French forward would be an interesting option to play alongside Cunha & Mbeumo – Opinion

The 26-year-old will give you that blend of explosiveness alongside link-up play alongside his intelligent movements, and given his frame of 6’2”, Muani gives you that physical presence up front. But he is not only that conventional number nine with physical presence, given the fact that he has that mobility and vertical threat, which makes him more of a modern frontman.

And given how we have seen him over the years, Muani is a tireless runner, especially when it comes to his role off the ball, and this kindly suits the high-pressing approach that Amorim has deployed at M16. It is not just that; he also excels at playing with his back to goal and connecting midfield into the attack, which could help when he is playing alongside Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo given that he is a versatile presence who can play down the middle, as a second striker, or even as a wide forward.

The French ace is quite lethal when he has space to run in front of him, making him ideal in counterattacking roles, and this ends up fitting seamlessly for a system that the Portuguese head coach has established, which encourages verticality.

But there are a few problems that United needs to keep in mind

He is not in the mould of Sesko, who is quite clinical when he gets a sniff of opportunity; Muani is more of an all-around player that adds different dimensions to the attacking sequences. And then I think his injury record is something to keep an eye out for; while it is not that severe, he has had problems, particularly after high-intensity games, and United needs to remember this before bringing him to M16.

How does Muani fit in at Old Trafford in the current system deployed?

The Portuguese head coach at the helm at Carrington prefers to play a 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 combination where he is using fluid positional interchanges to get an upper hand on the opponents. In his time at the club we have seen that he likes to have a wide forward who can invert whilst combining with the wing-backs, as he putsa hard sense of emphasis on fast transitions and direct vertical play. And when it comes to number #9, Amorim likes to have more of a mobile presence but one that is pressing from the front, and Muani fits this system almost seamlessly.

Given his ability to stretch defences vertically and drop deep to connect play makes him a more natural tactical fit than either Hojlund or Zirkzee, and while he is not as polished in front of goal, his strengths come through quite perfectly for the positional demands that Amorim puts on his centre forward.

How can Muani fit in at M16 with Cunha and Mbeumo?

So let’s establish that Munai will start in the central role, where he is tasked with leading the pressing and link-up play whilst dropping between the channels when in transitional attack. You can use Matheus Cunha in either the left inverted winger role or a second striker role, where the former Wolves star is manipulating spaces with his dribbling and creative abilities. And then Mbeumo is on the right, playing very reminiscent of the role he played at Brentford under Thomas Frank.

So in this sequence you are using Cunha and Mbeumo as creators and wide forwards who drift and connect, which also suits their strengths, while Kolo Muani, given how he is a far more natural reference point, will be tasked to take on the central zones.

Author Opinion