The Portuguese deployed captain Bruno Fernandes in a deeper midfield position against Tottenham alongside the out-of-favour Casemiro, recalled and starting for the first time since December with Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte, Toby Collyer and Mason Mount all injured and Christian Eriksen missing through illness.
United’s latest loss came against the backdrop of a new injury crisis that saw a total of 12 first-team players ruled out of the trip to Spurs, with Amorim forced to name a nine-man bench featuring eight teenagers who had never previously made a single senior appearance for the club.
Gary Neville launched a scathing attack on Manchester United’s tactical set-up against Tottenham under Ruben Amorim, describing their approach as “awful”, “absolute madness” and “embarrassing” that “breaks all rules in football”.
The Red Devils are reeling after suffering an eighth defeat in their last 12 Premier League games in north London on Sunday, with James Maddison’s early goal enough to settle a hugely disappointing spectacle between the top-flight’s two most underachieving teams this season.
It was a system that simply did not work against Spurs, with United legend Neville incredulous during commentary as he slammed their approach with a withering assessment on Sky Sports.
