Ruben Amorim started Patrick Dorgu at right wing-back against Leicester City.
Two matches into Manchester United’s 2024-25 FA Cup campaign, this team has already provided plenty of dramatic moments that will do well in an end-0f-season highlights package. They followed up their gritty, hard-fought penalty shootout win over Arsenal in the third round with victory over Leicester City in the fourth thanks to a goal scored in the 93rd minute.
Was it offside? Maybe a little, (maybe a lot) but United made it through to the fifth round with a goal scored in “Fergie Time” in front of a watching Sir Alex Ferguson, no less. This team found a way to turn what could have been an embarrassing defeat into a triumphant — and cathartic — 2-1 victory.
But before we can get into all of that, we have to repeat ourselves: Ruben Amorim started Patrick Dorgu at right wing-back against Leicester City.
United spent the majority of last year without a left-footed player who could play at left-back or left wing-back. It was a problem that put a hard ceiling on what this team could achieve — be it under Erik ten Hag, interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy or Amorim himself. Several players tried their best to moonlight in the position, but their discomfort at passing and receiving the ball on their left foot eventually became apparent.
United struggle to hold width down the left flank. They struggle to deliver crosses from the left. United fans have taken to singing the Bonnie Tyler song It’s a Heartache to get behind Amorim, but her other famous record — Holding Out For A Hero – could be retrofitted for a player chant for whoever makes that left wing-back role their own.
United needed a left-footed defender to help improve them. The need became even more pressing in a week where fans learned Lisandro Martinez would be unavailable for the remainder of the season with an ACL injury, and Luke Shaw suffered a small setback in his return from injury. United spent £25.2million ($31.2m; €30m) to secure Dorgu from Leece in the winter window… only for Amorim to play him at right wing-back.
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Three matches into his United tenure, Amorim told fans that “the storm will come”. Against Leicester City, he momentarily steered against the waves, playing his long sought-after left-footer on the opposite side in the first half.
“He played a lot of time at Lecce on the right and the left,” said the head coach in his post-match press conference. “That is one of the characteristics we pay attention to a lot, to have a player like him. He was a little bit anxious with the first touch of the ball. It’s a different league for him, different speed of the game, but he did well.”
Dorgu performed well across his 45-minute debut on the right. He dovetailed with Amad ahead of him and dropped back when needed to protect Leny Yoro. He was a useful outlet out wide for a team that can be hesitant to take the initiative.
Amorim did not reveal why took Dorgu off at half time for Alejandro Garnacho, but it was a promising performance. Amorim suggested afterwards that he may continue selecting him on the right.
“If you see the history of Dorgu in the last team, he played a lot of games on the right,” said Amorim.
“We have to have wingers who can play both sides like (Diogo) Dalot. It’s a really important thing; sometimes you need a left foot on the right side to come inside and connect in a different way, and sometimes you need a right-footer to connect and cross more balls.”
The head coach has form for using left-footed players at right wing-back. Geovany Quenda impressed many with his performances there, most notably in Sporting CP’s 4-1 victory over Manchester City earlier this season. But United do not appear capable of the football with which Amorim’s previous team had such success. They beat Leicester but, in Amorim’s own words, “it was a good result, not a good performance”.
This was yet another game in which United were stuck slowly passing the ball in a horseshoe from one wing-back, through the back three, and into the other. It was another game in which United’s midfielders struggled to receive, turn and carry the ball through central areas. It was another game in which Rasmus Hojlund struggled for service in the final third. When Bobby De Cordova-Reid gave the away side the lead in the 42nd minute, another Old Trafford defeat for Amorim loomed.
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The Briefing: Man United 2 Leicester 1 – The Garnacho effect, that first-half dirge, Dorgu on the right?
The head coach threw a surprise into this game with Dorgu but went on to make sensible tactical tweaks. To cover for Martinez’s absence, Noussair Mazraoui moved into the left centre-back role in the first half, before Yoro stepped in for the second. When United went in search of an equaliser, Joshua Zirkzee was brought on for Kobbie Mainoo to help link play and battle for the ball in the air.
Yet it was swapping Dorgu for Garnacho that provided the spark for change. Save for a notable instance where he shot at the near post rather than square the ball to Hojlund, Garnacho supplied multiple passes into attacking areas to get his side into a rhythm in the second half.
Zirkzee’s 68th-minute equaliser calmed nerves, before Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire and a controversial decision from an assistant referee got this team over the line. Was it a deserved win? Perhaps. Cup competitions rarely pay attention to who is entitled to what. This team were flat in the first half. They were courageous when they needed to be in the second.
“Today is a feeling of the win and the fans go home with that feeling of win,” said Amorim. “They perform really well, help us a lot to change the game. It’s hard to point to something to give them confidence, just the spirit in the second half, more energy, more second balls.
“The rest, there is a lot to improve. We already knew that, we need to do better.”
United can get better than this. They need a bit more help, and consistency, in doing so.
(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
