Neville on Mainoo striker selection: Amorim needs to simplify things!

Amorim selected midfielder Kobbie Mainoo as his centre-forward option, benching established attackers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, which led to United’s most recent loss under strange circumstances.

In a further ironic turn of events, Palace’s recognised forward Jean-Philippe Mateta scored both goals in the 2-0 triumph as Amorim’s team laboured in front of goal once more.

While United’s head coach cannot alter his style of play at this time, Neville claimed he must make some adjustments since he thinks Amorim’s team selection gave Palace a lot of confidence to win.

Gary Neville revealed in his podcast that, “The only thing I can think he’s doing is one of two things—experimenting to the point whereby he’s just trying to find a solution that works in the system he wants to play, or he doesn’t like the strikers he’s got,” said Neville about Mainoo’s centre-forward selection.

“I thought Bruno Fernandes was going to play in that position or Alejandro Garnacho might play up front and Fernandes to the right; when I saw Mainoo as a centre-forward or dropping in to that position, I thought it’s okay, you’ll get control in the game and you can get decent football. And it can con you; it can kid you.

“It’s about putting the ball in the back of the net, it’s about getting bodies in the box, it’s about getting bodies across defenders, and making sure that you’re really creating chances, and that’s not going to happen that much with Mainoo up front as everything has to be perfect.

“In Mainoo, Garnacho, and Amad Diallo, you’ve got three quite lightweight players—really talented, good players—but everything has to be absolutely perfect. And from a Crystal Palace point of view, if I’m a defender, I’m thinking I fancy that I’m going to outmuscle them.

“They are sharp and they chip in with goals, but they’re not rapid quick and there’s no real goalscorers there, so as a defender I’m thinking, ‘We’ve got a chance.’

“I’m not saying that if they saw Rasmus Hojlund up front all of a sudden they’d be starting to panic, but they’d be thinking at least they’ve got a physical presence and they’ve got a battle. Joshua Zirkzee is a big lad.

“I’m not saying they’re brilliant players, but I just felt that when I saw that team, I thought Crystal Palace would be fancying it.

“He’s got to simplify it a little bit. While he might not like Hojlund, he might not think Zirkzee is great and might not like other players; he’s got to pick the players that he has and stick with them.

“I was watching it and thought, ‘I’d be surprised if Crystal Palace doesn’t score a couple of goals, and I can’t see how United is going to score.’ Where’s it going to come from? I think changes are going to have to be made.”