The head coach of Manchester United, Ruben Amorim, said his decision to find Harry Maguire as an emergency striker against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday by claiming that his central defender could be more dangerous in the box than his natural strikers.
The former graduate of the United Academy, Anthony Elanga, scored the only goal of the game at the end of a lung building in the first five minutes on the City Ground. After Amorim chased 88 goals for minutes, he brought Maguire from the bank to align himself next to Joshua Zirkzee for the final exchanges.
The highly towering defender had three efforts, the last of which was cleared by Murillo the line. Maguire’s shots were a combined expected destination (XG) of 0.59. The three other strikers of United – Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Circle – only have 0.22 XG between them.
Maguire achieved more XG in eight minutes when Hojlund was able to raise appearances in his previous nine Premier League appearances.
“At the end of the game, if the opponent only protects the box when you look at the defenders of Nottingham, you are very convenient,” said Amorim. “And then we can reach the last third with a six -line of six, not five and a six -line, but then we have to put the ball in the box because it is difficult to create the combinations to get into the box to achieve the gate.
“Harry Maguire, if he attacks in set pieces, may be the best player we have in our team. You are not a defender in the box, you are a striker.
Garnacho experienced a particularly frustrating evening. The Argentine striker was winced by Elanga when he broke the Deadlock and completed six own shots – everyone could not even force Matz Sels to rescue.
Amorim quickly defended his misfiring. “The most important thing for me is again when he has to run back, he runs back,” insisted the Portuguese boss. “Of course we want a player who has one against you, sometimes he tries too much, he has [Patrick] Dorgu to make a movement, but I think he wants to help the team do his best. Sometimes he doesn’t make the best choice, but you can refer to any player today. “