Man Utd’s “superb double-act” could save Amorim’s job

Manchester United supporters are clinging on to all and any green shoots of recovery right now.

On Saturday, Rúben Amorim’s team claimed a much-needed victory going into the international break, beating Sunderland 2-0 at Old Trafford, thanks to goals from Mason Mount and then Benjamin Šeško.

​Next up, the Red Devils take on champions and fierce rivals Liverpool at Anfield, before tough-looking fixtures against Brighton, Nottingham Forest and then Tottenham.

​​​​​Ahead of this challenging period, has Amorim unearthed a deadly attacking duo reminiscent of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole from Manchester United’s glory days?

In numbers: Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole at Man United

Back in 1998/98, Manchester United famously won the treble, beating Newcastle in the FA Cup Final, pipping Arsenal to the Premier League title by a solitary point on the final day, before that historic comeback against Bayern Munich to snatch the Champions League.

Fair to say, Yorke and Cole were key figures in this success, scoring 29 and 24 goals respectively across all competitions.

As the table below documents, this makes them one of the most dangerous attacking duos in Premier League history.

Yorke, who is currently the manager of Trinidad and Tobago, bet you didn’t know that, arrived at Old Trafford from Aston Villa, later representing Blackburn, Birmingham and Sunderland.

Cole meantime, was poached from Newcastle, where he’d been a massive star, turning out for 12 English clubs in total.

Now, does the current iteration of Manchester United have a duo who could replicate the famous Yorke and Cole duo?

Manchester United’s modern-day Yorke and Cole

As Amorim searches for a winning formula, while they may not be a traditional strike partnership, Amad Diallo alongside Bryan Mbeumo could be the pair of attackers to fire Manchester United up the table.

Amad was arguably the Red Devils’ most dangerous attacker last season, registering 11 goals and ten assists, most memorably scoring a stoppage-time winner in the Manchester derby at the Etihad.

After arriving as a teenager from Atalanta for up to £37m, the Ivorian endured an underwhelming loan spell at Rangers, before showcasing his talents at Sunderland, scoring 14 goals for the Black Cats, firing them into the EFL Championship play-offs.

Now, Amad is earning plaudits for his performances back at Man United, with Darren Bent, speaking on talkSPORT, labelled him a “wonderkid”, adding that he is the club’s “best [player] by some distance” after he scored a hat-trick against Southampton in January.

Mbeumo, meanwhile, joined for a reported fee of £71m this summer, having scored 20 Premier League goals for Brentford last season.

The Cameroonian international opened his Man United league account against Burnley in August, while he has had more shots (17) of any player at the club so far this season.

An electric winger, Carl Anka of the Athletic has asserted that he is certainly ‘one of the better forwards in the Premier League’.

So now, how does Amorim get both into the same starting lineup?

Well, Man United signed an entirely new front three in the summer, with Matheus Cunha yet to get off the mark, but Šeško has scored against both Brentford and Sunderland, thereby opening his account for the club.

In a solution to get them all in, Amad was deployed at wing-back for Sunderland’s visit, a decision that proved successful.

At the weekend, as outlined by Adam Bate of Sky Sports, Amad and Mbeumo as a duo were very ‘impressive’, with the Ivorian attempting six dribbles, his highest figure in any home league game under Amorim, with the manager himself stating that “he can help Bryan to play more inside and worry more with the runs behind the defenders”.

Well, Black Cats boss Régis Le Bris certainly agreed, noting afterwards that Man United “are really strong on the side”, adding that this forced him into making a lesser-spotted tactical substitution in the first half.

Meantime, journalist Muhammad Butt labelled them a “superb double-act”, praising their “wonderful chemistry and creativity”, with Carl Anka of the Athletic concluding that this match was 2the best pair have played with each other” to date.

Thus, Amad’s form both last season and at the weekend necessitates getting him into the side somehow.

For tougher fixtures, he should potentially be used at Cunha’s expense in attack, while in games where the onus is on Manchester United to create and break down the opposition, he has to be chosen over Diogo Dalot or Noussair Mazraoui at right-wing-back, given that they offer so little going forward.

In summary, it is still early days, but this duo could be Man United’s best partnership since the glory days of the late-90s.