Former Liverpool and England player Michael Owen, working for Amazon Prime TV, works on the pitch ahead of the English Premier League football match between Crystal Palace and Bournemouth at Selhurst Park in south London Pundit Michael Owen has made some bold predictions about the lineup new Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim could field.
Image: Glyn Kirk/AFP
Pundit Michael Owen believes Manchester United’s Ruben Amorim may well bench midfielder Casemiro, when the new coach takes charge of the Red Devils next week.
The 44-year-old Owen, a Premier League champion with United in the latter stages of his career, believes it will be a tough choice between Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte but insisted he knew which player Amorim would go with.
“He can only pick 11 players and we did debate Ugarte or Casemiro, it was a bit of a toss of a coin between the two,” Owen told Premier League Productions.
“But we just felt he would go with Ugarte because he’s played under him before, that might just tip it in Ugarte’s favour.”
In his last home game as Sporting Lisbon coach, Ruben Amorim saw his side deliver a thumping 4-1 victory over Manchester City in the Champions League in Lisbon on Tuesday evening.
Following Erik ten Hag’s departure as United coach, Amorim was unveiled as the new man to lead the team. Former United player Ruud van Nistelrooy was appointed as interim coach until a permanent replacement could be found.
Owen also predicted that Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Leny Yoro will get the nod as Amorim’s back three.
“I think that’s an important position for Ruben Amorim.Amorim has a reputation of having that central defender come into the midfield a little bit so that player has got to be decent on the ball.
“De Ligt and Martinez either side are aggressive defenders, they like being up against strikers, so that middle player has got to be good on the ball and Yoro fits the bill.
“I think if everyone is fit that’s the back-three he would pick.”