“It was tough for me” – Ruben Amorim explains the reason behind controversial Joshua Zirkzee sub | OneFootball

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim revealed what prompted him to haul off Joshua Zirkzee in the middle of the first half.

It was more of the same for the Red Devils on their final appearance of 2024 which perfectly summed up a miserable year at Old Trafford.

The home side suffered their third straight defeat in the Premier League and fourth across all competitions, with Newcastle United leaving with three well-deserved points in the bag thanks to early goals from Alexander Isak and Joelinton.

Man Utd were in shambles during the first 30 minutes, with the Magpies threatening to turn it into a routing.

Therefore, Amorim wasn’t willing to wait for the interval to tweak his starting lineup, but instead brought on Kobbie Mainoo in the 32nd minute as a replacement for Joshua Zirkzee in a purely tactical substitution.

To the manager’s credit, the team’s display improved afterwards, albeit the result was unchanged. But as you would expect, the Dutchman didn’t take the decision lightly, as he swiftly headed towards the dressing room, before ending his defiance after a few minutes and solemnly making his way back to the dugout.

Hence, Amorim was naturally asked to explain the reasoning behind this call.

“Were my selections wrong? That is really easy to make that evaluation after the game has started. I have to do it before and I am the only guy who can do it before to try to understand how they play,” said the 39-year-old in his post-match interview with Sky Sports.

“Josh [Zirkzee] is a player for Manchester United and we want more power sometimes in front. We are suffering always the first goal from set pieces so we picked more guys for set pieces.

“We are trying to solve problems in the team but we have a lot of problems and sometimes you push one side, and the other side is open.

Ruben Amorim felt he had to bring in a midfielder for Joshua Zirkzee

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

So while Amorim felt he needed to act swiftly, he insists it wasn’t an easy decision to make.

“You have to think about the team but also the player, but the player is suffering. I thought the team was suffering and we needed another midfielder to have more ball. It was really tough for me to do that, but I’ve spoken to Josh as it was important to express the message. For the team, it was important for Josh to go out.

“I know that Josh is a really good guy. When he went to the tunnel, I can understand that some guys can be in a bad way but he is a really good lad. It is life, and we will support Josh and continue. Newcastle were better than Manchester United, they weren’t better than Josh.”