Man Utd need to improve in almost every position. Man Utd need to improve in almost every department tbh.
But when it comes to on field matters, we know that for Ruben Amorim to be successful, he will need the right players for the job. He doesn't have that and nor has most of the recent managers hence why they ultimately ended up being sacked.
Should INEOS not want the same fate for the man that is their first managerial appointment, they will need to give him what he wants.
So far, the United boss has gotten a young left-back from Lecce in Patrick Dorgu, a very promising 18 year old in Ayden Heaven, another youngster from Paraguay in Diego Leon and the two best of the lot Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo who will slot right into the team and instantly make us better.
However, a few young players and a couple PL-proven stars is not enough. Striker, goalkeeper and midfielder have all been talked about as areas of improvement for his team yet nothing has been done to improve those positions.
Every position has been discussed except one: Wing-back, the most important of all.
So firstly, why are wing-backs so important to such a formation as the 3-4-3?
When looking at that setup, we can see that there are no traditional wingers, full-backs or even wider midfielders like you get in a 4-3-3. Instead, all of the width is coming from two players: the wing-backs.
In attacks, they provide that width down the flanks in the final third as the front three remain quite narrow. These wing-backs push high and wide when the team is attacking and turn into more traditional wingers when in possession.
This can cause the opposition defense to become stretched as defenders are pulled out of position and they can also open passing lanes.
If the wing-backs don't provide this width, the midfield then becomes too crowded and attacks are much easier for oppositions to defend against.
They can also help to create overloads as they often link up with the front three to create 2v1s or 3v2s as well as combine for give-and-go's and one-two's. These overlapping and underlapping runs are vital in trying to breakdown low blocks.
When it comes to the defensive side of things, they have to deal with 1v1s and have to prevent opposition wingers from influencing their attacks.
More than anything though, they have to be super fit to be able to go up and down the pitch with ease - it would also help if they were quick - which would help when it comes to transitions for us and the opponent. The amount of ground they cover is one of the most in the team (~10km).
They are also responsible for supporting the back three and making it a back five without the ball. If they fall asleep or are slow to get back, this could leave the back three exposed.
Wing-backs are also key in the build-up. They receive switches of play, have to drive forward with the ball and try to recycle the possession. These two positions can give you some release from pressure due to their wide positioning.
The point of wing-backs in a simple explanation is to attack like wingers and defend like full-backs. They're a hybrid of those two positions essentially doing the jobs of two roles.
⚠ If you don't have the players for these roles, they can pretty much cause the system to fail. They might have poor decision-making, weak in 1v1s, bad crossers of the ball. All of these things then make it easier for oppositions to press you, your team become weaker down the flanks and in attack, you're not strong enough.
Effect on United
So with all of that in mind, let's look at how it can be applied to our team.
The major problem is that we don't actually have wing-backs. All we have are traditional wingers and full-backs, some of whom can do a job as a wing-back (Mbeumo, Dalot, Amad) but none of them are specialists.
How Amorim sorts out exactly who to play as his wing-backs is another matter.
Looking at whether the likes of Dalot, Mazraoui, Dorgu, Leon, Amad and Mbeumo (these are the players I assume are going to be used as wing-backs) can all go forward is the first thing.
With Amad and Mbeumo, we know they can. Mbeumo's 20 goals and 7 assists in the league last season put him as one of the top goal contributors for 24/25. Most of those came as a traditional right-winger in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Amad whenever he played was also highly influential for United scoring 8 goals and having 8 assists in just 26 PL matches. Here's a post I did discussing Amad's best position.
The two of them are also players who are capable of getting up and down the pitch comfortably and can do it at a good pace. Mbeumo in particular shines here given how much he worked for Thomas Frank last season. He covered a total distance of 387.6km which was the third most in the Premier League.
Neither of them are truly defensive though, and aren't specialists in build-up play. I'm not sure they are the best at 1v1s too.
As for the other four, they are kind of the opposite. Much better defensively than Mbeumo and Amad, but all of Mazraoui, Dorgu, Leon and Dalot aren't the strongest going forward. Between Mazraoui, Dorgu and Dalot they only had 3 goals and 7 assists with majority of those coming from Dalot (all 3 goals were scored by him). Dorgu contributed nothing for United although he did only join in January.
I find that Mazraoui is the best footballer out of them all but isn't the most attack-minded player. He didn't get involved with attacks as much as you would want from a traditional full-back let alone wing-back. I also find that he is best as a right centre-back rather than out wide.
Dalot can be quite inconsistent both in defense and offense. Similarly to Mazraoui though, he does have a great engine on him and does give his best every time he steps foot onto the field but you just never know what you're going to get with him.
He can also fall asleep at times especially on the back post which is a problem he and United have had for quite a few years. This makes even less sense when you think about it as we have more defenders to cover and more at the back post given the back three/five.
I'm not going to discuss Dorgu and Leon too much as they still have a lot of developing to do. However, what we've seen of them so far, is promising.
