Manchester United exposed another insider? Amolin angrily criticized Jollo for poor defense, Casemiro was substituted and ended up wearing his jacket inside out.

Manchester United currently sits fifth in the Premier League, still holding a strong chance to qualify for the Champions League. However, the situation is not as promising as the table suggests. The Red Devils will face Aston Villa, who are on a nine-game winning streak, away next match. Head coach Ruben Amolin faces challenges including key player absences, fragile defense, and unrest in the locker room.

The UK’s Daily Mail reported that Ruben Amolin was surprised to learn from English media before the match that he intended to switch to a 3-4-3 formation, and he was questioned about the tactical change in pre-match interviews.

During preparations, Manchester United kept team information strictly confidential and even refused to disclose the status of African Cup players to confuse Bournemouth. Unexpectedly, someone leaked the information.

Manchester United was also disappointed that Mazraoui could not participate in that match. The club hoped he would leave only after the Bournemouth game, but Morocco’s first African Cup match is on Sunday, December 21, so the request for Mazraoui to play was denied. Of course, they were fair and did not let the international players participate in Real Betis’ La Liga match on Monday.

Manchester United had no grounds to contest this. The club reported to FIFA, but FIFA ruled that the Moroccan Football Federation was following regulations, and players traveling to the tournament should be released seven days before the first match. The Red Devils could only blame the Premier League schedule; if matches were held on weekends, such disputes would not arise.

In the Sunday away game at Villa, Manchester United will definitely miss Mbemmo, Amad Diallo, Mazraoui, and Casemiro. It is also uncertain whether De Ligt and Maguire will recover from injury. Amolin finds it difficult to field a reliable 3-4-3 lineup, and rumors suggest he might switch to a four-defender formation!

At Old Trafford, Manchester United conceded four goals to Bournemouth, who have not won in their last six matches. Bournemouth became the first team to score three or more goals in three consecutive away games against Manchester United. Captain Adam Smith said his team exploited weaknesses in Amolin’s new tactics to punish the Red Devils.

Although Amolin still deployed three center-backs—Lenny Jollo, Eden Haven, and Luke Shaw—during the game, Jollo often played as right-back, and Amad advanced more in midfield, resembling a 4-1-3-2 formation. Smith noted that Manchester United’s movement made their attack harder to defend, but their defense had large gaps.

“Such movement is really hard to defend against. Mount cuts inside and drops deep, Dalo moves into midfield, Luke Shaw can push forward and to the left, and Cunha can also drop back. This style is tough to handle,” Smith explained. “But from another angle, you can punish Manchester United severely on counterattacks. So maybe that’s why the score was so high.”

Data shows this is the 23rd different defensive lineup Amolin has used in the Premier League since taking charge of Manchester United. However, defenders often reacted slowly, creating huge gaps in midfield for Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes. The coach was especially unhappy with French center-back Jollo’s defending.

A video captured Amolin climbing the stairs to the Old Trafford coaching bench, spreading his arms while complaining to his assistant about Jollo. In Portuguese, he angrily said, “The ball has been rolling for half an hour, what is Lenny (Jollo) doing?”

There is no clear indication when this video was taken during the match, but it likely occurred when Manchester United was pegged back to 2-2 due to Jollo’s positional error that allowed an opponent’s offside goal. Jollo was substituted before the 70th minute, replaced by Lisandro Martinez. At that time, Manchester United was trailing 2-3, and Amolin even switched to a 4-4-2 formation, playing 4-2-4 at times in the second half!

Before Jollo was taken off, Manchester United’s defensive midfielder Casemiro was the first to be substituted by Amolin. The 33-year-old Brazilian was very upset, even putting his jacket on inside out. “Fat Tiger” scored a header during first-half injury time to put the Red Devils ahead again, but later received a yellow card for a foul, and the opponents converted the resulting free kick to take a 3-2 lead.

Due to accumulating five yellow cards, Casemiro will miss Manchester United’s next game. He probably felt he didn’t need a rest. As he left the pitch, Casemiro looked dejected, shaking his head. Standing on the bench, he threw a bottle of water onto the floor. After shouting loudly to someone on his right, he picked up a Manchester United jacket and put it on, but failed to notice it was worn inside out.