Will signing Antoine Semenyo steal minutes from Amad Diallo at Manchester United? – Opinion

But as I was excited about the prospect of securing his signature, it suddenly clicked to me that his arrival could end up having a direct impact on Amad Diallo’s minutes at Manchester United. And since then I have been trying to understand the tactical role of both the players and how they’d fit in at Old Trafford under Ruben Amorim.

So let’s try to explore whether the arrival of Semenyo directly impacts Amad’s minutes and, if so, then on what basis.

Antoine Semenyo vs Amad Diallo

Let’s define their roles on the pitch first. The Manchester United transfer target is an explosive forward that likes to be vertical and direct. He has that capacity to carry the ball and use his physical ability to get an upper hand. Semenyo can play along the front line, on the right wing as a centre forward and also on that left flank.

While Amad is more of a technical and intricate player who is quite creative when he gets the ball at his feet. He is someone who likes to have control in tight spaces and has that vision to feature in a creative role whilst possessing control in tight spaces. He can play on the right wing as well as in the attacking midfielder roles.

But that being said, both the players operate predominantly off the right. It’s a bit of a different way to operate, though, given that Semenyo plays as a direct wide runner while Amad is more of a half-space creator.

In Amorim’s 3-4-2-1, there are two inside forwards behind a lone striker, which means that there will be only two slots for Bruno, Amad, Semenyo (if signed), and Cunha (if the former Wolves striker is playing in that left flank role that he played at Molineux).

Who fits tactically better at M16 under Ruben Amorim?

If I am talking about Semenyo, he is someone that presses quite aggressively from his zones and does the high vertical tempo that Ruben Amorim’s system does demand. The Ghanaian also carries the ball quite well with a stride about him, especially during the transitional situations, and this is something that Ahmad doesn’t bring to the table. Semenyo can also feature as a wide forward or an inverted striker, which ends up giving a sense of tactical flexibility to the Manchester Fefs, especially when playing in low-block games where United need physicality and directness.

Then if we think of Amad, he is definitely better when it comes to operating in tight spaces and does offer a technical overload whilst having more vision and the ability to link-play. And if you see, he always has his best performances when the spaces are limited and when quick combination play is needed around the box to find solutions.

Can both coexist at Old Trafford?

Yes, I’d say. But Amad will become more of a rotational piece unless he were to explode with a purple patch of form. I would think that Semenyo would likely be preferred by Amorim for the intensity and physicality that he brings to the table, while for Amad, he will be reserved for bringing that technical control in the games or off-the-bench creativity.

There is quite a risk to Amad’s minutes…

Semenyo is older and is more physically capable, which will give him an early edge over Amad when playing in a pressing setup that Amorim has deployed at M16. And we have seen how the Portuguese head coach likes to rely on runners and players that disrupt opponents (be it systematically or in 1v1s) much more than creators in wide roles.

So I think that Amad’s minutes will be quite at risk, especially if he doesn’t start fast in the preseason.

Author Opinion

I do think that bringing in Semenyo will likely reduce Amad’s minutes straight away, and unless Amad becomes tactically important in how Amorim goes systematically till then, the Ghana international will get more minutes given how he is naturally better suited to Amorim’s system.