Nicolo Fagioli and Douglas Luiz.

IN FOCUS – Is Ruben Amorim the right appointment for Man Utd?