Ruben Amorim explains playing Kobbie Mainoo as a striker after Man Utd lose to Crystal Palace

Ruben Amorim explains playing Kobbie Mainoo as a striker after Man Utd lose to Crystal Palace

In Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace, Ruben Amorim gave an explanation for his strange choice to play Kobbie Mainoo as a striker for Manchester United.

At Old Trafford, a brace from Jean-Philippe Mateta punished United to their seventh loss in 11 games, continuing their terrible Premier League record.

Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund were not included in the Red Devils starting lineup, which caused a lot of surprise when the lineups were revealed.

Both have received harsh criticism this season, but because of their absence, United lacked a natural center-forward.

It was assumed that one of Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho or Amad Diallo would start up top but as the game kicked-off it was Mainoo who was playing as the No.9.

The unusual tactic started off really well as the England midfielder struck the post in the opening minutes but the Eagles’ defence quickly sussed what was what and limited his impact for much of the game.

The 19-year-old was subbed off in the 70th minute, with United registering just two shots on target

Traditionally a box-to-box midfielder, Mainoo did play in a more advanced role in United’s 2-0 Europa League win over FCSB, where he scored the second goal.

Defending the tactical change in his post-match press conference, Amorim said: ‘Today we decided to play with Kobbie, it’s not against Rasmus or Josh.

‘Sometimes the team creates situations by using the right characteristics. It’s not because you play with two scorers that you’re going to score more goals

Speaking before kick-off, Amorim explained his lineup, telling Premier League Productions: ‘Try to play in different positions, to create some danger. We also want to improve the way we take the game in the last third – we need to have more possession.

‘I like him [Mainoo] with the ball. Sometimes you have more space in the build-up phase.

‘I think he’s a good player because he can hold the ball. He is very good one against one and he is creative. We need creativity in the last third.’