With Dorgu and Leon, both are new players and young besides which makes things even more difficult with them. They could work out but they are unknown. It's also harsh to put this type of pressure onto young players.
People want Amad and Mbeumo to play on the right flank with one as a no 10 and the other as the RWB but defensively, they could be a problem.
A player like Mazraoui is too good and too consistent in a number of positions to not be on the pitch. While he and Dalot can play on the left as well which will provide more experience than Leon and Dorgu, they aren't left-footers, which is a problem.
Amorim does favour Dalot in my opinion and I think he will be the starting right wing-back especially for the beginning of the season or in big matches where we may have to be more defensive, which might not go down well with the fan base given the other players we have and Dalot being quite divisive.
For the defenders, they also aren't the best in possession. Mazraoui and Dalot are decent but Dorgu not so much and Leon has only just arrived. They're also not known for being strong carriers of the ball either which will be an issue in terms of the build-up play.
Because they aren't the best in possession, they may not release pressure whenever needed and mayhaps invite more of it due to a lack of composure on the ball.
Maybe Amorim sees something in this group of players that makes him feel like he can turn them into the next best wing-back. This isn't ideal because it could take time and are we in a position to be taking risks? I'd rather we go and get ready-made players for those positions similarly to Cunha and Mbeumo in attacking midfield. This would give us more of a chance to progress in our style and to be successful sooner rather than later.
Although there has been talk of him being happy with the squad so...👀🤷♂️
Key to success at Sporting
But what made our manager our manager was down to the success he had at his previous club.
The wing-backs were essential to the success Amorim had in Lisbon. They provided him the width he required, were key in the transitions, vital for the overloads, gave him a goal threat and were pressing machines.
They were at the ehart of his 3-4-3 system and as you can see, they did a hell of a lot for Ruben Amorim, or any manager that uses this formation.
When Pedro Porro and Nuno Mendes left Sporting, how the team attacked changed and in fact they became more predictable with how they pressed which resulted in it being less effective. Their replacements also took time to adapt with results becoming more inconsistent.
That 20/21 title run was led by their wing-backs and how effective they were both as players and in the structure of Amorim's setup.
Some of the current best wing-backs are so important to the success of a lot of their teams. At the moment, the best of the best is easily PSG, although they aren't actually wing-backs as they play in a 4-3-3 but considering how they play, it's almost as if they are. Luis Enrique's all-conquering Parisians have the two best in the business Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, the latter of which made his name at Sporting under Ruben Amorim.
These two for PSG scored 17 goals and had 22 assists between them last season. Both are good defensively but are awesome going forward. On top of it all, they are rapid. They are two of the quickest players out there which is a major help in them being the ideal wing-back.
Another strong example is Liverpool's Jeremie Frimpong. What he did for Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen is the reason why LFC spent £30m on him. I thought he would be perfect for Amorim.
I also find Denzel Dumfries to be a great option on the right as well. After his performances against Barcelona, it elevated his game even further.
These are the type of wing-backs that we need to be looking at. They are prime examples of what's needed for those positions and also how vital they are in the success of a team.
United's best bet
My best option from those available for Amorim would be Bryan Mbeumo. It's not ideal for him to play as the RWB because I feel like it would take away from his best qualities which are further forward. I don't think we necessarily bought him to play on the flanks as well. He is more a right-sided no 10 and that is where we should use him.
However, given how good he is going forward, his work rate, decent ability at defending, his solid build and being able to go up and down the pitch with relative ease, he fits the bill of what's needed for a wing-back more than any other option.
As for the left, I would like someone more expereinced but I'm going to have to go with Patrick Dorgu. I know that he is a bit inconsistent which isn't unsurprising but I do believe he's shown a lot of progress from when he first arrived. Dorgu has been getting gradually better although he has a lot to work on.
I don't want to have a right-footer like Mazraoui or Dalot on the left. That would give us a bit of imbalance even if they are more experienced and better than Dorgu.
We'll have to wait and see but who knows, maybe Leon will prove to be him.
I would also finally like to add that us fans didn't really look at this position as a top priority. We were more focused on GK and striker but I would give us some leeway and say that this could be down to the fact that we've never played this formation before and in turn, never realised how important wing-backs are to it.
Hopefully with this post, you can see just how vital those positions are in this system and it's success.
I'm not sure why the manager wouldn't push for a wing-back or two more than say those no 10 positions where we were already stacked even before the signings of Cunha and Mbeumo. He would know better than anyone of the importance of wing-backs in a 3-4-3.
That's my opinion on the matter though. What do you think? Should there have been and should there still be more focus on trying to sign wing-backs? Or, do you believe that other positions are more a priority and that who we have should be good enough to get us by, at least for this season?
Want more reads like this? Check out the Top 50 UK Football Blogs. Take a look at no 33 👀.
Ruben Amorim: Creator: Ben Roberts Photo | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2025 Getty Images via Goal
Bryan Mbeumo | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)
Amad | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)