Manchester United icon Paul Scholes did not seem to be a huge advocate for Ruben Amorim deciding to play new signing Patrick Dorgu as an inverted right wing-back on his debut
Paul Scholes has seemingly criticised Ruben Amorim’s decision to play Manchester United new boy Patrick Dorgu as an inverted wing-back.
The Red Devils boss, 40, succeeded Erik ten Hag back in November and is predominantly working with the group he inherited from the Dutchman. United did, though, dip into the transfer market in January to sign Dorgu, 20, from Lecce.
Dorgu shone as a left wing-back for Lecce, who pocketed around £25million by selling the Danish international to United.
But despite the fact Diogo Dalot has been filling in on the left this season, Amorim surprised people by playing Dorgu and Dalot as inverted wing-backs in Friday night’s uninspiring 2-1 win over Leicester City in the FA Cup, with the former lasting just 45 minutes.
Scholes took to Instagram after the match to comment – and he didn’t seem to be too impressed with how Dorgu was used. “Inverted wing-backs… you saw it at OT first,” the former United midfielder wrote in a post shared on his story.
Intriguingly, Scholes wasn’t the only former Manchester United star to question Amorim’s decision to deploy Dorgu on the right-hand side rather than the left, particularly given he was taken off at the break.
Roy Keane was covering the match as a pundit for ITV and questioned whether Amorim’s call was unfair on the new boy. He said: “There is a lack of belief, lack of confidence. They’ve brought new players in, you’re thinking he’s [Dorgu] going to play in his position and he’s playing right wing-back.
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“You think, is that unfair on players? And you look at the urgency for the goal [Leicester opener], it’s given away cheaply, people not staying with their runners. I just look at it from United’s point of view and think, my goodness, is this what it’s come to?”
Amorim, however, defended his selection decision by insisting Dorgu was capable of playing on the right, saying: “He played a lot of time at Lecce on the right and the left. That is one of the characteristics we pay attention to a lot, to have a player like him,” he said.
“He was a little bit anxious with first touch of the ball. It’s a different league for him, different speed of the game, but he did well. He had pace, strength, he will improve a lot and we as a team need to play better to help these new guys to perform at the right level.
“The position, you can see in WyScout he can play both sides.”
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