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MAN UNITED’S AFCON WOES EXPECTED, RUBEN AMORIM CANDIDLY REVEALS

Man United's winning streak faces a test as manager Ruben Amorim admits his team "will have time to suffer" without key stars Bryan Mbeumo & Amad Diallo during the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.

Man United’s AFCON woes expected, Ruben Amorim candidly reveals
Ruben Amorim highlights AFCON hurdles for struggling Manchester United - Photo Credit: Getty Images

In their most recent Premier League game at Old Trafford, Manchester United defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 4–2.

Man United has now won three straight games and is sixth in the top flight with 16 points from nine games after defeating the Seagulls.

The Red Devils seem to be boosting their chances this season and making steady improvement after a lacklustre start to the season.

Although it would be ideal for Man United to maintain these recent trends and improve, Ruben Amorim, the Red Devils' head coach, has implied that his team "will have time to suffer."

What did Ruben Amorim, the manager of Man United, say?
During the Africa Cup of Nations, which will take place in Morocco from December 21 to January 18, Manchester United is anticipated to be without Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo.

Mbeumo joined Old Trafford from Brentford this summer, and in his first ten games in all competitions, he has five goals and one assist. In contrast, Diallo has started eight of his nine games this season and contributed two assists.  

Speaking to the media ahead of United's next league match, Amorim openly acknowledged that they "are going to suffer" without these two players during AFCON.

"We shall be able to endure our suffering. As stated by GOAL, "We already knew it would be an opportunity, although we will suffer a little bit."

"Some guys should be playing when I observe the training, but it is difficult to remove some players from the team because they are performing well in the games as well as during the training. Thus, we will have the chance to get assistance from other players."

"They know how we want to play, so if we get better at it, the change in traits will not affect the team's concept or momentum. However, we shall see in general whether we use Amad and Bryan in these games.

When Man United plays Nottingham Forest in the league on November 1 at City Ground, they will be hoping to continue their winning run.

EX-CAPTAIN NEVILLE CLAIMS SUBSTITUTIONS MADE MANCHESTER UNITED "WORSE" AGAINST WOLVES

Gary Neville slams Ruben Amorim’s "weird" substitutions and tactical shifts after Manchester United's 1-1 draw with bottom-side Wolves.

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Was the halftime substitution a tactical error or an injury?

Gary Neville said that the performance of Manchester United in their match against winless Wolves was ‘the baddest of the bad.’

United would have moved fourth in the league with a win at Old Trafford last night, although Wolves, who had two points in 18 games before kickoff, ended their record of 11 straight losses with a 1-1 draw.

Amorim’s team had been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by a League Two team, Grimsby, in August, but Neville was convinced that United had hit rock bottom in a game that could have been even more one-sided were it not for two important saves by Senne Lammens.

“That was the baddest of the bad," the former United captain declared on the Gary Neville podcast.

“They weren’t just booed off at the final whistle. The fans waited in the stadium to continue to boo them. They’ve gone backwards.”

United had won at Newcastle 1-0 on Boxing Day, despite being plagued by an injury list that already lacked skipper Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, and Matthijs de Ligt, as well as three players on African Cup of Nations duty.

But they remained flat right from the first whistle, and the header by Ladislav Krejci just before the half bottled Joshua Zirkzee's deflected shot.

Amorim’s formation choice of 3-4-3 was brought into focus once more as the Portuguese opted to go back to his preferred tactic of four at the back against Newcastle.

“This isn’t right. I’ve watched enough of United over the last five or six weeks to know what looks right and what isn’t right,” Neville had declared 20 minutes into his commentary on Sky Sports.

“Because, when I see that we go back (to three at the back) after five minutes tonight, I’m thinking, no, Ruben, why have you done that?

"The manager has to look at that and think, I got that wrong. I complicated it."

However, Amorim decided to substitute Zirkzee at halftime and brought on an 18-year-old Jack Fletcher, who made his third appearance at the senior level.

Regarding substitutions made by Amorim, Neville further added, “They made Manchester United worse. Every single substitution was ridiculous.”

‘If Zirkzee was injured, and it was a tactical substitution, that was a very poor one.’ But Zirkzee isn't Eric Cantona, not by a long shot, and he had to get out there for physicality, for presence, for experience.”

SEE LISANDRO MARTINEZ’S FURIOUS REACTION AFTER MAN UTD’S SHOCK WOLVES DRAW

Lisandro Martinez demands more after Man Utd’s 1-1 draw with bottom-placed Wolves. United ended 2025 sixth in the Premier League.

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Martinez slams United’s tactical mistakes

Stand-in captain Lisandro Martinez was mad that Manchester United dropped points against Wolves, who are at the bottom of the league.

United came into the last game of 2025 after a good win against Newcastle on Boxing Day and were expected to easily beat Wolves.

Joshua Zirkzee scored first for United, but they didn't take their chances. Ladislav Krejci's header tied the game for Wolves, 1-1.

It was only their third point in 19 games, and it stopped their 11-game losing streak. United fans booed at the end of the game.

When Martinez was asked if it felt like a disappointing point, he said, 100 percent.

We are very disappointed. We can't keep drawing or losing points at home. We have to win.

We want to be at the top, competing with the best.

We can't drop points in games like this. We just have to accept it and be hungry for the next game.

Martinez was captain again because Bruno Fernandes is still recovering from an injury.

When United coach Ruben Amorim was asked about injured players for the game against Leeds on Sunday, he didn't give much away. Leeds are really wanting to beat United for the first time since 2010.

Martinez said to MUTV, You can either make excuses, or you can be strong and say, 'We're dropping points, so we need to go for the next one and show what we can do.'

We need to work together and do the easy things to get the three points.

United is in sixth place in the league at the end of 2025, only two points behind Liverpool for the last Champions League spot. Liverpool has a game in hand.

They could be in a better position if they had been better in both boxes. Leeds has been playing well lately, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin doing great up front.

Martinez added, It's about us. I don't like to think about other teams.

I'm thinking about what we can do to get better as a team every day, and we have to learn from this game.

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