Bryan Mbeumo has made a significant impact on Manchester United’s tactics this season, forcing head coach Ruben Amorim to make a major change – and it’s not related to his personal goal tally. The 26-year-old has been a revelation since his £65million plus add-ons move from Brentford in the summer, netting five goals in 10 appearances across all competitions. He was particularly impressive in Saturday’s victory over Brighton, scoring twice with strikes from the edge of the box and a powerful shot into the top corner.
However, it’s Mbeumo’s skill at taking corners that has truly left its mark on Amorim. Last season, Bruno Fernandes was typically the one delivering attacking set pieces for United, with Christian Eriksen also contributing despite his limited minutes. Amad, a left-footer, took the third most in the squad.
United were lacking a regular, left-footed player to take corners who would play a significant amount of Premier League minutes, but Mbeumo’s arrival has changed that.
He and Fernandes have been sharing corner-taking duties this season, with an almost even split. Mbeumo has been tasked with taking them from United’s right-hand side, while Fernandes delivers from the left.
As a result, United no longer take short corners and instead aim deeper, beyond the perimeter of the 18-yard area for the ball to be crossed in or worked inside.
This tactic is proving successful, with United scoring three goals from an expected 0.49 goals (xG) per game from set-pieces this season.
Whilst the Red Devils have posed a consistent attacking threat, they have given away 0.53 expected goals from set-pieces per match, the third-worst record in the division and a significant increase from 0.34 per game last term.
Nevertheless, United secured their third consecutive Premier League victory against Brighton, a result which propelled the Red Devils into the top six for the first time this season.
Reflecting on the match, Amorim appeared thoroughly satisfied. He said: “[It] was really important.
“Also, the performance, we had to play different games in different moments of the game, and I think the players understood really well what to do in every moment.
“We suffered a little bit in the end. But it would not be Manchester United without suffering a little bit. But I think we deserved the win against a very, very good team, a team that is really hard to press really high. But we did well.”
