Brian Mbeumo has had a huge impact on Manchester United’s tactics this season, forcing head coach Ruben Amorim to make major changes, but that has nothing to do with his personal goal tally. The 26-year-old has been in the spotlight since arriving from Brentford in the summer for £65m and add-ons, scoring five goals in 10 games in all competitions. He was particularly impressive in Saturday’s win against Brighton, scoring twice with an attack from the edge of the box and a powerful shot into the top corner.
But it is Mbeumo’s corner-taking skills that have really left their mark on Amorim. Bruno Fernandes typically provided attacking set-pieces for United last season, with Christian Eriksen also contributing despite his limited playing time. Amad, a left-hander, was the third-leading player on the team.
United lacked a regular left-footed player who could take corner kicks and would likely play a lot of minutes in the Premier League, but that changed with Mbeumo’s arrival.
He and Fernandes have split corner-taking duties almost evenly this season. Mbeumo takes United’s side from the right, while Fernandes is tasked with firing from the left.
As a result, United no longer opted for short corners, but instead looked deeper, around the perimeter of the 18-yard area, and crossed the ball in or inside.
The tactic has been successful, with United scoring three of their expected 0.49 goals per game (xG) from set-pieces this season.
While the Red Devils pose a consistent attacking threat, they concede 0.53 expected goals per game from set-pieces, the third-worst record in the division and a significant increase from last season’s 0.34 goals per game.
Despite this, United achieved their third successive Premier League win against Brighton, allowing the Red Devils to progress into the top six for the first time this season.
Looking back on the match, Amorim seemed completely satisfied. “(It) was really important,” he said.
“Also in terms of performance, we had to play different games at different moments of the match, but I think the players had a good understanding of what to do at every moment.
“At the end we suffered a little bit. But it wouldn’t be Manchester United if we didn’t suffer a little bit. But I think we deserved to win against a very, very good team, a team that is really difficult to press high up. But we did well.”
