Jamie Carragher expects Ruben Amorim to make some bold changes to his starting XI when he takes charge of Manchester United.
The 39-year-old will officially begin his new role at Old Trafford on November 11, with his first game at the helm coming away to Ipswich in the Premier League on November 24.
Amorim arrives with high expectations after impressing as manager of current club Sporting Lisbon, winning Portugal’s Primeira Liga twice in four years with an adventurous set-up.
This has led to plenty of speculation as to what this could mean for the Red Devils, who could see a shake-up to their regular line-up.
The Portuguese coach is known to favour a 3-4-3 formation, preferring wingers to full-backs in the wing-back positions.
And former Liverpool defender Carragher has boldly suggested that winger Alejandro Garnacho could be the man to fill in one of these roles.
Appearing on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, the pundit gave his predicted starting XI under Amorim, which saw him put Garnacho and full-back Noussair Mazraoui on either side of a midfield four.
Explaining his choice, Carragher said: “I’ve almost put one attacking fullback on one side, and Garnacho on the other.
“Because when you look at his set up at Sporting Lisbon, at times, these players are actually asked to be really high, and wingers, and they’re going to have to be good in 1v1.
“And again, that’s talking about Manchester United dominating with the ball, maybe being at Old Trafford.”
The ex-England international admitted that there could be some pitfalls to this selection against strong attacking opposition.
Carragher highlighted United’s away trip to Arsenal on December 4: “When you actually look at the fixture list, very early on, I think they’ve got Arsenal away.
Jamie Carragher tipped Alejandro Garnacho for a big positional change under Ruben Amorim[/caption]
He believes the attack-minded winger could be given greater defensive responsibility under the new head coach[/caption]
He went on: “That’ll be an interesting decision. If you’ve got Garnacho and he starts well, maybe in the left wing-back role.
“But you’re playing against [Bukayo] Saka and Arsenal are dominating, and they’re at home and they’re on the front foot, and Garnacho’s getting asked to play as a left full-back.”
Carragher’s fellow pundit however, former Man United striker Dimitar Berbatov, cast doubt over this idea, simply saying: “No, no.”
He went on: “I don’t think that’s going to work.
“Garnacho to defend, I don’t think he’s going to like that. Maybe [Luke] Shaw, let’s say, if Shaw is fit enough.”
This wasn’t the only big call in Carragher’s predicted starting line-up, as his back three also saw no room for Harry Maguire.
Instead, he opted for summer signing Matthijs de Ligt as the central defender, with Lisandro Martinez and £52million recruit Leny Yoro either side of him.
Carragher admitted he could not foresee Maguire and de Ligt playing together in defence, as he explained: “I actually think Martinez in this position, [it] might suit him. [He] gives you that balance with a left foot.
He saw no future for Harry Maguire and Matthijs De Ligt as a centre-back pairing[/caption]
He continued: “I don’t think De Ligt or Maguire could play in the same back three, because whoever was in the wide position will get really exposed.
“Yoro‘s come in as a young player, he’s a project for the club. He’s only 18. You’d want to work with him, get him in. [He’s a] young player, probably can deal with maybe the pace down the sides of it as well.”
Elsewhere in Carragher’s new-look XI, captain Bruno Fernandes formed part of a front three, with Rasmus Hojlund centre-forward and Marcus Rashford to the left of him.
Despite usually operating as an attacking midfielder, Fernandes was pushed forward, as Manuel Ugarte, who played under Amorim at Sporting between 2021 and 2023, and Kobbie Mainoo took the two central midfield roles.
