Journalist shares worrying distance covered statistic from Manchester United draw with Ipswich

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·25. November 2024

Journalist shares worrying distance covered statistic from Manchester United draw with Ipswich

Ruben Amorim made some changes to his team that drew with Ipswich Town on Sunday evening. Manchester United set up in a 3-4-3 formation with Amad Diallo playing as one of the wing-backs and Marcus Rashford occupying the centre-forward role.

It worked to good effect at the beginning. United opened the scoring after two minutes thanks to Rashford following a scintillating run down the right flank from Amad.

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From this point, it looked like it was going to be a long afternoon for Ipswich.

United never really kicked on and went from looking comfortable to vulnerable in the first half before conceding. The Reds have taken their foot off the gas in too many games when we’ve thrown away leads this season.

This falls more on the players than the new coach – but we must be patient with what is being asked of them. After two days of training at Carrington, I wasn’t expecting fluidity from our performance.

There were phases in the second half when it looked like United could finally keep the ball for five minutes. After so little training under Amorim, that’s a positive to take from it, no?

It’s all shaded by the result.

Amorim will be disappointed with the fact his team were unable to get a win on the board against a newly-promoted side who will struggle to remain in the Premier League.

Manchester United distance coverage

(Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

One journalist focused on United’s energy levels against Ipswich because his Sporting CP side was renowned for being physical.

However, the stats don’t read well for a side that didn’t come away with three points.

Rich Fay can reveal United players only ran 102km combined in the 1-1 draw. That’s the second-lowest tally of any United fixture this season.

United players ran a combined 102km against Ipswich, the second lowest distance they have ran in a match this season #mufc
– Sonntag, 24. November 2024

Especially when United were 1-0 up, there was a missed opportunity to kick on because Ipswich weren’t offering much and scored from a deflection.

The fact we didn’t come back into the game and scored a second and third is concerning because the attacking players who came on offered nothing.

Amorim will take time to identify which players are going to carry out of his system and which of the squad can’t be trusted in battle.

United’s starting midfield duo Christian Eriksen and Casemiro may have contributed to United’s problem when it comes to energy on Sunday. As a central midfield duo, they didn’t offer enough energy in these games, and the stats are here to show that.

Amorim was limited with his selection due to having limited time with his players, so we can expect further changes to his team next week.