MANCHESTER, England — With their season now resting solely on success in the Europa League, the Premier League has become little more than an after-thought for Manchester United.
But despite a 1-0 defeat to Wolves at Old Trafford on Sunday, there was a reminder that Ruben Amorim can still gain something from these last domestic fixtures.
In among the flurry of changes made after the gruelling 120 minutes against Lyon on Thursday, Amorim handed a first senior appearance against Wolves to young defender Tyler Fredricson.
In any normal season, Fredricson would be nowhere near the first team. But injuries and rotation presented the 20-year-old with an unexpected opportunity and he took it.
Together with the performances of 18-year-old wing-back Harry Amass and 17-year-old striker Chido Obi off the bench, Amorim can at least say he’s learned from another home league defeat even if he wasn’t in the mood to be overly positive immediately after full-time.
“What I felt today is that they deserved a better memory from their first games,” Amorim said. “Tyler played really well, also Amass played really well, and they deserved better because we were the better team, we played well, created chances, but in the end one opportunity for the opponent and they scored.
“The memories are not the best for these kids but they played well.”
You wouldn’t have guessed Fredricson had never before played senior football. Starting on the left of the back three, he was positionally sound and calm on the ball. His first real test was to dart out of defence to stop a quick Wolves break and he was strong enough to both win the ball and leave Matheus Cunha in a heap on the floor.
A few moments later he collected a pass on the halfway line and strode out into midfield to leave Jørgen Strand Larsen in his wake.
Fredricson has missed a lot of academy football because of injury and hasn’t always looked comfortable playing for the under-21s this season. But he can be happy that he made a seamless step up to senior football and if Amorim needs a centre-back to fill in again, he will be one of the first on the list. He was battling cramp by the end, but managed to complete the 90 minutes before walking off to an ovation from the Stretford End.
When Jose Mourinho was resting players ahead of the 2017 Europa League final one of the players he called up was Scott McTominay. The midfielder did enough in those games to become a regular member of the squad and made more than 250 appearances before joining Napoli last summer. Fredricson will hope to achieve something similar.
His big day would have been better had Wolves substitute Pablo Sarabia not curled a stunning free kick into the top corner 13 minutes from time.
United had enough chances to win the game, particularly through Rasmus Højlund. The Denmark international — now with just one goal in nearly 30 hours of football — looks devoid of any confidence in both his movement and his finishing.
Højlund’s best opportunity came in the second half when Alejandro Garnacho fizzed a perfect cross into the box. He looked destined to tap it in at the back post, but missed everything. He was replaced by Chido not long afterward.
“I think if you look at the games we have several players that miss big chances, not just Rasmus,” Amorim said. “Of course, for Rasmus the game is to score goals because he’s a striker but it’s a team thing. I already said that. Our team should score more goals, it’s not just Rasmus missing chances.”
Scoring goals is just one of the problems facing Amorim.
Wolves secured their first league double over United since the 1979-80 campaign by handing Amorim’s team their 15th league defeat of the season. United haven’t lost more in the league since 1989-90. Eight of the defeats have come at Old Trafford — the most in a single season for 62 years.
Wolves have now won their last five games in a row to move level with United on 38 points. When coach Vitor Pereira arrived in December they were deep in relegation trouble and 13 points behind United.
Wolves are now mathematically safe and, given where they are in the table, it’s probably worth noting that United are, too. With five games to go, it’s possible that United will still have to deal with the embarrassment of finishing just one place outside the relegation places.
West Ham United currently occupy 17th but are just two points behind. They visit Old Trafford on May 11, three days after United’s Europa League semifinal second leg against Athletic Club.
By then Amorim will hope he can celebrate reaching a European final with the chance to win a trophy and qualify for the Champions League. Aside from blooding the next group of youngsters, it’s the only thing United have left.
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